We pride ourselves on our approach to customer service. Too many companies have the misconception that customers can’t live without their services and treat loyal customers with disregard. That is not our approach. We understand that without our dedicated soap family, our dream can’t happen. Yesterday, I watched my husband meltdown over what he considers a major faux pas in customer service.
When The Bibbed Wonder melts down, it is seriously unpleasant. I mean, it’s never pleasant when anyone melts down, but my calm, cool, collected hubby, with his humorous approach to life and who can turn anything into a joke, can make me nervous when he loses his cool. It’s just such an unnatural state for him. Yesterday, he was in atomic meltdown mode over Facebook.
We are not masters of social media by a long stretch. Neither of us is comfortable with being in front of the camera. We don’t understand what content grabs people’s attention and are reluctant partners with social media. However, when operating an online business, social media is a devil you get comfortable with and do your best to understand. A month or so ago, Eric jumped on the Facebook Store wagon because it seemed to make sense.
A business posts content or products on its Facebook page with a direct link to your online store. It makes sense, right? We thought so, too. However, as is our experience with social media, it never seems to go as well as expected. If it weren’t for a patient and understanding soap family member, we would still be in oblivion about Facebook sales. The pleasant and understanding person who messaged us inquired about an order number we did not recognize. She then explained that she had ordered via Facebook and had not received a shipping notification.
Thus began my normally calm and collected buddy meltdown. We receive no notification when there is a sale on Facebook. We don’t receive messages, emails, or notifications on our Facebook page. Unless we are logged into the Facebook store 24/7, we aren’t aware of any sales that occur. Not only do we not receive notification, but there is also no link to our shipping site, no update to inventory, and we can’t print out a packing slip. All things that make one bib overall wearing fuzzy bottoms absolutely furious and twitchy. I thought my anal-retentive buddy was going to explode when he saw six orders sitting in limbo.
You see, The Bibbed Wonder plays Beat The Clock with our mail lady, Cindy. Every. Single. Day. Eric has two daily goals: A) Get all orders packed and ready to go before Cindy comes around noon. B) He has so many orders boxed and ready to ship that he makes Cindy cry, especially on Mondays. Making our lovely mail lady cry has become a personal goal for one bib overall-wearing tormentor. We know Cindy well enough that we know she dislikes Mondays. We also know Monday is usually a big shipping day for her because of orders that come through on Saturday night and Sunday. We also know nobody, including us, likes Monday.
Often, late Monday mornings, you can find The Bibbed Wonder giggling like a schoolgirl and dancing around like a white guy wearing bibs imitating dance moves fit for a club. The dancing Bibbed Wonder is an elusive creature. Trust me, if I could get a video of him dancing, I would share it with you. Often, the shop is filled with “Hehe hehe, Cindy is going to be sooooo mad! Today is the day, she’s going to cry!” By the way, Cindy never cries. She is more prone to tell Eric to shut it and dismiss him than to cry. That’s why we like Cindy…well, I like Cindy. Anyone who won’t put up with Eric’s nonsense is solid in my book.
This was a personal defeat for the guy who takes it as a personal challenge to get orders out as soon as they come in. He kept repeating, “I can’t believe I dropped the ball!” Trying to figure out the whole Facebook Store thing had him in a tizzy. Mark Zuckerberg is Satan reincarnated in Eric’s book. Facebook developers are lower than worm poo, and only an idiot would create something so inadequate. Add a lot of colorful language, and you get a pretty accurate picture. He spent the better portion of the day trying to get everything figured out. To add insult to his injured pride and now broken personal record, he has to spend time conversing with Facebook tech support to get the answers he needs.
I think the culmination of missing orders, breaking his impeccable record for fast shipping, and having to talk to tech support because he can’t make heads nor tails of the Facebook Store has him in a twist. We worked to get the six orders packed and ready to ship. We sent notes of apology and packed extra soaps in each order. Eric took it upon himself to write the notes because he really does take it that personally.
If you ordered through Facebook, please accept our most sincere apologies. As with anything, there is a learning curve; in this case, we are at the bottom of the curve. We will do better. Please know your orders are coming; we don’t take this lightly. I’m sure today will be equally unpleasant in the soap studio as my bib overall, wearing fuzzy bottoms, spends the day on the phone with tech support. However, a day of unpleasantness is well worth offering the best customer service possible.
On this lovely November day, stay safe, be smart, and pick up that ball if it gets dropped; no one is perfect; take your time to learn, and try to do it without being scary. Also, keep washing your hands.