Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Service

In “The Eight Rules of Good Customer Service,” Forbes 2005, author Julie Watson states, “If the Bill of Rights was written today, it would likely include the right to complain.” We all complain- most of the time legitimately, but sometimes we do so to add a little dramatic flair to a situation or story. Regardless, we all can relate to the root of most complaints— horrible, frustrating, plain old, no good, very bad customer service.

Service is about much more than a just a person filling a seat, a voice on the other end of the phone, or even just showing up to work in the first place. It goes beyond the good feeling that comes with making another person happy and the pride of doing a job well. Service is about reputation. Service is about consistently meeting and exceeding expectations. Service creates and maintains relationships that people know they can count on.

I read our FAS Connect newsletters and am always proud at the multiple pages of thank you notes written by our colleagues. The services provided by those in FAS are essential to the very backbone of this university.

Just ask the student who Nancy Suarez helped in resolving a disparity on her student account. In her message to President Haynes, she wrote “I would just like to say that not only was Nancy incredibly sympathetic and understanding to my situation, but she went over and above to in order to fix the problem. As someone who has worked in customer service for years, I know that we need more people with her work ethic in the industry”.

Just ask those who were impacted by the power outage in Academic Hall on the first day of spring semester classes. Thank you to Gary Cinnamon, Ed Johnson and the entire team in Facility Services for not just fixing the lights but taking care of the small things that make a big difference.

Just ask those who have benefited from the new and improved services provided by our Campus Catering crew under the leadership of Roger Stein and Melanie Niedens. The food is delicious and the service is out of this world!

And just ask that person what a feeling it is to walk into our campus Starbucks and get handed your usual drink before even reaching the counter. Thank you to Angela Dawson and her amazing team!

Remember, you are judged by what you do and what you say. Service is everything.

A special thank you to my co-blogger for this posting, Candace Bebee, for her words of wisdom.

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