Win, Win, Win

When you find resolutions to a problem, do you think about what would be the best outcome for you, your company, or your client?  What if you could not only put yourself in a better situation, but also help your client, and their client?  We call this the Win, Win, Win.  At L.E. Smith when we hit a bump in the road, we make certain that whatever resolution we come up with not only resolves the issue on our end, but will also satisfy our client, and ultimately the end consumer.  Let me give you an example.  This past week we were notified by one of our clients that an end consumer had an L.E. Smith countertop purchased back in ’05 that was showing signs of de-lamination.  We could’ve easily said to our client that while we were disappointed to hear about the performance of this top, it is out of warranty.  We know though, that this client could be purchasing their countertops from one of many fabricators.  So instead of just winning ourselves, and saying no, we looked into this issue a little further.  In doing so, we were able to pinpoint that during the exact time period when this top was purchased; we had experienced other problems with de-lamination as a result of a machinery malfunction.  So rather than just saying no, we chose to take care of this issue and remake the countertops for this end client at no charge. We also offered to provide a laminate upgrade to even further delight this consumer.  At first glance, it might seem as though we lost a significant amount of money when we didn’t need to, but we instead chose to see this as an opportunity to win infinite loyalty from our client.  By re-making and upgrading this top we enabled our client to win new business from the inevitable free word of mouth advertising from their client, and the end consumer also benefited from receiving a fabulous new kitchen.  So the question is this:  The next time you hit a bump in the road, will you be the only winner, or will you look for the win, win, win?