Custome Service...continued

I need to add a short corrilary to yesterdays post.   All of what I said applies, unless you are dealing with a government agency.

are you lazy?..unmotivated?...incompetent?...borderline retarded?

If so please apply today to any of the state or federal agencies near you.  Anything would be an improvement.

I'm far too angry to add anything else today...have a great weekend

Entitlement, Customer Service, and Magic Words

I hear a lot of complaints about the level of customer service that people get. Clark Howard, the radio money guru, likes to use the term customer no service to describe bad experiences with CSR's. And admittedly there are surely plenty of examples of bad customer service to go around. Anyone who has ever been caught in one of those automated AVR, press 1 for English systems surely knows this.

But I submit to you that we are in fact spoiled and that we actually get fantastic customer service most of the time.

Fewer and fewer of us work in industries that actually produce anything. How may widgets did you make today? How much raw material did you use? Nothing? Really? Well then unless you were slacking off, you probably work in a service based occupation

We live in an era of tremendous specialization. Unless you live on a self sustaining family farm you probably do your job for money and then use that money to buy goods and services. We all know what goods are..if you can hold it in your had..its goods. So..consequently everything else must be services. Everyone from your hairdresser to your plumber to yes, even your lawn guy are providing services. Service based industries are vital to today's economy. The Information Systems Analyst either doesn't want to, doesn't have the time to, or doesn't know how to take care of his lawn. This is great for me..I make a living doing it for him.

Let's think about that. If you are in business and you are not manufacturing something, what do you have to sell. Service, plain and simple. And if your service is no good, well your customer will find someone who does it better and you will soon be out of business. For this reason if no other I say that the level of service today in our world is at an all time high.

SO WHY THE PERCEPTION OF POOR SERVICE? I believe that the entitlement culture has instilled a belief that a person should be able to get whatever he wants, whenever he wants and it should be perfect every time. I know that when I am at work I can bust my hump, do the best possible job and that only serves to meet the absolute minimum expectations. Anything less than perfect has our office phones ringing with complaints. I know it is winter in Wisconsin, but God forbid anyone should get a wet foot because the snow wasn't cleared in front of the Arby's in time for lunch..

By now you must be wondering, what does Bob mean by Magic Words. C'mon, you all know the magic words. Everybody's mom taught us the magic words. Yes...Please and thank you. When is the last time you thanked someone who was serving you in some way? I don't mean an off hand, over the shoulder as you hurry out, under your breath thank you, but a real sincere Thank You. A look them in the eye and really mean it thank you. An I'm glad you did this for me because I couldn't do it myself, or I don't have time, or it is unpleasant and I don't want to do it myself thank you.

Now some of you may say, well its his/her job, he/she gets paid to do it, that should be enough. Well I want to tell you that yes, what I do is my job, and I do get paid to do it. And most of the time that is enough. But every once in a while it is nice to know that someone somewhere appreciates the effort you put out. It can really make a person's day, especially if that day has been a frustrating one for whatever reason. It renews your spirit and makes you want to give your best to everyone. Everyone gets better service that day.

So I am asking that you take the time each day to give a real and sincere thank you to someone who provides you with a service. And if it is especially good service, tell them. If everyone did this once a day you would be amazed at how the level of service across the board would improve.

Just something to think about.

WELCOME TO THE LAWN

Congratulations on reading my very first BLOG entry.  Who am I and why am I here?  well I'm just an average guy with strong opinions.

Why write a BLOG.  well people keep telling me that I am funny, intelligent and articulate and I have a lot to say, so I should write a BLOG.  I'm kind of tired of hearing it so I am now a blogger. I will leave it up to you, the reade,r to decide if I am funny, articulate and have a lot ot say.

What can you expect to find here?  Whatever is on my mind today..perspective from ground level on anything from how to lawn care tips to the systematic destruction of our country by Obama, Pelosi, and the rest of the socialists.  Where this BOLG goes is truly up to natural evolution--or God's will, depending on which side of THAT fence you are on.

Reader input is welcomed and vital..so email early and often. turfpundit@gmail.com

A Russian arrives in New York City as a new immigrant to the United States. He stops the first person he sees walking down the street and says, "Thank you Mr. American for letting me into this country, giving me housing, food stamps, free medical care, and a free education!" The passerby says, "You are mistaken, I am a Mexican."

The man goes on and encounters another passerby. "Thank you for having such a beautiful country here America." The person says, "I not American, I Vietnamese."

The new arrival walks farther, and the next person he sees he stops, shakes his hand, and says, "Thank you for wonderful America" That person puts up his hand and says, "I am from Middle East. I am not American."

He finally sees a nice lady and asks, "Are you an American?" She says, "No, I am from Africa." Puzzled, he asks her, "Where are all the Americans?"

The African lady checks her watch and says, "Probably at work.

See you tomorrow...with something to say, I hope