We recently purchased a house with a swimming pool. I know absolutely nothing about them other than they are filled with water. Since I couldn’t find a “Swimming Pools for Dummies” book and had some form of nuclear waste growing in the bottom of it (I really have no need to swim in water that could cause me to grow a third nipple) I did what most people in my situation would do; go to a pool store for expert advice. The journey had begun.

We went to a small, local store where the teenage dude working there ran the secret water test and tried to answer our barrage of questions. I visited with the owner who assured us (because the first store we tried sold us on stuff we didn’t need) that their secret recipe would give us the perfect pool. We plunked down more money but believed we had the cure. We followed all their instructions and blissfully waited for the next day and our swimming pool paradise. It never happened! The solution didn’t work.

I called the owner of this “pleasant pool” place and told her the recipe didn’t work and asked if we could talk about it. Her reply was this, “No, I can’t talk with you or help you because we are having a sale…but if you come down here and buy some more stuff I can visit with you then.” Excuse me? I was appalled! She could have offered to call me back, given me some free stuff since their magic potion didn’t work, or do something to help the situation. Instead she lost the opportunity to win a customer for life. Her goal was on the quick sale instead of a long-term sell.

We would have gladly purchased all our supplies at her store for the life of our pool but we will never give them another dollar and we will tell everyone about our experience with them.

The motto of my story is this: What are you saying to your audience? Are you telling them the right information? Are you letting them know they are important or making them feel like a nuisance? What will their experience be with you? We all make mistakes but it’s extremely important to get the right image, information, and experience to the people you want to reach the very first time. Today it’s tougher than ever to win people to your church, your business, or your non-profit organization. Branding is important! Make the most of every opportunity to do it right from the start and if you mess it up try and make it right as quickly as you can.

BTW – The third pool place we went to won our business for life. We are happily swimming without growing any more body parts!