Want some proof of what comes around goes around?

Over the past few weeks we have been making some phone calls on behalf of one of our customers.  We were asked to call their suppliers to see if any of them would make contributions to this very worthy cause and we chose to help.

They have two suppliers on their list for “fire and safety” stuff – fire extinguisher sales and service.  I phoned one of the suppliers and before I could finish the pitch, I was cut off with “Let me stop you right there.  We get asked to make donations to our customers all the time and we choose not to.”  The tone was confrontational and the feeling it gave me was not pleasant.  Many of the other suppliers choose not to give, but none were rude about it and many took extra care to listen, express support for the cause and take into consideration that someone had volunteered their time to make the phone call.

When I called the competitor company, the reception was warm, the tone was friendly and I left the call knowing exactly where I would go if we ever needed anything to do with fire and safety.

Last Thursday, three days after the phone calls and out of the blue, the fire inspector visited IBEX Headquarters for the first time in 11 years.  We now know that our fire extinguishers need to be serviced every year, not every decade, and funny – we know exactly where we are going to get the help we need.