Professionalism...

[Bob]

This is just a rant...
How do businesses stay in business with no professionalism. It seems that being professional has gone out the window over the years. You go into a store and the cashier ,who is ringing up your order, is on the phone talking to a friend and hardly says one word to you...How do these people keep their jobs and how do places like this stay in business allowing workers to act this way? And like on some online forums I am on, the people who represent certain businesses seem to stir up and cause trouble and treat their members like garbage but yet they continue to do business. As far as my business goes I always make sure to present myself well, be curtious to others, and do my best to make everyone happy. I know I make some mistakes here and there but I learn from them. I guess I am just old school in the way that I think.
What is your take on this subject?

[Randyvous]

This is a subject that I have pondered quite often. All of us have experiences that reinforce almost daily that if true "customer service" isn't dead, it's at least on life support. Why have we as consumers "allowed" our expectations to be lowered? When did it become acceptable to treat our customers with distain? And, once we as a society have allowed excellent customer service to become optional rather than a requirement of doing business, how do you ever regain that spirit? I don’t know the answer…

When I think of customer service, I think of the old full service gas stations where 5 guys in uniform would run (literally jog!) out to your car. An extreme example, but can you see five teenagers of today doing that?

I seem to recall that Greenspan recently stated that we had transitioned to a true “service” economy. If so, where is that service?

I will say this though…I think Bob gets it.

I think that he tries damn hard to provide a level of service above the rest. And from my experiences he succeeds admirably.

[Bob]

Thanks!
And a funny thing you mentioned is the gas station! I have always wanted to open up a new gas station and have it be like the full service ones from the 50's. (I think of the movie "Back to the Future" where Marty goes back in time and they have one there.) I think it would be sweet to own a place like that. People pull up, one guy pumps and cleans the windows while another checks the tires and oil. And they do it all with a smile and a thank you. If I ever hit the loto I will give you all a free fill up at my station. :lol:

[BigLeegr]

I think some of it has to do with the "bulk discount" stores. The "Clubs" have exchanged service for low prices. People accepted this. Bigger (more employees) stores go through LOTS of staff. Most are paid min. wage, so if they don't stay at this job, they can find another at a similar pay rate. No worries on their part. No reason to "go the extra mile."

I think that the lack of discipline/positive role modeling as a child grows up weighs heavily too. Many kids aren't taught to give their all. I've actually read that some schools no longer fail a student no matter how bad they do! :shock: How is THAT preparing them for the "real" world?

Anyways, yes, "good service" is harder to come by, but if we as consumers chose to spend out money where there is service, we can help ensure there will still be some service for us in the future. :wink:

[Bob]

Anyways, yes, "good service" is harder to come by, but if we as consumers chose to spend out money where there is service, we can help ensure there will still be some service for us in the future. :wink:
I totally agree! I, for one, will always spend more, if I have to, to get better customer service.

[darkhorse]

It's ironic you would bring this subject up because my wife and I were talking about this last night. We currently rent a water softner from a company. It broke down late last week and I called them to have it serviced. The lady I talked to on the phone was very rude and obnoxious. They came out and verified my water was hard. The service guy looked at the water softner and said he couldn't find anything wrong. Well something has to be wrong because my water is hard. He had to regenerate and left and told me to call him if I had anymore problems. I monitored the water softner as it was regenerating and noticed it was not operating properly during the last cycle. I called them back the same day and I got the same lady on phone I had talked to the first time. Again she was rude and obnoxious but this time she kicked it up a notch. She was condescending (talking to me like I was a child) and sarcastic. She basically told me I didn't know what I was talking about. I convinced her to have the repair guy come back out and look at it. When he came out I showed him what I had found and he verified that something was wrong. This time it got fixed. After this incident my wife and I have decided they can take back their water softner and we will do buisiness with a different company. Needless to say this place of business was very unprofessional. Sorry for the long rant.

[Bob]

That is horrible darkhorse! I am the same way as you though. I refuse to do busines with a place that treats me rude.

[Bob]

I am having trouble staying professional today! :lol: I keep seeing these manufacturers selling their products for dirt cheap and running sales factory direct and then I wonder why my stock is not selling. Grrrrr :lol:

[Randyvous]

I am having trouble staying professional today! :lol: I keep seeing these manufacturers selling their products for dirt cheap and running sales factory direct and then I wonder why my stock is not selling. Grrrrr :lol:


Whoa, dirt cheap sales? Got a link, Bob? =P~

Just kiddin' ya a bit! :lol: :-#

[Bob]

Whoa, dirt cheap sales? Got a link, Bob? =P~
Just kiddin' ya a bit! :lol: :-#
:P You already know. ;)

[BigLeegr]

I am having trouble staying professional today! :lol: I keep seeing these manufacturers selling their products for dirt cheap and running sales factory direct and then I wonder why my stock is not selling. Grrrrr :lol:
Yeah, that does seem underhanded. If a company wants distributors, they should consider them when they have sales. (at least give a credit for X # of products so the distributor can sell some cheap too.)
On the other hand, if the company continually engages in such practices, perhaps this is an incentive for the distributors to drop the company. It's sort of a "vendor support" issue, I think. They aren't supporting you very well.

[Bob]

I am having trouble staying professional today! :lol: I keep seeing these manufacturers selling their products for dirt cheap and running sales factory direct and then I wonder why my stock is not selling. Grrrrr :lol:
Yeah, that does seem underhanded. If a company wants distributors, they should consider them when they have sales. (at least give a credit for X # of products so the distributor can sell some cheap too.)
On the other hand, if the company continually engages in such practices, perhaps this is an incentive for the distributors to drop the company. It's sort of a "vendor support" issue, I think. They aren't supporting you very well.
Bingo! I was talking with a potential new company last night and I was telling the rep that about how I hate when manufacturers run sales of their own and he assured me they do no such thing. Which I knew they didn't anyway. Don't get me wrong, these sales are great for the consumer. However when they run these sales and everyone stocks up for the year it does me no good at all and I have product sitting on my shelves for a lot longer than I want to.