Passion

For as long as I remember, I hate to see people wrong others. After all, the Golden Rule says to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

So, it seems that the biggest culprits, the worst violators of the Golden Rule are:

• not those in prison, and I’ve met several.
• not the government, but they may be number two.
• not the jocks in high school who beat up on the geeks.

No, it’s not any of them, it is those who purport to be Customer Service.

Now, all of my adult life, I have worked in some sort of Customer Service. Exceptions would be that six-month stint as a programmer – but wait, even then I had to please the people who would eventually use my program – so, yeah. All of my life.

But that’s not why I’m an expert.

I’m a Customer Service expert because I choose to be. I’m an expert because I have, over the last 30 years, watched and interacted with people from both perspectives. I’ve acknowledged my place as “service”. And I’ve put myself in the shoes of those who serve me. I have studied people while sitting in a store while my wife tries on clothes. I have studied people while standing in the checkout line.

But enough about me. So now you know my qualifications. Now you know why I’m writing. And maybe you can take a tidbit to work with you.

On these hallowed electrons, you will find what this middle-aged man considers to be Customer Service on a scale:

• 5 – Exceptional Customer Service. This example went so far above and beyond the call of duty that I cornered the manager and recommended sainthood.
• 4 – not quite a saint, but very close. The person was praised in person, with or without the presence of the manager.
• 3 – average customer service. No complaints, but not remarkable, either.
• 2 – less than average. This person irritated me. I’m not reporting it, but they earned a passive-aggressive stare.
• 1 – Unacceptable. I let the manager know about the problem and asked that something be done to rectify the situation.
• -1 – yes, this scale goes to less than zero. This special rating is reserved for the cases that resulted in escalation beyond store management.

My goal is to increase the level of service and eliminate the 1’s and -1’s. Please join me on this journey, and help contribute ideas, experiences and other wisdom.

Adios,
Clay