How Hard is it To Do Business With You

The invitation to chat hit my inbox before the chat was ready. That sentence contains everything wrong with how many companies do customer service.

I recently experienced two companies operating in completely different centuries.

Yesterday, my knee woke me at 4:00 AM with an urgent request for a brace. I didn't argue. At that hour, a knee gets what a knee wants.

Using a search tool, I found Copper Star Home Medical Supplies. I left a question in the website chatbot and went back to bed.

The company was closed. The business wasn't.

Around 9:00 AM I received a text. By 9:30 AM I had enough information to order. The entire transaction—from problem to purchase—happened while the building was dark and the doors were locked.

That's worth noticing.

Today, I received an email from another company confirming an automatic shipment I didn't order. The email invited me to chat if I had questions.

I clicked the link. The system said it would help at 6:00 AM. It was 5:45 AM.

The invitation to chat had arrived before the invitation to chat became possible.

I waited until 6:00, then explained I wanted the shipment stopped.

The representative asked me to verify my account information.

I explained they already had enough information to identify my order. They had sent me the confirmation email.

The representative asked me to verify information. I explained this again.

The representative asked me to verify information.

We exchanged several more messages. We didn't reach an agreement.

Copper Star never asked me to understand how their business worked. I had a problem. They helped me move toward solving it.

The other company seemed deeply committed to helping me understand theirs. Every message reinforced that their system mattered more than my outcome.

This is how most businesses create friction.

Customers want outcomes. Companies give explanations. Customers want answers. Companies give procedures. Customers want progress. Companies give policies.

Each moment asks the customer to expend a little more effort. Most won't complain.

They just leave.

When a business makes it difficult to buy, it doesn't see the ninety people who arrived ready to make a purchase, then left due to delay, confusion, or effort. They can't measure the loss they can't see.

Most businesses are solving the wrong problem. They spend resources attracting more visitors while overlooking the effort required to actually do business with them. They count inquiries. They don't count departures.

Most customers don't leave because they decided not to buy. They leave because they decided not to wait.

The real competitor isn't another company. It's the effort required to do business with you.

I complimented Brynley on the experience. She asked if I would leave a Google review.

I said I would and hoped the request was automated.

She smiled and said it was.

Nobody had to remember to follow up. Nobody had to create a note. The business was designed so routine interactions didn't depend on anyone remembering what to do next.

That's the difference between a business run by systems and a business run by hope.

I told her: "What a pleasure to do business with someone from the 21st century."

I wasn't complimenting her technology. I was complimenting her thoughtfulness.

One company was closed and available.

The other was open and unavailable.

How many customers are encountering the second version of your business right now? And how many will you never see because they decided the effort wasn't worth it?