When Customer Service Means Getting Rescued by Funeral Directors
We've all had those moments that make us cringe, but sometimes they teach us the most valuable lessons.
TL;DR: Real customer service isn't about having perfect systems—it's about what you do when everything goes wrong. Sometimes that means embarrassing yourself in a delivery van on a country lane because disappointing your customers simply isn't an option.
Picture this: You're driving a delivery van you've never operated before, down a single-track country lane, when you turn the corner and come face-to-face with a funeral procession led by a hearse.
And then you realise the van doesn't have a rearview mirror.
This was my Tuesday afternoon in the late 1990s, and it perfectly captures everything I've learned about what separates businesses that talk about customer service from businesses that actually deliver it.
When Everything Goes Sideways
We offered home delivery at Iceland, customers could shop in-store, and we'd pack their frozen goods and deliver during their chosen time slot. Simple system, reliable service, happy customers.
Until our delivery driver called in sick.
Skeleton staff. Full day of delivery slots booked. Customers who'd planned their entire day around receiving their shopping.
I had two choices:
Cancel all deliveries and disappoint everyone
Find a way to make it work
Guess which one I chose.
The Van I'd Never Driven
So there I was, loading up the delivery van, a vehicle I'd never driven before, with bags of frozen food and a delivery route I was making up as I went along (this was the ‘90’s before SatNav).
Everything was going reasonably well until I turned down that country lane.
Single track. Church on the right. And coming straight toward me: a full funeral procession, hearse leading a long line of mourners' cars.
I froze.
Then I went to check my rearview mirror to reverse... and discovered there wasn't one. Just wing mirrors. On a narrow country lane. With ditches on both sides.
Here's the part that still makes me cringe twenty years later:
The funeral directors had to get out of the hearse and help me reverse so the entire procession could pass and turn into the church.
Picture that scene. Grieving families, solemn ceremony, professional dignity... and me, red-faced in an Iceland delivery van, being guided backwards by men in black suits who were probably wondering what on earth they'd signed up for.
What This Actually Means for Your Business
That day taught me something that applies whether you're managing a retail team or building a solo creator business: The difference between good service and exceptional service isn't your systems—it's what you do when your systems fail.
Most businesses optimise for convenience—their own convenience. They create policies that protect them from difficult situations. When something goes wrong, they hide behind "procedure" and "policy."
But the businesses that create Lifetime relationships? They're the ones willing to look foolish, get uncomfortable, and do whatever it takes when things go sideways.
The Real Story Behind the Embarrassment
While I was making a fool of myself on that country lane, something else was happening back at the store. The skeleton crew was covering for each other, manning sections they didn't usually work, ensuring customers didn't even notice we were short-staffed.
Everyone pulled together because we all understood something fundamental: Disappointing our customers wasn't an option.
Not because of some corporate mandate or performance metric. Because these were real people who depended on us. Mrs. Evans with her weekly order. The young mum who couldn't get to the shops easily. The Mr. Stanley the elderly gentleman who'd been shopping with us for fifteen years.
They weren't just delivery slots. They were relationships.
Why This Matters More Than Ever
In today's world of automated everything and "scale-first" business advice, we've forgotten something crucial: Real customer service requires human awkwardness sometimes.
The solo creators and small business owners I work with often get caught up in trying to systematise everything. Create the perfect funnel. Automate all the touchpoints. Build processes that scale.
But what happens when your perfect system breaks down? When your automated email sequence fails? When your client needs something that doesn't fit your standardised offering?
Do you hide behind policy, or do you get in the van?
The Anti-Scale Truth About Service
Here's what the "10x your business" crowd won't tell you:
The moments that create the deepest loyalty are often the least scalable ones.
The time you personally called a client when their project went wrong
The custom solution you created that broke all your usual rules
The moment you chose their success over your convenience
The day you looked foolish because you cared more about their outcome than your dignity
These moments can't be systematised, automated, or delegated. They require you to be present, flexible, and occasionally willing to be guided backwards by funeral directors.
Building Relationships vs. Building Systems
Most business advice focuses on creating systems so robust that individual effort becomes irrelevant. But relationship-first businesses work differently.
Yes, you need good systems. But you also need the flexibility to break those systems when human situations require it.
The Reason clients (those just exploring what you offer) are impressed by your systems and processes.
The Season clients (building trust with you) are watching how you handle problems and unexpected situations.
The Lifetime clients (fully committed to your journey) are created in moments like that country lane—when you choose their needs over your comfort.
What Would You Do?
The next time your perfectly planned day goes completely sideways, ask yourself:
Am I hiding behind policy or looking for solutions?
Am I protecting my convenience or my customers' outcomes?
Am I willing to look foolish to do right by the people who trust me?
Would I rather maintain my dignity or deliver on my promises?
The businesses that thrive aren't the ones with perfect systems. They're the ones whose people will get in an unfamiliar van, navigate country lanes without rearview mirrors, and accept help from funeral directors if that's what it takes to keep their promises.
Because at the end of the day, that's what relationship-first business actually means: Being willing to be uncomfortable so your customers don't have to be.
Even if it means learning to reverse a delivery van while wearing your dignity like a crumpled uniform.
The customers remember those moments. Over thirty years later, so do I.
With courage and conviction,
What's the most uncomfortable thing you've done to deliver for a client? Hit reply and tell me about a time you chose their success over your convenience. These stories matter more than we realise.