I want to give you my money.

How's that for an opener? Recently, I was trying to subscribe to a website that offers monthly meditations. It's a well-known site that I've never had an issue with while using their free offerings. Here's the thing, I finally decided to jump in and pay for their subscription service. After using their free option, I was hooked (they did a good job). They had earned my money.

So, sitting down at my PC, I clicked "Subscribe Now."

So far, so good, right?

I started entering my info. But, I couldn't seem to get anywhere. The server kept timing out or I'd get an error. Now, this service I wanted to subscribe to isn't new - so it wasn't like I was jumping on the bandwagon and trying to sign up on their first day. It was also a lazy Sunday afternoon.

Naturally, I tried again. Same result.

I thought that perhaps it was my browser (Chrome). So I tried it using Firefox. Then Internet Explorer.

At that point, a little frustrated, I tried it on my Nexus 5. Still no meditation for me - signing up was having the exact opposite effect on my state of mind than the service I was trying to pay for. I tried looking for an option to reach customer service. What do you think I found?

Nothing. (Shocking, right?)

Eventually, I gave up. I decided to go get a little exercise and try again later. And, as you might expect, after a few hours it eventually worked. No big deal, right? The thing is, it should have worked the first time. Of course, things like this do happen from time to time so, at the very least, I should have had an option to call a number or, better yet, have a live person to chat with via my browser. I didn't, so I had to walk away. In fact, I could have walked away for good and gone with a different service.

And all I wanted to do was give them my money.

How often do our members or customers leave money on the counter, in their wallets, or - and I, too, shudder at the thought - they spend it on our competitors, when they could be spending it on the *superior* goods and services we offer?

We need to make it easy for them to:

purchase from us
ask us questions and get support (even before they are a customer or member)
be able share our product with those that want it (or don't know they need it yet)

Conversely, how often do we let our teams and our families down by not being easy to get to? And that brings us to today's challenge: How can we be easier to buy from, work with/for, and even live with? What action can we take today to ensure that those around us can get to us when we are needed?