One of the best things I like about this blogging thing is that, as long as I don’t misspell anything and look like a dumb shit, I can pretty much write about anything I want. I worked in industries that required the constant exercise of customer service skills at all levels and there are those that may argue EVERY industry requires them at some level. There is customer service that we actually see: the bartender, waitress, the grocery checker or the counter person, and then there is customer service that we hear over the phone, increasingly so in this dangerous time. I had an occasion to make a call today to see if I qualified for Unemployment Insurance since I left my job in September. Now normally, calls to large government agencies do not exactly blow my dress up, but The person I spoke with Brittany, was so tuned in. Tuned in to the nonverbal cues such as tone and pace of my conversation, underlying reasons, and she gave me space to offer my candid observations. She dealt with an emotional subject and reassuredly and confidently addressed (and solved) my concerns. She turned what could have been an uncomfortable call into the coolest thing that happened to me today.
Thanks Brittany.
How about the customer service of those you have no recourse over? For instance, the girl behind the doctor’s appointment window who is blasting her music so loud her lipstick-stained teeth are rattling in her empty head? That irritates me. I am loyal to companies that have treated me well and fairly over the years. That’s how old people are. How about doctors and lawyers for that matter? There are way too many lawyers foryou to not LIKE your attorney. I had the same PCP Primary Care Physician, for about ten years since I moved to Arizona. For about the last three years, he started slipping a bit. Wrong or missed prescriptions, wrong referrals, and other mistakes became the norm. But I LIKED him and he always saw me as soon as I went in for my appointment at the appointed time.
Customer service.