Being a columnist is a both a blessing and a curse. It's a blessing because I can write about issues that interest me. It's a curse because folks are always offering suggested topics to address.
Actually, the curse is a blessing, too. It's great to have folks share pet peeves and upsets and hope that I, through my writing, may give vent to their concerns.
They're aren't enough days in the year or pages in a newspaper to adequate address all these matters. People have lots bugging them. I can relate. I'm a people, too, and lots bugs me.
But one thing that's been coming through loud and clear lately has been the perceived lack of customer concern or service in many of the primarily local businesses with which my friends interact.
It's a well-worn saw that cuts this issue. People have been bemoaning this for years. I thought that company concern over customer service was getting better, but then I realized that it's generally the larger companies that 'say' they want to give better service. Saying and doing, however, are two different things.
The problem lies with those establishments that don't seem to have the customers' interests uppermost in their hearts and minds. There are numerous examples I've heard from friends and foes alike. Lack of customer focus is epidemic.
At the heart of the matter, of course, lies attitude. If a proprietor and her employees don't value customers and fail to recognize that their existence is dependent upon our well-being, then it's hell to pay -- for all of us.
It appears that some business owners aren't true businesspeople at heart. I wonder if they weren't salaried employees in a prior lifetime who now think it would be wonderful to own and operate their own business. There's nothing wrong with this, of course. This is America! But one wonders how much business training some folks have or just what is their true motivation for being in business.
I'd much rather deal with the guy or girl who wants to become highly-success (i.e., RICH!), because odds are that that person knows the key to their wealth lies in knowing and meeting very well their customers' needs.
Simplicity is at the heart of customer service. Know what makes your customers tick and provide it. That's the formula, nothing more.
But this brings us back to attitude. If businesses and their staffs don't accept this simple truth, then life becomes more miserable and difficult than it inherently is.
It doesn't matter how often I go into a well-known fast food restaurant in this town, invariably I get poor service and excuses, especially excuses. Many friends also complain about getting excuses in many other places. If local businesses were as focused on finding solutions to customer problems as they are in glibly and reflexively spouting excuses, all Palm Coast consumers would be sitting on top of the world.
Attitude. Do I want to serve my clients and provide the best quality service, as a goal of my business or job, or do I merely want to get to the bottom line or end of my shift? How owners and employees answer that question determines our overall quality of commerce -- and life -- in this town.
Life is life, I suppose. There's always been such hassles and there always will be. But if we ask those with whom we do business to view the situation more from our viewpoint, then improvements can happen. After all, we're the ones paying the freight and that should mean something.
Yes, it's a blessing and a curse to be a columnist. Next thing I'll know is that 'my customers' will complain that I'm always negative and all I do is vent.
Customer service can be a painful pill to swallow.
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Fred W. Apelquist, III, M. Ed.
Approximately 635 words.
(c) 2000