There used to be a time when the word ThinkPad automatically brought up the name IBM, and reliability and dependability. The laptop was a device of choice for business professionals. I remember seeing technicians from Xerox, Novell, Canon etc. all lugging around their trusted ThinkPads. So it was with great anticipation over a month ago that I got on the Lenovo website and ordered my own ThinkPad. There was a “sale” going on so I splurged and went for the top of the line T400 with “everything” – about $2000.00 worth. The order confirmation said the laptop will ship out in about nine days from the date I placed my order so I started making plans for how I was going to go on site demonstrations for my customers, benchmark testing, virtual machine testing etc. I am still waiting for those plans to materialize because I am still waiting for my laptop to show up four weeks later.
Ordinarily, this is one of those things we call “no big deal” kind of situations and that would be true if I was getting the laptop for leisure. But this is a business computer and a lot is riding on it.
It got me thinking, what if I was Lenovo and my customers ordered a solution from me and I was not able to deliver? What if they made plans and calculations and were eagerly anticipating my meeting my part of the bargain and I failed them just as Lenovo has failed me?
Communication is very important. I had to email Lenovo twice to even get them to inform me that my order was going to be delayed – no explanation of why. There was no sense of responsibility on their part that they had let me down. They did not have the same sense of urgency that I had that my business was being put on hold because they promised something they could not deliver.
What kind of business are you? Do you communicate with your customers if the solution you promised is not going to work or is being delayed? Do you give them a constant update if things are not working out? Do you promise them something you know you cannot deliver?
I surely would have been more understanding if Lenovo had sent me a message informing me that there was a delay and that my order would ship as soon as possible. I may be an insignificant individual to Lenovo, and for all it’s worth, this may just be an aberation. But that is not important. What matters to me is this immediate experience with the company and that perception shapes everything I think about them going forward. As a matter of fact, I recently bought an HP desktop for a client even though they had a Lenovo desktop computer with better specs and price. As a technology consultant, I would be hard pressed at this point to recommend Lenovo to the clients I come in contact with and these are big budget folks. This is just an order for a product. What if it was for parts that were urgently needed in order to get a customer’s business up and running again?
So, are you a Lenovo to your customers?
