I love my house, but I can’t deny there is a bit of quirkiness about it. And despite the fact that it was built in the 80′s and has an abundance of outdated “perks” all over the place, perhaps the most noticeable oddity is the mismatching windows.

Two years ago, we invested in energy efficient windows through a unique savings plan offered by a window company. We received a flat rate guarantee per window that would never expire, which meant we could replace all the windows in our house slowly, over the course of years, and as we could afford.

Just recently however, we began receiving phone calls from competing window companies. With each conversation, I’ve reiterate our golden deal and nearly always received the same response: a positive confirmation that the guarantee was unbeatable. That is of course, until I received a call from SOS Windows (name changed).

In a matter of months, I found myself in at least three separate conversations with the company about replacing my windows.  Each phone call followed the same pattern: 1.) sales pitch 2.) appointment request 3.) non-aggressive rejection on my behalf. Yet, despite my continual reiteration of the current deal on our home, they simply would not take no for an answer. When I mentioned the type of windows I required and all the features we insisted upon, I was assured it could be done. Hesitantly, I finally agreed to set up an appointment for a free estimate.

As is par for the course, I immediately regretted my decision. In my heart I knew SOS Windows wouldn’t be able to match the pricing or create uniformity in the windows. Sure enough, within five minutes of being in our home the salesman concurred the windows could not be replicated by his company. When we told him how much we were quoted per window, he once again agreed he couldn’t come close to the same deal. As was foreseen, the appointment was a colossal waste of time. Yet, it wasn’t my time that I was upset over. It was the poor salesman’s that I pitied.

I apologized to him for wasting his time, but it was he who persistently apologized to me:

I’m sorry that our sales team didn’t fully listen to your wants and needs. Sadly, in their opinion it’s about getting appointments on the books rather than conscientiously finding solid leads. I don’t get too upset if they waste my time, but I get extremely perturbed when they waste the time of homeowners. I plan to have another talk with them about this. Frankly, it’s unacceptable.

Working among non-cohesive teams isn’t just unproductive and wasteful, it creates a barrier between stakeholders. For the SOS Windows salesman, the frustration he felt and disappointment he had in his team was quite apparent. As he openly relayed to my husband and I, this was not the first time he ended a free estimate before even getting it started. And who can blame him? After all, when preparations are wasted, efforts gone in vain and trust broken, it’s hard not to become disenchanted at work.

If there is a clashing of teams in your office don’t wait until the rift becomes so large that even prospective clients are aware of the problem. Instead, take the opportunity to mend the gap through meaningful and proactive measures. Contact Slaughter Development today to learn more about how we can help.

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