The title quote is from a story my old boss Bill Peterson used to tell about his Marine Corps boot camp experience. It was from his drill instructor and was not directed at Bill (at least that's how he tells it).
The quote came to mind when I was listening to "This American Life" on Sunday night. It was a rebroadcast of a show with the title, "The Middle of Nowhere." Act Two in particular struck a chord with me. It was titled, "On Hold, No One Can Hear You Scream." In it one of the producers of the show needs the intercession of host Ira Glass to resolve a several hundred dollar problem with her phone bill.
I ran into Allen Stubblefield this morning and he asked me if I'd heard the show. What occurred to Allen and me was that this was a perfect example of how NOT to do customer service. Most of the problem occurred because the customer service representatives didn't follow-up to make sure the problem was resolved. Rather than dismiss this, I think it's useful to listen to it and take some lessons from the bad example.
I've already listened to it three times. I listened because I had a very similar experience with the same phone company, but also because I know I've been guilty of some of these behaviors over the years. At the end of the story, it's clear the phone company learned some lessons from the whole affair.
Perhaps we can too.
Jim,
This is great I'm emailing the URL to my staff. Which of course includes a helpdesk!
Thanks! Mark
Hi Jim,
I heard this one too. With the daily Altoona commute, I need plenty of good podcasts to make time pass!
What I also observed from this one--and a lesson we can take away--is how the complex bureaucracy of the company played a part.
As a PSU student, I joked that figuring out where to go for what information was worth an honorary degree for persistence and resourcefulness.
Now as an IT staff member, I am reminded of these gaps again. We are making great strides in closing these gaps, but from a customer perspective, I still hear anecdotes from people who don't know where to go for what piece of info.
I encourage anyone who has an answer--and anyone who has ever had to search relentlessly for answer--to document it [insert promo for Penn State WikiSpaces here].