Wow, imagine that…..up through 2015, I only had a LinkedIn account. I don’t even know why, as I had no intention of looking for a job but it was great to stay in touch with so many folks that I had worked with or professionals I had met over the years. LinkedIn was the first place where I started a dialogue about my book “WHY?” which was upcoming at the time. Then, in 2016, I decided to open a Facebook account which advanced staying in touch with an entirely different group from LinkedIn (although there was some spillover). My apologies to anyone who had to hear about the book from both of those avenues! Now they tell me I need to blog and tweet. I can’t keep up! Kids will never get dinner again. I will be too busy.
Happy New Year and welcome to my blog! What better way to start 2017 then to make a resolution to join my service revolution to demand better service when we are out being consumers. Being a consumer is a daily occurrence for all of us and while reading “WHY?”, you will be nodding in agreement at the factual snafus mentioned in the book and have probably had something similar happen to you. I don’t just reference the usual service suspects of retail and hospitality. While those are the industries that usually come to mind when service is discussed, I mention 27 different types of businesses in the book that should be concerned with pleasantly and efficiently servicing their customers. Along the way I offer subtle (and sometimes blunt) suggestions any business can utilize to cultivate a culture that better revolves around customer service. The difference between “WHY?” and the millions of other ‘Management’s Guide to Excellence’ is that this book could sit in the humor aisle at bookstores as easily as in the business aisle. I hope you will get a few chuckles out of it while reading.
Check back here for periodic rants of yet more service mishaps or outstanding customer service praise. I hope I will be writing an equal ratio of narratives as time goes on because as my logo states, It CAN Be Done!
Yesterday, my cashier at the hardware store was watching a movie on his phone while ringing me up. Hmm–what’s up with that? Could this possibly be an unusual benefit at this establishment? Did the employee misinterpret the advertisement’s request for multi-tasking skills? This guy had clearly taken the term to a level I don’t think it was meant to imply. I am going to assume that the manager was not in the store that day but their training must have lacked a discussion on getting paid to smile and serve, even when the cat boss is away.
