At least 675 allied troops have also died in the war, according to an AP tally. They include 288 from Britain.
NOW, please let me give you a little extra information: What happens when they come home, after looking after YOU.
???
You guessed it: We don’t look after them. Hardly even say ‘thanks’ in fact.
And worse, still….
We let them come back into a shitty economy, and do almost Nothing to bring them up to speed, help them out, show them what they need to learn to get a job – in a world that’s moved on and changed radically since they enlisted:
Sure, Google was around – but Twitter was still a gleam in its creators eyes, and who knew what the hell Foursquare was? I bet many of you reading still don’t know - but don’t worry, so much new stuff comes out every month, who can keep up with it all?
Not our servicemen and women, that’s for sure. We let them risk their lives for us, then dump them on the shore when they get home without so much as a pat on the back. So it’s no big surprise to learn the following information from ‘Hire A Hero’ (www.hireahero.org ) – an organistation that’s doing everything it can to help our Veterans:
“the unemployment rate for our military Veterans averages two to three times that of their civilian peers. In the key age group of 22-24 year olds the unemployment rate for veterans is as high as five times that of their peers who chose not to Serve their country as a member of the Armed Forces.”
Those are disgusting statistics. We should ALL hang our heads in shame.
More than that, we should DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
Think about it: Why would you NOT hire a Hero? The ex-military staff I’ve had in my business have been some of the Best, Brightest, most Focused and by far the most Courteous and Polite team members we’ve ever had. And the most EFFECTIVE at ‘getting the job done’. (No big surprise there – think about the challenges they had to overcome in their previous employment).
So since we OWE them, and since they’ll Do A Better Job Than Anyone Else…. Why don’t we HIRE them?
C’mon, America – get your priorities Straight, and Look After those who Looked After YOU.
I know I will…
And if you’re a Veteran reading this who needs a job.. Come on down – our doors are open, and we’ll do our best to find a place for you here.
And…
We’ll say “Thank YOU”.
Thank God Google’s idea of customer service is to ‘let the customers do it for themselves’ (a paraphrasing of a recent comment made by someone in Google about how they intend to handle local business advertiser customer enquiries – by FAQs!)
I thought they were joking when I read that about their new push into ‘local’, till I saw the recent disastrous new Google Nexus phone launch, where once again they offered ‘customer service’ via FAQs (!) for new customers having problems with their new Nexus phones.
Amazing.
Thank you God, and thank you Google – if you’re not already one and the same being…
‘Cos if you actually performed REAL customer service to your small business customers, companies like mine might be having problems, struggling to compete. So, a BIG thank you for under-serving small business customers, thankfully allowing us take up the slack – and for allowing us to find a profitable niche in the marketplace as a result – phew!
But, as easy as it is to be a ‘google-basher’ (such a popular sport, in Australia they call it ‘tall Poppy syndrome’ – the tallest flower gets the attention – and the chop)…
If you stop to think about it, almost every venture-backed silicon-valley internet dream likes to use FAQs for customer enquiries…
But do you know what that really stands for? (A friend of mine recently thought GFE meant ‘good faith estimate’, and I had to assure him that the term means something quite different in common use today).
So let me tell you what FAQs REALLY stand for: They do NOT mean ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ as you may have once thought…
In reality they mean “We’re too lazy, greedy, and cheap to staff a real customer service line, we’d rather You spend Your day trying to figure this shit out rather than actually help you, ‘cos we make lots more money that way”…. Or perhaps more succinctly put..
“You want Real Service??? Faaar Q!”
And have a nice day.
Why’s it so difficult for companies to deliver excellent customer service?
I expect the answer is one of those ‘business is easy’ questions. You know – business IS essentially easy, right? Find out what people want, and how much they’re prepared to pay for it. Find how to deliver that with a positive margin, communicate the offer, and boom! Done. Right?
As with all subjects I studied at school, the simpler the question, the more complicated the answer…
So, I suspect that delivering excellent customer service is one of those – ‘oh my God it’s so simple, can’t you see it’ questions, that actually has many small components which all have to be working perfectly in synch, for the customer service process to work at all… Maybe.
So, I thought you’d like to hear of some of my recent adventures in customer service – the disasters are amusing as hell to me, as it’s just laughable how bad some people can be. I say ‘people’, because it always annoys me how we (as customers) assume we’re dealing with an ‘entity’ – we’re not – we’re dealing with a large (or small) group of people who comprise that entity. It’s not a thing, it’s a ‘who’. Perhaps that’s a part of the Answer… Maybe..
Fun with Citibank:
So they sent me this letter saying how they’re sorry that they’re having to cancel my credit watch service, because they can’t bill me anymore…
And I said. ‘What credit watch service’? Never signed up for one.. Let me call. So I did.
