“Service isn’t dead… it’s just evolving. And sometimes you only recognize it when something doesn’t go as planned.”
Over the last couple of months, I’ve found myself thinking more about service than I probably have in a long time. Not because everything has gone perfectly, but because it hasn’t. And in those moments, when expectations and outcomes don’t quite line up, you start to see what’s really underneath the surface. Not just the product, not just the price, but the people and the culture behind it.
There’s one interaction in particular that stands out. It’s with a service provider I’ve worked with for over 10 years. The type of relationship where you don’t have to say much. You bring them a project, they know what you’re looking for, and when it’s done, you can look at it immediately and know whether it hit the mark. Over time, that kind of consistency builds trust. It builds an expectation that things will be done a certain way, because they always have been.
But recently, that changed a bit.
One of the key people in their organization retired. Someone who had clearly been a big part of maintaining that standard. And while the business kept moving forward, a few things along the way got lost in translation. The last several projects I received just didn’t line up with what I had come to expect. Not completely off, not a total miss, but enough that when I looked at the final product, I found myself disappointed.
And that’s not always an easy place to be, especially when there’s history involved.
Because now it’s not just about one job. It’s about a relationship that’s been built over a decade. It’s about expectations that were once clearly understood but suddenly feel a little out of sync. And you’re left asking yourself, is this just a one-off? Or is something changing?
So I did what I try to do in those situations. I reached out. Not to point fingers, not to demand anything, but to have a conversation. To understand what happened and see if there was a path forward that made sense for both sides.
And this is where the story shifts.
The individual I’ve been working with didn’t avoid it. He didn’t deflect or make excuses. He leaned into the conversation. There was a level of humility in how he approached it, an acknowledgment that things could have been better, and a willingness to work toward a solution that felt fair.
He didn’t try to give it away, and I wouldn’t expect him to. There’s always a line where a business has to protect itself. But what stood out was the intent behind it. It was clear he cared about getting it right. It was clear that the relationship mattered, not just the transaction.
And after over 10 years, that matters more than anything.
Because what I saw in that moment wasn’t perfection, it was culture. A culture that’s willing to have the hard conversation. A culture that doesn’t hide when something isn’t quite right. A culture that understands that long-term relationships are built in moments like these, not just when everything goes smoothly.
It got me thinking about how much that really matters, not just in that one interaction, but in everything we do.
In our practice, we run into situations like this. We have conversations that aren’t always comfortable. We deliver news that people don’t necessarily want to hear. Sometimes expectations don’t align. Sometimes outcomes don’t match the plan.
And in those moments, we have a choice.
We can protect the position, or we can serve the person.
We try to choose the latter.
That means being willing to listen, even when it’s not easy. It means being honest about what happened and why. It means treating people with respect, whether they’re bringing business to us, questioning something we’ve done, or simply trying to understand their options.
It doesn’t mean we always say yes. It doesn’t mean we don’t push back when it’s appropriate. But it does mean that the person on the other side of the conversation feels heard. That they feel like they matter. That the relationship carries weight beyond the immediate situation.
Because at the end of the day, that’s what people remember.
They don’t always remember the exact numbers. They don’t always remember the details of the product or service. But they remember how they were treated when things didn’t go exactly as planned.
And more often than not, that’s what determines whether they come back, refer you or grow the relationship.
The more I’ve thought about it, the more I’ve realized that these moments, the uncomfortable ones, are where culture actually shows itself. It’s easy to provide great service when everything is smooth. It’s much harder, and much more meaningful, when it’s not.
That’s where trust is built. That’s where relationships either strengthen or start to drift.
And if you handle enough of those moments the right way, something shifts. Problems don’t feel quite as big. Conversations get a little easier. And instead of creating distance, those situations start to create connection.
Service isn’t dead.
If anything, it’s being refined.
It’s showing up in quieter ways, in more meaningful ways, in the moments where people choose humility over ego, conversation over defensiveness, and relationships over transactions.
And when you experience it, even when things didn’t go exactly right, you remember it.