I have a bone to pick with the entire customer service industry. I’m gonna throw out two examples of completely ridiculous customer service that I’ve experienced and then my solution for them all.
Example #1 – The Guitar Store
I know that every musician will attest to this experience. You walk into a music store, be it a mom and pop style or corporate Jams R Us retailer. Whether you’re in there to buy a new guitar or simply a pack of strings, everyone at least peruses the guitar section. How can you not? Every ridiculously overpriced but insanely cool guitar model is hanging from the racks. There’s vintage telecasters, full hollow bodies electrics, all of them completely out of your price range. For me it’s double the pain because I play guitar AND bass. The problem occurs because typically, no sooner do you step up to take one down for closer inspection, the salesman walks up and says, “hey man, let me help you with that. I bet you’d like to hear how this baby sounds.”
Now, keep in mind, the problem with this salesman started WAY before he even got this job at the guitar store. Odds are he is a washed up rocker who’s record deal with his metal band, The Scorpion Horsemen, fell through and so he now plays Sepultura covers at the local dive bar. He measures his self-worth in notes-per-second and this guitar store gig is simply a way for him to stroke his ego every time a thirteen year old walks in with his older borther’s Nirvana shirt on.
Anyway, he takes the guitar down, plugs into the amp of his choice and then proceeds to thrash out a terrible medley of Rush covers, Van Halen solos and a heartfelt attempt at Stairway to Heaven to show he has a softer side, “for the ladies.” All of this to say, he never actually asks you which amp YOU might want to hear it through, and if he does finally hand you the guitar, he usually finds a way to give his sales pitch while somehow putting you down because your playing skills aren’t “shredalicious” enough for his standards. You eventually leave remembering that your next guitar purchase will come from Amazon.com.
Example #2 – The Corporate Storage Facility
This actually happened to me yesterday. Faced with the realization that our condo was quickly becoming claustrophobically full of unused junk, I decided to see what a small storage space would cost. Nothing huge, I simply wanted a 5′ x 5′ space that was easily accessible and close to my place. Using my handy Google Maps app on my Iphone, (how did we live before such things) I called the closest place I found.
Now, the 1 800 number immediately alerted me to what would happen next. I was greeted by a friendly “customer service representative” with a nice, corporate standard greeting. I asked him if they had any space at the location closest to me and if so, could he tell me the rate per month. I thought it was a simple enough question. Well, instead of answering me, he (obviously reading from a manual) proceeds to say, “well let’s start with your name and your zip code to see if that’s the best location for your needs.” What that said to me is that they wanted to make sure I wasn’t completely stupid in my assumption of what I felt was best for me. Upon typing the info into his ultra-wise computer, he found that yes, I was ACTUALLY correct in my research. Of course, he did correct me that I had the address wrong and that it was actually on the street around the corner. When I explained to him that the location had moved, he confidentely explained that the computer was telling him something different. Long story short, he called the location, found out that, yes, I was right again and then took me through a regimented corporate process to check availability, and explain all potential options and other locations to me. At the end, I unfortunately gave him my phone number to reserve a space.
I have now been called three times since yesterday afternoon about whether I was still interested in a storage unit.
Moral of these two stories? As consumers, we are more educated, faced with more choices and have more access to information than ever before. Start treating the customer as the expert and there’s a better chance they’ll actually do business with you.
De-apping Your Life
The trip to the lake was the culmination of sort of a technological cleansing period for me. Earlier in the week, I started removing apps from my phone. I realized I was becoming way too plugged in for my liking. I caught myself checking my phone more and more often everyday so I took it upon myself to de-app. I took off Facebook, one of my RSS feeds and Words With Friends. It was an enormous sense of relief to find out that if I didn’t check Facebook every day, the world did not stop spinning on its axis.
I think the realization that I’ve had is that technology is a wonderful tool that has continually enriched the human experience. Ever since the microwave, we have sought ways to make our lives more efficient. In doing so, we’ve created the internet and streamlined our access to it. We’ve developed smart grids, smart phones, smart appliances, and in turn, smarter people.
But, the danger comes when we get too plugged in and technology begins to help fuel our narcissism. We start to look at the phone screen as if the little numbers showing new messages comfort our egos because someone has thought about us or needs us. Even more, we’re now expected to be plugged in. It is no longer acceptable not to return emails, texts, and phone calls the next day. People want access to you. They expect more, faster and multitasking has become the living norm in the work environment.
All of this begs the question. Is this helping us? Are we, through our desire to stay plugged in and our quest for more efficiency losing something in the process? The next time you have the opportunity, try unplugging from the world for a while. I’m not even going to try and tell you just how liberating it can be. You’ll find out for yourself.