1 800 xxx xxxx (etc)
They (no big surprise here) were in the Philippines. The (actually very polite, but unfortunately untrained) girl on the phone assured me that I had signed up for this, and that I only had to give them my new card, and they could resume billing me.
“But don’t you see, I’m calling to cancel this, not restart it”…. ‘Well sir, I can’t cancel it, you see, because it’s already cancelled. If you can give me your card I can restart it for you, but I can’t cancel it because you’re already’… (etc).
“OK…. I get it. But I never signed up for this”
‘Yes you did’
“No I didn’t”.
‘Yes you did’
“No I didn’t”.
‘Yes you did’
“No I didn’t”.
(etc).
This went on for a few minutes, then I sensibly attempted to stop the ‘did-didn’t-did-didn’t’ fun and games by asking for the record of my enrollment….
‘Ah yes sir, we have complete records showing you signed up for this here’.
“Great! Let me see them!”
‘Well, actually, what we have is a recording of your enrollment’.
“Fine! Brilliant! Let me hear it”…
‘Ah, well, we don’t have that here. You’ll have to call our head office on another number. Let me give it to you. It’s 1 866 xxx xxxx.’ (etc).
Here we go again:
So I called and listened to the obligatory 5 minutes of menu options, until I’d figured out how to get to an operator (entering your account number’s not very helpful when you don’t have one!)…
Then another ‘your wait time is estimated to be 6 minutes – we’re looking forward to providing great service (yeah, right!) to you’….
After going through the whole story once again, (I think it took about another 30 minutes) I heard that, No, they don’t have that recording here, you have to call our head office.
Let me give you that number…. It’s 1 800 xxx xxxx..(etc).
I called.
I recognized the voice.
I was back with my helpfully unhelpful girl in the Philippines, again.
Unbelievable!
This time I actually ranted and raved. Well, mostly ranted – which I hate to do – you’ll know this because my business has it’s own customer care department, so I know how tough an irate customer can be on us all (we’re just people, remember???)….
But I ranted. I did. And I’m not that ashamed of it, really. How can their system be so dumb as to send people in circles?….
And guess what? I eventually made it to speak to someone in the States.
Who could do nothing for me.
They assured me it was my assistant who had signed up for it on my behalf. It was Her they had on the recording, they said. “That’s just fine”, I said. “Did she sound Manly to you???”
So I went around the world with Citibank, and got nowhere, and learned nothing… except, maybe, to Bank Somewhere Else.
Maybe it was worth it for that valuable piece of information… Maybe…
Can you get me the number for Verizon Fios?
I love DirectTV. Beats the hell out of my old Adelphia cable, that’s for sure. I get 3 TV’s with all the channels, and I get free weather forecasting…
In California, we have 9 months of dry, and 3 months of wet. Coming from England where it’s exactly the reverse, I find this quite refreshing.
And the rains when they come aren’t the piddling little showers you get in the English countryside that make the cucumber sandwiches soggy….
No, these are ‘American-sized raindrops’. Large, unapologetic and dramatic as hell. Idiots in my neighborhood call and complain their trash bins and cars have careened down the hill in the rain… ‘Madam, where do you live?’
“Coldwater Canyon”.
‘OK, Maam. If you could please look up the definition of ‘Canyon’, you’ll note that it says ‘river valley’ – does this now make more sense for you?’
But I digress…
The free weather service is just another great feature of satellite TV… I don’t have to wait for the rain to fall to know there’s a thunder cell above me – the TV cuts out.
So I have 9 months of TV and 3 months without. Again, the reverse of England (where TV is more of a suggestion than a service) and still rather refreshing, actually….
But then the TV actually went wrong in a ‘dry month’. Now that’s just not fair.
So I called them. Bit of a mistake, that.
“My TV won’t work”.
‘What’s it doing?’
“It’s not on, that’s what it’s doing – nothing. The power is on, the lights are on, but nothing’s happening”.
‘Ah. Well. Our system’s down right now’.
“So, you’re saying that’s what the problem is?”
‘No, I can’t tell you what the problem is. You see, our system’s down’.
“OK. Let me try to ask the question more simply. Are you saying that the system being down is not the cause of the problem?”
‘No’.
“Aarrrgggghhhh”.
‘I can’t tell you what’s wrong, ‘cos our system’s down’.
(This worthless banter continues for about 10 more minutes, and I’m still getting nowhere).
“I give up. How about I forget about this for tonight, and you send someone round to fix it tomorrow”
‘I can’t do that for you’.
“Why NOT?!”
