Customer Service

This afternoon I was involved in 2 incidents that remind me how important customer service can be.

In the first incident I was the one providing service; here's how it went. 5 minutes after my office closed the phone rang and I answered it. A mortgage broker needed information updated on our client's insurance. No big deal except this was the 4th time this jerk had asked me for a change which on every prior request I sent to him the same day he requested it. Twice he'd "lost" the fax, once we had to change the effective date, and now we're changing mortgage companies. I processed the change and faxed it in 5 minutes. Then he calls back and asks me to email it since his frigging fax machine isn't working. I did it and finally left the office about 4:45. Now bear in mind this is a transaction that doesn't generate any revenue for my agency, but it's the kind of service we provide routinely. Hopefully he won't call on Monday with another request cause he'll be pretty low on my priority list.



I then stopped at Pier One to look at furniture for my covered patio. Since I'd been there before I went directly to the items I was interested in buying: a wicker chair, some pillows, matching table, and an outdoor lamp. Probably about $300. I spent 15 minutes sitting in various chairs, looking at pillow and lamp combinations. No one said a word to me. Finally I asked an associate a question about whether the lampshade could live on a covered patio. He looked at it, looked the item up, and then told me he wasn't sure. I then asked him about the pillows--I wondered if they had a different color that was an "outside" pillow. Again he was kinda clueless even when I asked if other locations might have colors I was looking for. I even offered to leave him my card so he could research, and he said "well all the stores pretty much have the same things and we get new stuff constantly." Something about that response doesn't make sense. I immediately decided that even though I'm really interested in the items, I ain't about to buy them from him.



I make my living selling insurance. It's an intangible service that most buyers don't enjoy shopping for, think it's too expensive, don't understand how it works if they have a claim, and feel the insurance company is out to shaft them. I've had some people walk over a few dollar's difference in price, and I've had client's stay where my price is much higher. What's the difference: some folks don't appreciate customer service--fortunately many folks do and that's how I survive.