The $1,000 Orange

by John Gross

What does a $1,000 orange look like? In my case, aging and decaying.

Background: We received a holiday fruit basket filled with oranges. Everything looked beautiful except for the orange in the middle of the basket, which was decaying. My wife said no problem, the supplier included instructions on how to handle problems. After three emails asking for our address and the sender’s account, they went silent. Finally, my wife called them one more time and spoke with a person who said, “Do you realize how busy we are?” The person then said, “Would you take six oranges as a replacement?” Five days later we received our replacement oranges.

How did an orange that wholesales for 25 cents become worth $1000? First, consider the replacement cost: $1.50 for the six oranges, $11.75 for shipping. Then, add $986.75 for bad feelings, reputation impact, unflattering publicity, and potential lost sales.

The reality is that the $1,000 orange could have been prevented: first, with effective, customer-facing behavior (e.g., appropriately responding to emails), and second, by not making the orange the customer’s problem. In fact, with a timely and appropriate response, the vendor may have generated some good will.

Taking this story one step further, with proper core processes and training, the defective orange probably would not have made it into our basket.

What are your $1,000 oranges? Do you have robust processes and training for your customer-facing folks? Are you checking on how they deal with customer complaints? Are you personally ‘walking the talk’ of great customer service?
Do you have processes in place to prevent your own $1000 orange?

John Gross is an EOS Implementer who helps businesses achieve Vision, Traction, and Healthy. You can contact John at John@ DrivingChangeInc.com or call 636.667.0579.