“You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take”
A very famous hockey player from my hometown said those words. He took a LOT of shots, and he made the vast majority of them. His words also translate well off the ice - in business and life in general.
Take today for example. I received my monthly wireless bill and for the third straight month, it is filled with errors. A bogus early termination fee was the main culprit. Now, last month’s bill was ten times worse and took me about an hour to correct over the phone with my provider. At the end of last month’s call, the customer service person asked if there was anything else she could do to help. Instantly, I jumped at the opportunity and said “Yes, there is. You can credit me $50 for the time and agony I’ve gone through to get this resolved.” Her response? “No problem. I’ll do that as a one-time credit.”
Lesson: You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
Fast forward to this month. Another bill with errors in it. Albeit fewer errors, the amount still ran into the hundreds of dollars. My main complaint of the day was that every time I have errors on my bill, they are expensive. $100, $150 even $300 errors. And my provider’s system, software, whatever it is, won’t allow them to adjust taxes. The taxes MUST be paid on the ENTIRE incorrect amount and then be credited back to me the following month.
Stupid, I know.
So when we got my problem resolved and today’s customer service rep asked if there was anything else she could do, I didn’t hesitate. “I want credit for the time it’s taken me to solve these problems with my cell phone bill.” Initially, I was offered $15, which is still something. But then I took a gamble and said “I’m giving you a loan for $20 this month in the form of taxes, how ’bout we make it that amount.” Done.
I’ve had enough credit from Veriz….errr my cell phone provider to equal two free months of service.
Today’s lesson: “You Miss 100% of the Shots You Don’t Take.”
Today’s sub-lesson: “Everything is negotiable.”
This is a good lesson for aspiring copywriters, or ANYBODY in business for that matter.