It should be noted that in the term "Customer Service" the Customer always comes first. Regardless of what industry you are in, you have customers. Those customers, clients, business partners, vendor partners, etc are what drive your business. You are, after all, in business for your customers. If you had no customers, you would have no income.

Customers write our paychecks. They also are the sole purpose for doing business. If you are in business only to make money, they your focus will be on that, making money. Customers know that you need to make money, they just don't want that to be the purpose of your interaction. Take zappos.com, for example. they have expanded their offering from just shoes to include other departments such as, clothing, bags, housewares, beauty, etc.

The customer experience with zappos.com is exceptional. Their tag line is "Powered by Service". And rightfully so. Zappos.com offers some of the best customer service in the United States. They have worked hard to integrate personableness with online shopping. Their front page displays their 800 number clearly. They want you to call and truly wish to help you once you do. Zappos.com is a compay who understands "Customer Service".

Where does your company stand on customer service? Maybe it's time to evaluate the service your customers have received. I'll never forget a training video I watched recently with Bob Farrell. It's entitled "Give 'em the Pickle". I'd suggest watching the video if you get a chance.

Watch the Video here:

Apparently AT&T thinks that it's clients, or potential clients are too dumb to understand the recent Verizon Ad.

AT&T doesn't claim that the information related to 3G coverage is wrong, but rather that customers that view the ads are too dumb to understand that it is only referring to 3G coverage, and not coverage in general. Read the PC World article

It amazes me how a company like AT&T can even speculate that the ad is "misleading" or that their customers are "too dumb" to understand it. It looks like Verizon will be getting lots of free press for this one. Great timing for Verizon on the verge of Droid, their new Android-based phone.

Over the last several months, I have been investigating social media and its use for business. As a user of facebook for several years I find myself intriged by the numerous ways that businesses can use to communicate with current and potential clients. As social media evolves to become today's prefered communication, many questions have been posed about its effect on today's youth. A local TV station recently aired a segment on the topic.
I find that I am able to communicate with customers in ways that were only once dreamed of. I am able to get direct communication from my customers without the use/waiting of e-mail. I believe that services like twitter offer more frequent communication points with customers.

I encourage you to consider the usefulness of social media for your business. Don't take my word for it, read what Duct Tape Marketing has to say about it in "Let's Talk".

Today started off beautifully. The sun rise was as beautiful as most dreamy sunsets. Today's weather was great. The morning was brisk, but not too brisk. The kind of morning that you would want to sit on your three-season porch drinking coffee watching the sun come up.

The day progressed in its beauty as time passed.  When I came home to pick up a paper for my son's school I saw my neighbor mowing my lawn. You see my lawn looked like it could be baled and fed to a small cow for a week or so.

Let's set the stage here. My neighbor is an elderly gentleman. He is still capable of mowing his own lawn with his John Deere riding lawn mower. The point being that it was such a "neighborly" thing to do. You see I tore my ACL in February and had surgery in July, I am still in recovery and not able to mow my lawn. My wife has been mowing the lawn all summer; except for a couple of times when some friends have mowed for us (You guys rock!). She has been unable to mow the lawn recently and Ed, my neighbor, brought his mower over and mowed our whole lawn.

He said he was just being "neighborly". You know, that is the kind of American spirit that our country has forgotten. Is it possible that the Americans have forgotten how to be "neighborly" because of our drift from our religious faith? That is the question that I'll leave unanswered.

So to my neighbor, Ed you have blessed us with a mowed lawn and renewed our faith in neighborhood helpfulness. If you were to have seen the lawn prior to the mowing, you may have wondered if we were going to bale it for hay. It even smelled like hay after being mowed. Thank you Ed!

The term "Clean Slate" refers to starting over, or a fresh start. That's what I've done for this blog. I've removed all previous posts, customized a template and now have purpose and direction for this particular blog.
To start off correctly with this blog, you first must understand that "a clean slate" is offered to each of us. Jesus Christ came to the earth to free us from the bondage of sin, in essence giving us each an opportunity to have a clean slate.
Each day presents us with opportunities to give someone else "a clean slate". Take the opportunity and run with it. Live is too short to hold grudges, start fights, and hurt others. Forgiveness is different from ignorance. What I mean by that is that it takes effort to tell someone that you forgive them. They may not even know that you feel wronged by them. Explain that you felt offended, but you were wrong, and ask for their forgiveness, as well as forgiving them. Ignorance, or to ignore the situation will not render the results that you wish. It will build up inside of you until you do ask for forgiveness.

Seek God, Forgive Others, Get Involved
mk