I had an hour’s commute to my office, so most days I’d be on the road by 6:30 a.m. The salespeople, other managers, and fellow employees knew they could call me anytime. Unfortunately, so did our customers. 

Almost immediately, I received a call from a salesperson. Before he got into why he was calling, he asked how things were going, and I replied, “So far, so good!” Those were my famous last words on that particular morning. 

About 15 minutes later, my phone rang again, but I didn’t have the contact number in my phone, so I didn’t recognize who it was. 

I answered it as I always did: “Mike McDole, how can I help you?” Do you remember the old Federal Express commercial with the actor who talked a mile a minute? That’s who I thought it was. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, but I was absolutely, positively sure he wasn’t happy. 

The first rule when dealing with upset customers is to avoid interruptions and allow them to blow off steam before you respond. Eventually, I discovered that the caller was a new customer of ours named Dick. Dick told me he had just received a first-out delivery, where he claimed we didn’t know what we were doing and that he was fed up. 

And the problem was that we’d delivered his order too early. This was a new one for me. I’ve been chewed out before for late deliveries, but never for being early. 

Dick’s foreman, Jim, had presumably given us a specific time slot to meet him at the site, so he could show the driver exactly where to put the load. We were early—normally a cause for celebration—and, of course, put the material in the wrong place. 

I told Dick that I’d call him back in five minutes. I then called our dispatcher to find out whether we’d received Jim’s instructions. “First, I heard of it, and there’s no note on the order,” he said. 

Next, I called the salesperson. “Not me,” he said, “but I happen to be with Jim right now. Let me ask him.” A moment later, he was back. 

“So, what did Jim say?” I asked. 

“He said, Oops!’” 

I called Dick back and told him what had (or, rather, hadn’t) happened. Naturally, I apologized for the misunderstanding, even though it wasn’t our fault. I offered to send a truck out to have the load moved. He finally conceded that we were not hapless after all. “Just try not to let it happen again,” he said. I hung up the phone and thought our customers wanted us to be mind-readers! 

Just as I was pulling into the parking lot, the phone rang, and it was a customer I was very familiar with. We affectionately called him “absent-minded George.” He was hopping mad that we were two days late on a window quote we’d promised. I checked and found out that his salesperson had left two voicemails and sent three texts over the past three days. Apparently, we had questions because the plan elevations did not match the window schedule. 

“You think I sit by the phone all day waiting for salespeople to call?” he asked. I hadn’t thought of it that way; I apologized. 

Just as I was getting into my office, my phone rang. Once again, I didn’t recognize the number. This time, it was a client of one of our customers. She said she needed to talk to me about a problem with our pricing. 

The problem was that she insisted on upgrades and overspent her kitchen budget by $3,200. Since her builder bought everything from us, she thought we should rebate her that amount “in the interest of fairness.” 

I almost wrote her a check in appreciation of her creative logic. She did receive an eloquent apology, however. 

By now, it was 8:30 a.m., and I still hadn’t had my first cup of coffee. I headed to the lunchroom and found our dispatcher sitting in the corner, staring at the ceiling. I should have known better, but I asked how things were going. 

“Not good. I sent a truck to Dick’s jobsite, and it got stuck in the mud.” 

“That doesn’t sound so bad; just send another one to pull it out.” 

“I did. It got stuck, too!” 

I grabbed my cup of coffee and a bottle of Tylenol to get ready for the rest of the day. 

Mike McDole has 40+ years of actual LBM experience, including being SVP of a large regional pro-dealer, and is the principal of Firing Line LBM Advisors. He’s also partners with Greg Brooks of the Executive Council on Construction Supply and his LMS. Mike can be reached at 774.372.1367 or Mike@FiringLineLBM.com.