Small is Sublime: What Buying From A Big Brand Taught Me About Customer Service

The power of small

Just imagine. You know your purpose and your mission. You care deeply about the message you want to share with the world, and you know the impact you want to make.

You find a translation or editing professional who has the same values at heart and who wants to help you achieve results.

You seem like a good match, and you’re tempted to trust them with your content.

But hang on, is a solopreneur or micro-business really a safe pair of hands?

Wouldn’t it be more reassuring to work with a bigger company that can offer lots of hands?

What if the freelancer is uncontactable for hours? What if they make a mistake? What will you do if that happens?

Let me reassure you that, in lots of cases, you’d be wise to trust a small business over a bigger player. By staying purposely small that teeny business might just offer the agile response and flexibility you need.

Easy is not always effortless

I’ve been there. I’ve often gone with a bigger company because I thought that would make things easier.

This summer, we ordered some shutters to be fitted in our home. We were pressed for time and we didn’t want to spend time researching different local businesses, so we just went with a big brand offering shutters (along with 101 other things). We popped into their store and went to their dedicated ‘shutters, blinds and curtains’ desk. You’d think that desk would be staffed, right?

It wasn’t. With nobody on the desk (which seems a wasted opportunity, given how much retail space this dedicated area was taking up), we had to try to get someone’s attention.

Who cares wins

When we finally found a reluctant sales rep, she told me she didn’t really know anything about shutters or any of their fitting service. Erm, OK.

She asked other staff, but they just shrugged. Making the best of a less-than-ideal situation, the sales rep stuffed some brochures into our hands, saying we should go online and place an order.

We continued on this path because we still didn’t want to invest time in finding an alternative. We wanted to save ourselves the hassle.

To be fair, the online ordering process was quick. What we didn’t yet know was that this was just a placeholder. We would need to have three Teams calls to explain what we wanted. And only then would a fitter come out to measure up.

Fess up, don’t mess up

The person who measured up was a nice guy, and that part was simple. But then, lo and behold, another Teams call was needed to discuss the order further. Every time we ended these Teams calls, my husband and I would exchange bewildered looks, unsure of the call’s purpose. The priority, it seemed, was full payment up front.

The fitting day finally arrived (about three weeks AFTER paying in full, mind you). The fitter went about their work, only to discover at the end that the final panel of shutters was in a completely different colour. So now we have two-tone shutters that look ridiculous.

At least our neighbours have something to laugh about.

Mistakes happen. I get that. Somewhere in the ordering process, a ball got dropped. People are only human. But here’s the thing: after the mistake happened, we heard nothing further from this company.

We felt this was a pretty big mistake. We hadn’t received what we had ordered and paid for.

But we didn’t feel like anyone was owning it, which in turn meant that we didn’t feel valued as customers.

I emailed to politely ask what would happen next. The reply came in the form of a four-word sentence explaining that the replacement shutters were on order. The end. The tone was ‘please go away now’ (the sender probably had another Teams call 😂). There was no apology or promise of a personal assurance that the mistake would be rectified.

The result for us? We don’t even know when we will receive what we actually ordered. Plus an unwelcome dose of frustration and hair-pulling despair.

Responsiveness + passion = results

One thing that always hits me hard about this sort of customer experience catastrophe is that a small business in my industry just wouldn’t let this happen. It’s not that minor mistakes don’t ever happen but, as I said in a LinkedIn comment recently, solopreneur translators and copy-editors are incredibly responsive when it comes to correcting mistakes. If a mistake happens, we fess up and we fix it. It really is that simple. How’s that for easy?

Plus, when you work with an experienced freelancer or a small business, you usually get to deal directly with the person actually doing the translating or editing. This means that, if you have a question or a problem, you get direct access to the decision-maker in the business: no endless calls to arrange the next call, no robotic emails disclaiming any responsibility.

We freelancers take responsibility for every single project we work on because we ARE our business. The buck stops with us.

Someone who actually cares

Your own organisation may be big, medium or small, it doesn’t matter. A small business or freelancer is often a safer pair of hands and they care deeply about getting things just right.

A crucial advantage that smaller businesses have over larger companies is their ability to connect one-on-one with their clients and then customise their services. We’re the flexible, responsive antidote to a one-size-fits-all service, making things easier.

You can easily reach us at the end of the phone to discuss things. No need to wait for someone else to ask us to call you back. Or join a Teams call.

The result for you? Perfectly pitched English that hits the exactly right note with your English-speaking audience – whether that’s donors, investors, partners and other stakeholders.

Your message goes confidently out into the world, working its magic. ✨

I’m Philippa and I’m a translator and copy-editor.

I take Spanish, French and Portuguese (and English!) content and transform it into snappy and 100% engaging English.

I love to bring clarity to other people's writing and helping to share it with the world.

I love to work with people who are making the world a better place.

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