The past few weeks have been particularly frustrating for me; I am of the opinion that if enough people are interested in bettering work conditions, customer service, or even the world in general it can be done. On the other hand if no one wants to take the time involved I do believe one voice can work just as well and in this case my very loud voice. When I say loud I am not in the habit of shouting loudly from the rooftops, I mean this in the sense that I use every available tool to get my message out there. Telephones, email, written letters, articles in the newspaper; so many ways to be heard and all of this takes time away from our personal and business lives, but in the end it is worth it!
Customer service, I believe is the key to many successful businesses, not just good customer service but excellent customer service. So when I am faced with a retail salesperson telling me that they just do not care about their job or doing it properly because they do not get paid enough money, then I am saddened and at the same time astonished at their attitude. When I am faced with a manager of a store making excuses as to why the stock is not out on the shelves and they are losing sales by leaving the stock in the warehouse, I feel very sorry for the person who started that business from scratch and worked hard to make it what it is today. When I speak to a switchboard operator at the end of the phone and that person is obviously bored and unhelpful and really could not care less I feel quite angry. I felt angry this morning because the place I was phoning was actually a cancer centre. Even though my frame of mind was quite happy and upbeat, what if a cancer patient who is not doing so well has to deal with someone at the end of the phone who obviously could not care less about people, let alone their job? What damage can be done by these people who seem to think the world owes them a living and they are doing us a favour; long term prospects for retail businesses that are not looking after their customers is gloomy in this ever evolving changing world.
I want to change the way things are, even if it takes me forever, I will make a difference, I am positive my one voice can achieve great things, because I care enough to try! So many people today grumble because they believe things cannot be changed for the better and would rather just moan and either shop somewhere else or put up with inferior customer service etc.
My day started out with me making one simple phone call that led me on a path of many more phone calls, emails and letter writing because I want to help the world become a better place and the worst possible scenario to this might be that even if its not better for anyone else it will certainly feel better to me! I am willing to share my better world with everyone and not feel cheated; in the beginning I set out to do something for me, because I cared enough to try, so it is a bonus if everyone else can benefit too from my one voice.
