The Sunset Rule was a rule I imposed on myself many years ago after a call from a good customer. He called me out of frustration, agitated that he had not been called back by my salesman for a couple of days. The customer was a long-time relationship of mine and asked if he could work directly with me since his assigned salesman didn’t seem to care about him. I had a conversation with this salesman in our organization asking why he hadn’t called the customer back. The salesman had two or three reasons important to him for why he was too busy to make this call. The salesman’s first excuse was that he “didn’t have an answer for him yet,” so communication was suspended.
When a customer, co-worker, friend, or family member contacts you, make time by the end of each day to respond before the sun sets. You may need to prioritize your responses. Friends and family will understand that your response on a work day will need to be during a break or after work. Customers and co-workers deserve and expect a more immediate response by text, email or call, even if that response is simply to let them know you’re working on an answer. I have always done my best to stick to this rule and to advocate company-wide that we all adopt the Sunset Rule.
The Sunset Rule is an act of respect and diligence and is a key component to having great relationships. This simple discipline of getting back to people has truly been a key to success in my personal life and at Kinzler.
