Make friends, not customers

I have learned that most people don’t think like me. I am clearly and bluntly reminded of it from time to time in the swedish business world. There is an overall lacking sense of customer service, which I think is the number one reason why the swedish economy (within a global community) could wash down the drain in a matter of seconds. I am not making a moral judgement here, I simply believe that because of the small size of the country and their instantaneous economic success after World War 2 has created an economy where competition has not been a factor. So as long as you produce something of decent standard (by the way Swedes have excellent standards when it comes to quality), it will sell. Almost no advertising necessary, no consideration to competitive pricing and certainly no customer service necessary. In my ten years of living here, there are only two examples which come to mind that live up to the standards I know of business excellence in all areas (quality, pricing, CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!), IKEA and Clas Ohlson.

My example today is of absolutely no significance, but it is just its minuteness that I think illustrates the situation so well.

I am building a box to ship the few belongings I have left to the US. It is a very educational experience, as I have no knowledge about how shipping things around the world works, but am curious to learn. As I know it is a multi billion dollar industry and one of the corner stones of western consumer society (which I have very alternative thoughts about). In any case, merchants have standardized certain things and of course come up with very simple and practical solutions. There is a concept most of us are familiar with, the pallet. Basically a wooden base designed in such a way that it can easily be lifted with a fork lift. What I didn’t know is that these pallets can have collars. Which is exactly how I am building my box. A collar is basically four wooden sides held together by metal hinges. The most common standard for a pallet I have learned is 120 cm x 80 cm and each collar is 20 cm high.

So you can stack one collar on top of another, thanks to small holders which overlap on each of the 4 corners, making it all very stable and simple to do.
 

My box is 160 cm high, giving me almost 2 square meters of packing space. But I am taking a keyboard which, when in its case is exactly 160 cm. I’m not sure how dangerous it will be to have it so exact as the lid you put on top of the box seems to go into the packing area 2 cm. Of course I don’t want to damage my keyboard, so maybe I should add another 20 cm and leave some empty room on top. But maybe it is better for the packing to be tight and if nothing terribly heavy will be put on top of my box it would be fine, I don’t know. So I decided to call the company where I bought the box for some friendly advice.
I called and told him my situation and the two options I was considering. He didn’t really have any advice as he is not sure how things are packed or shipped on the boat. So I asked him if I could buy an extra collar (which costs roughly 8 dollars) to take with me to the harbor the day I will be shipping it. If at the harbor they advise me to add some extra room, then great I will use it be a happy camper. If I don’t use it, I was wondering if I could return it, as I will have no use for it. Logical, I thought. This is were we differ.

He was shocked that I could have the nerve to call and suggest such a thing. To quote him exactly, “I’m sorry Mr. but that is not how I do business. What you are requesting would basically mean I am lending you a pallet collar. You can’t call and ask such a thing.” I thought to myself, “I just did call and ask such a thing.”

Yes, to some extent he is right. If I were to go to the docks with the extra collar and it turned out I didn’t need it, he would have just leant it to me. If I did need it, he would have made a happy customer. As of now, he’s lost a customer and all the other people I was going to recommend to him. Isn’t that the idea with test driving a car? I lend it to you, if you like and need it, buy it, no strings attached. I bet you could crash during your test drive and still walk away without buying it (I’m sure the test car is insured for that, though I would definitely ask, before trying it). I’ve heard of music albums which have been recorded entirely on borrowed studio equipment. A band goes to a pro-audio store. buys everything they need, keeps the receipts and packaging and as long as they keep the stuff in new condition and are done within a month, return it all for a full money back refund. Who cares, why not promote culture, and I’m sure if that band ever makes it big, they will be back to buy everything they used and more. That fits my view of modern consumer society. We all collect to much stuff, don’t buy what you don’t need in the long run. Borrowing is a great idea, even in the business world.

I work primarily to survive and feel fulfilled. Not to make cash. My dad once gave me a sign with 5 steps to success in business and one of them was, “Make friends, not customers.” My work place, in my adult life, is probably one of my main sources for socializing. I want to meet people, make friends! Of course I want to do favors, of course I want to lend out something that someone else maybe or maybe doesn’t need. Am I crazy? Somebody pinch me!

My last 5 cents. Never open an account in a Swedish bank unless you absolutely have to. I still don’t understand how they get away with the concept of “I give you my money for safe keeping, so that you can use it to make more money and charge me for that privilege.” Has nobody here heard of “Free banking”? The only bank I do recommend is JAK Member Owned Bank an interest free banking cooperative, which I am happy to be a member of. Very interesting, check it out!

Oh and finally, free advertising and a recommendation to an excellent business partner during this learning experience of mine. The guy who I am sending the box through is a wonderful, caring, effective and knowledgeable man in the shipping industry, whom I highly recommend if you ever need to ship anything anywhere from Gothenburg, Lorenzo Urquiaga. I’m not surprised to see the first thing you see on his website is his motto: 35 years of service excellence. So I guess I was wrong, there were 3, IKEA, Clas Ohlson and Lorenzo Shipping.

Have any experiences you’d like to share, I would love to hear them (write a comment!). Are there any other examples of business excellence in Sweden I should know about? Hopefully they will catch on soon. Otherwise it is a great place to live and work and I’ve gladly paid a lot of taxes to help sustain a society that cares for the less fortunate. I am very blessed.