‘Our system’s down, so I can’t schedule anything. We take the system down on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and I can’t do anything while it’s down’.
“So why did you answer the phone?”
‘That’s my job. I’m in customer service’ (phew!)
“OK, so how about this. You write my number down on a Post-it, and someone can call me when your system’s back up. Would that work?”
‘No, I can’t do that for you.’
“OK. Tell you what. I spend $250 / month with you guys and I’ve been doing it for years… Could you help me out, (Said MOST facetiously) and instead get me the phone number for Verizon FiOS?”
(Silence on the line for 4 minutes).
“Where on earth did you go?”
‘I was getting that number for you, sir’.
“You mean you seriously thought it would be better to give me the number of your direct competitor, rather than actually handle my request?
‘Yes’.
“Aarrrgggghhhh”.
Sorry if this sounds biased…
OK. So you know I’m a Brit living in LA. And I LOVE LA, I really do. Love the States, actually – all of it. The place, the people, the whole damn thing. I always wanted to live here, and am pleased as punch that I do now. No more ‘nanny state’, no more labor government (no more socialism – watch it, Obama, please!)…
So it’s with a heavy heart that I have to tell you about my Great Example of Perfect Customer Care. (Please note that I changed out the word ‘service’ – there’s a reason for that, and I’ll come to it later)…
Yes, I love America. Yeah, yeah, yeah…
But I do miss England – very much. Especially the people and places where I grew up, in Sleepy, Rural Norfolk.
OK, so who knows Norfolk? That’s right: Almost nobody.
So, let me explain. It’s the bit of England on the right hand side – go up about as far from London as Cambridge, then hang a hard right, and go to the sea.
The only people who go there are the people actually going there, or living there. No-one goes ‘through’ Norfolk to get anywhere – you can’t, you’ll be in the North Sea.
So it’s the very definition of ‘sleepy’. Quiet, genteel, agricultural and un-spoilt (except for a few London ‘yahoos’ who visit in the summer time….and me.)
Cosmopolitan and sophisticated, it is not. Ask a local for directions somewhere, and he’ll say
“Well, you don’t start from here”…..
Well, this summer we went to beautiful, rural Norfolk….We rented a pretty farmhouse overlooking the water. Turns out it’s owned by the local Lord, who has about 30 of these wonderful properties… Very nice, very sunny, very rural – Perfect…. Except for the flies, who seem to have taken residence in the house ahead of us – but other than that – perfect.
I planned a party, got a car-full of booze, organized caterers, and invited 50 friends around – who I hadn’t seen in over 10 years – to enjoy the fabulous view and beautiful Norfolk summer evening with me and my family…
And at the last minute – realized I had CDs, but no working stereo system in the house.
So I called our local Lord’s ‘Customer Care’ line, and told them of my dilemma.
And…. In rural, unsophisticated, sleepy Norfolk…
I experienced one of the most Perfect examples of Customer Care, ever. (Please note again, I didn’t say ‘service’).
Within 30 minutes, an electrician arrived at the house.
He apologized – he’d normally get here in 20 minutes (!), but he explained what happened:
‘So my boss says you needed a CD player and asked if we had one. I told him we did, but I didn’t think it was very good – it sometimes used to ‘stick’ and so I wasn’t happy with it. He told me “well, you better go get a new one then, hadn’t you?”. So I did’
“You mean the thing you’re taking out of the box is a brand new stereo system, that you bought and delivered just for me?”
‘That’s right’.
“Wow!” “But what’s with the maid? I didn’t call for them” (the electrician was accompanied by the cleaning lady).
‘Oh that’ he said ‘well, when you spoke on the phone you said you needed the stereo for a party…. And I know how these flies can be a bother, so we thought we should do a bit of a clean and tidy for you – make it a nice party for you and your friends’
“That’s absolutely Amazing – how incredibly thoughtful of you – thank you VERY much – please tell Tom (the local Lord) how impressed I am”.
‘It’s no bother, really. If we don’t make you happy you won’t be coming back, now will you?’.
STUNNING.
And in little old Norfolk, too – from a ‘Old English family’ renting out a country cottage.
Not from the multi-billion dollar company called Citibank, not from DirectTV’s sophisticated Satellite TV service, no, this came from a from a genteel country gent delivering a great local service. As I said: Stunning.
I wonder if you already spotted the Essential Differences that made the Big Difference:
1) It was a successful resolution – nothing can beat that.
2) They LISTENED to what I was saying. (Remember DirectTV saying ‘let me get Verizon’s number for you? ! )
3) They did it themselves – they didn’t pass me to another vendor / department / person – they Took Care of me Themselves.
