Excellent VS Poor Customer Service

So what separates excellent customer service from poor customer service?  I’m the first to acknowledge that things don’t always go as planned.  Things happen.  It’s how a company reacts that separates excellent customer service from poor.

Example:  Last week, an AirTran Flight I was scheduled to fly on was delayed for 5 hours.  Not only did a representative call personally to inform, they offered a free round trip ticket good for one year any place AirTran goes.  Didn’t ask for it.  They just did it.

Contrast this to tonight where I’m writing this from Orlando as I sit and await Spirit Air.  This flight has been delayed twice. They knew it at some point and didn’t call, no contact until we checked our bags.  To make matters worse, it’s very late at night.  So far, no offer of a free ticket, refund, hotel accomidation, no coffee, meal voucher …. NOTHING!

So, in a world where Facebook, Twitter and a blog can spread the word as fast as you can hit “publish”, a company should realize now more than ever the importance of excellent customer service.  I just don’t get it.  Having taught courses in marketing, media and public relations for years, I can tell you that poor customer service is like a wildfire and as such is very hard to contain once it spreads.   You can spend millions of dollars telling everyone how “good you are”, but it means nothing if you can’t back up the claims when it really counts.

Oh, and I have a radio talk show I can also use as a forum. Hummmm.  Wonder what my topic will be on the next show?

The Challenges of Change

We’ve all heard that change is good.  Can be.  Change is a regular part of life.  But it’s how we react to change more than the change itself that determines where we end up after the change takes place.  Does that make sense?  Change always presents opportunity to grow no matter what the change is.  The next time something or someone rocks your world and circumstances and such begin to change, take a deep breath and ask yourself how you (not everyone else) is going to reach.  Take the “Change Challenge” and see if you don’t find yourself better off on the other side.

It Got Me Thinking

I stumbled across a video on You Tube this morning that caused me to turn a little introspective I suppose.  The majority of the piece is made up of photographs of what we can only imagine to be family members through the years, exteriors of homes, landscapes and such. But what it brought to my mind is how brief life really is and if we are not careful, it will pass us by and we won’t even realize the moments we missed.  Each of us has been given one life; no dress rehearsal.  This is the real deal and I don’t know about you but I want to drink it in to its fullest with no regrets.  The message this weekend by Pastor Tim Chambers at Shore Fellowship was all about finding balance in life.  The truth is when you find that balance, you’ll be less likely to miss what really matters.  It’s fun to look back at photographs that mark the milestones and moments of your life.  But even more rewarding, is the ability we are given with that glance of an image to recall sounds and smells, laughter and tears as we are immediately taken in our minds eye to that moment in time.   A wise man by the name of Jim tells us that our life is only a vapor.  Here for a moment and then it vanishes just like the morning fog.  Jim reminds us to major on the important things in life and realize where each breath comes from to begin with.  Does any of this make sense to you?  I don’t know; I saw this video and it just got me thinking.

The Little Lamb

I’m awaken at 4 this morning by the soft whisper and warm breath of my 3 1/2 year old.  I’m startled at first as I opened my eyes to this little person, concerned look on her face, standing before me in her soft, polka dot sleeper.  ”I can’t find my lamb Daddy.”  ”Let’s go look.  I’ll find it for you,” as I stumbled out of bed and followed down the hall.   There it was right under her bed where it fell.  (She had made a point to tell me earlier as I said good night that tonight she was going to snuggle her little lamb.)  Now, as I handed her this tiny stuffed animal she looked up at me, “Thanks”, she whispered as I tucked her in.  ”Night, Daddy… don’t let the bed bugs bite.”  She smiled and closed her eyes.   As I walked out of her room, down the hall and back to bed the parable of the lost sheep came to mind.  Jesus tells the story of the shepherd who had a hundred sheep and one of them got lost.  He says when that happened, didn’t the shepherd leave the ninety-nine and go look for the one.  And when he found it, he returned and rejoiced.  Jesus goes on to tell us that that is how God looks on us when we who are lost come to Him.   Even in the middle of the night, startled out of a sound sleep, how could I as a father not respond to my little girl who’s little lamb was missing.  In the same way, our heavenly Father is ready to respond.  All He is waiting for is for us to come to Him and share our concerns and burdens.  As my head hit the pillow, I smiled to myself as I thought of how much comfort I brought my child.  God wants to do the same for each one of us if we’ll let Him.   I hope that thought comforts you today.

A Friend Has Gone Home

You know how sometimes in life, you get to know someone (although it may be brief) but they make a lasting impact.  Bill Becker is one of those people.  Our paths crossed at our church (Shore Fellowship) less than a year ago.  He had come off a bout of cancer and I was in the middle of mine.  We connected.  He shared with me that I was an encouragement to him as he read my blog during my journey through Leukemia.  Interestingly enough as the next several months unfolded, Bill became an encouragement to me.  His cancer returned.  Ups and downs. Uncertainty. Good news.  Not so good news.  Through it all, Bill praised his Creator.  If you haven’t seen an interview I did with him over 3 months ago, you need to.  Bill passed peacefully to glory last evening.  My families thoughts and prayers are with his wife Kathy and his family.  Bill was and still is an inspiration to so many.  The apostle Paul reminds us in a letter to Timothy that it should be our goal as believers to be able to say with him,  ”I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.”  Bill has done just that.  You can say nothing greater of a person than that they were a “friend of God”.  Bill was not only a friend to so many of us,  he was and is today “a friend of God”.  Thanks for touching our lives Bill.  Thanks for crossing our paths.  We are all so much richer for having known you.Bill Becker Testimony