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Good Morning Thinkers!
Archive: August 8, 2000

20 Lashes with a Wet Noodle ... to Me!

I've been doing this message for about six years and in that time I've made a multitude of errors of omission and commission. Fortunately, you folks are very good about setting me straight and this past week was no exception.

Amidst the avalanche of horror stories about customer service, there were a few clear voices that asked what's the point in gathering all this negative stuff? There probably isn't anyone who hasn't had at least one bad experience, so what does it gain us to collect these stories? And, I had to admit, I couldn't think of one good reason.

This list is devoted to helping us all think a little more innovatively and whining about bad stuff isn't one of the top techniques for being more innovative. So, to all of you who took the time to share your stories, I apologize for not passing them on and hope that the process of venting helped ease the frustration (I guarantee that I read them all and wound up even more stunned than ever about the condition of service in general.)

So, troops, let's apply some innovative thinking to this situation and take a positive tack. Most of us wear more than one hat in this area ... we are customers but we're probably part of a system that provides service. What could we do (no matter how small) to positively impact customer service?

I'll prime the pump ...

We could create a universal customer service gold star and every time we experience good service, we could give the person a star.

We could create a cartoon super service character so young people would want to be "Super Server!"

Your turn ... let's get some creativity flowing here.

Send your ideas TO: service@thinksmart.com
SUBJECT: ideas

By the way, there might actually be a point in talking about bad service if we intended to learn from the stories. Thanks to Loren Dyck who told us about a 1998 book by Nancy Friedman, entitled "Customer Service Nightmares: 100 Tales of the worst experiences possible, and how they could have been fixed."

Thanks again for bringing me back to the focus of this weekly conversation. You're the best!
Joyce Wycoff

P.S. I have to pass along one story about the guy who ordered a pizza to be delivered, waited forever, finally went to the store to pick it up only to find out that the employees had gotten hungry and eaten two of the pieces (thinking it was unclaimed). They offered him $2 off! He says it's absolutely true. ;-)