A $550 Email Win
A while back, when selling our house in California, we needed a termite inspection. The result showed that a wooden board on the eaves was rotting and needed replacement. The company doing the inspection quoted us $550.
This company was the same one that did the termite inspection when I bought the house two years ago. According to the contract, this rotten wood should’ve been discovered back then. After my agent talked with their customer service, their response was that they inspect more thoroughly when selling a house. And they insisted on not offering us a free or discounted service.
What kind of logic is this? Just because I was buying the house, they could slack off?
Despite feeling annoyed, I accepted it since I wanted to sell the house quickly.
Right as I was about to have my agent tell them to proceed, I had an idea to write an email to the company’s founder. (Last year, this founder had reached out to me personally. I think their company isn’t that big.)
So, I ended up writing a “how to do business” email to them. The language was straightforward, but it’s basic common sense.
In the end, the founder agreed to replace the wood for free. Saved $550. Not a huge amount, but it felt great.
Here’s the English version of the email I sent, followed by the Chinese translation:
Hi Mr. Pei,
Over a year ago, I was very grateful that your company provided us with termite inspection services. A year later, we sold our house, and my agent still recommended using GB.
Unfortunately, this time we discovered a rotten piece of wood. If we want to replace it, we need to pay $550.
This rotten wood should have been discovered a year ago, and I hope you can replace it for free. Therefore, I entrusted Annie to contact you. You refused and gave a reason, which I can reluctantly accept. $550 is not a significant amount of money.
However, I still want to write an email to you.
Imagine, if you were me, after paying the $550 (obviously not happily), would you use GB again for future termite inspections? Would you recommend GB to your friends? I believe you wouldn’t. On the contrary, if GB takes responsibility and compensates for this oversight for free, I think you would not only become a loyal customer of GB but also, whenever friends need such services, you would definitely recommend GB first, right?
In the business world, someone always has to pay for mistakes and lack of professionalism at work. The company, the employees, or the customers—who would you choose? Making the customer pay may not seem like a loss for the company or employees in the short term, but in the long run, the cost is the heaviest. There are two reasons for this: 1. Your employees will become less and less professional because when mistakes are made, they are not the ones who pay for them. 2. The company loses the most important thing, which is reputation and trust. Ordinary employees may not care about this, but the founder must.
I look forward to your reply. Thank you.
裴先生您好，
一年多以前，我非常感激贵公司为我们提供了白蚁检查服务。一年后，我们卖掉了房子，我的经纪人仍然推荐使用贵公司。然而，不幸的是，这次我们发现了一块腐烂的木头。如果我们要更换它，需要支付 $550。
这块腐烂的木头本应在一年前被发现，我希望您能免费更换它。因此，我委托安妮联系了您。您拒绝了，并给出了一个理由，我勉强可以接受。$550 并不是一笔很大的金额。
然而，我还是想写一封邮件给您。
想象一下，如果您是我，在不愉快地支付了这 $550 之后，您还会在未来的白蚁检查中选择再次使用贵公司吗？您还会向朋友推荐贵公司吗？我相信您不会。相反地，如果贵公司承担起责任，免费弥补这个疏忽，我想您不仅会成为贵公司的忠实客户，并且每当朋友需要这类服务时，您一定会首先推荐贵公司，对吧？
在商业世界中，总会有人为工作中的错误和缺乏专业性买单。是公司、员工还是客户——您会选择谁？让客户买单，短期来看，似乎对公司和员工没有损失，但从长远来看，成本是最沉重的。原因有二：1. 您的员工会变得越来越不专业，因为在犯错时，他们并不用承担后果。2. 公司失去了最重要的东西，那就是声誉和信任。普通员工或许不会在意这一点，但创始人一定会。
期待您的回复。谢谢您。