Active Gray Matter » customer service http://activegreymatter.org Create Options, not Obstacles Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:50:24 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 Customer Service Is and Isn’t http://activegreymatter.org/2009/01/customer-service-is-and-isnt/ http://activegreymatter.org/2009/01/customer-service-is-and-isnt/#comments Mon, 26 Jan 2009 18:48:20 +0000 Randy http://activegreymatter.org/?p=290 Continue reading →]]> When I made the decision to give self employment a shot, my first and only goal at the time was to make money. Back then, I thought customer service was simply addressing a customers’ gripe and making that gripe go away. Now, looking back, I see that what I call customer service is part of a lifestyle. If, when I wake up in the morning, I set out to live the “do as you would be done by” principle all day with family, friends, acquaintances, and strangers, customer service will take place naturally when interfacing with people who buy goods and services from me in my chosen field of work. It is up to me to set the standard.

As a popular country song reminds us, “Life is a dance, you learn as you go; sometimes you lead, sometimes you follow.” What I gave the older couple, in the bedroom of their Victorian style home, was exactly what they asked for, which was new wallpaper (Blog #10). What I didn’t give them was an overall view of what else might need to be done so as not to detract from the beauty of new wallpaper. Everything ‘old’ that isn’t redone at the time the new wallpaper is installed will show its age. Then sequence of projects has to be established. Removal of everything old that is going to be updated, then install new carpet, paint ceiling, paint trim, install new wallpaper, install new window treatments, and lastly bring the furniture and accessories back in.

In the end I was a de facto interior decorator (not designer), project manager, quality control agent, salesman and much more. It started simply with hanging wall paper. A wise man once said “Wisdom is vindicated by her children. ”When I began the process of applying to universities for admittance in the fall of 2005, my first choice was the University of Virginia in Charlottesville where my grand epic adventure of becoming a wallpaper hanger began. I took a day off to return my application in person. I wanted to visit some of the paint and wallpaper outlets that had recommended me to their clients, and just leisurely reminisce.

One of my fondest memories of all time took place that very day. When I stopped at Pittsburg Paint Store, Bruce still owned the store. I hadn’t seen him in 15 years. As we chatted about my new direction, he said that if I wound up at U.Va., and wanted to work during the summer he would be more than happy to hand out my business card to clients. Then he told me about Mrs. Williams. I had done her wallpaper 17 years ago. She had stopped in to talk with Bruce about redoing much of the wallpaper that I had hung so long ago, two hours before I showed up. The wallpaper was showing its age. Bruce said that she asked if he had someone “…as good as Randy Pepin to recommend” for her new project. Folks, it doesn’t get any better than that. Customer service isn’t solving gripes, it’s part and parcel of how we treat others in our day to day lives.

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