4) They recruited others in the organization, and brought them along, so I could get Extra Benefits from the Contact. – Duh! This is so simple: If a customer’s calling you, you have an opportunity to Strengthen your Bond with that customer. When else are you going to get such a Great Opportunity???
They said the ‘Magic Words’: ‘If we don’t make you happy you won’t be coming back, now will you?’.
5) They CARED.
That’s why I’m renaming our Customer Service Department to:
“Customer Care Department’.
Because, when I call, I don’t want ‘service’ – I want ‘care’.
So, if you Care at all about ‘customer service’ – drop the ‘service’, and give them CARE.
And to my fellow customers, I ask you this – perhaps next time you call a ‘company’ please don’t try to get service by simply saying all manner of mean things to beat them up ‘till you get what you want….. Please try to remember that a ‘company’ is just a collection of people, and you’re busy yelling at a Person.
So if you call my company, please remember that we’re only just a bunch of people – people who care, people who want nothing more than to make YOU happy…. So give us a break, and let us help you get to that smile. It’s what we live for…. We really do CARE.
So I was thinking again, today, and…..
I wondered if it might be worthwhile to share some of the stuff I wrote for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
Don’t worry – we didn’t win. Somehow we were misplaced in ‘Media & Entertainment’ category, right next to AEG. (Instead of being placed in the ‘online services’ category, which is so obviously where we belong).
That’s right, while competing for Entrepreneur of the Year for Greater Los Angeles, we were up against the company (with 15,000 employees) who the month before had donated over a million dollars to the city for the victorious Lakers homecoming parade. ☺
Now, if we had won, THAT would have been a story!
But of course we didn’t, and that’s perfectly OK. It really WAS an honor to be nominated, and it helped us greatly as a company to get our act together more, as we prepared for more attention than we’re normally used to. I’m hoping we get to do it again – because we learned a great deal last time, and we know we can do better.
And some of the stuff we learned came from the introspection that something like this requires from us.. I was asked a bunch of questions about myself (which I found quite cringe-full) but these questions also gave me an opportunity to talk a little about our company – which I find far more satisfying, and a whole lot easier. Somehow it’s always easier to have the camera pointing away from you, isn’t it?
Here’s one of the questions I was asked to expand upon –
Describe how you create an environment of sustained capacity for creativity and innovation
Answer: I’m not sure why this is ‘hard’. The answer is simple: Attract and retain talent – then listen to them.
Perhaps we’re fortunate in being sufficiently small at eBridge, so that we can gather team leaders all together in one room, once a week. We examine our ‘Critical Success Factors’ of the business together, viewed on a large screen, and enjoy a frank exchange of ideas: We’re constantly surprised and delighted by the level of understanding that some of even the lowest members of the management structure demonstrate about our business as whole – and some of the very best ideas we’ve had as a company have come from areas we would have least expected them to come from. So we listen and give respect to every opinion in that room – no matter from whom it comes. (Example – a recent, excellent, marketing initiative was proposed to us by our head of IT – not a place where you would traditionally look for marketing expertise!)
I think all senior management realize that maybe living in an office under fluorescent lighting is not anyone’s ideal dream-life – and the simple truth is that this is where our team members spend most of their days – stuck in an office. Consequently we want to make it an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for all concerned – if we don’t, they’ll find other great places to work which will deliver that fulfillment. Of course, there are always some who are here just for the paycheck – but our ‘corporate culture’ is to 1) Have none and 2) Create an atmosphere of passionate enjoyment in our company – after all, if you’re stuck here for 8 hours a day, you might as well enjoy it.
Our passionate, committed, aligned staff are naturally creative – and senior management’s favorite moments are always when we’re observing other team members finding problems, getting together to solve them creatively, then coming to us with the proposed solution – before we’re aware of the problem itself. This is the kind of ‘team culture’ (rather than ‘corporate culture’) that we have built – and that culture, if nurtured by ensuring that the wrong people don’t get in charge of it, is a constant source of sustainable creativity – where satisfaction, excitement and fulfillment are the defining characteristics of each team members’ experience here.
OK, so it’s a bit flowery, but the truth is there – we really DO enjoy working here. Some days are easier than others, but we get the chance to try new stuff each day, and swap a lot of ideas – some awful, and some brilliant. And when we get to realize the thing that just left our lips was in the ‘brilliant’ category, it’s a rush and a thrill to be savored – and we get those thrills daily… So this is FUN.
Now, if I can work up the courage to post my answers to the ‘what makes you tick personally’ questions, I’ll add them soon… But not without a whole lot of cringing.
Do we ‘tweet’ because we’re really just lazy, or is it because we don’t have time?
Or do we just really not have that much of interest to say?
I don’t know.
Chirp.