The Importance of Earnest Service

I used to take a Brooklyn to Manhattan subway to work from a station that was the first stop in and the last one out of the borough. One rush-hour morning the subway heading to Manhattan arrived at the same time as the station filled with smoke. Soon, across the platform, an empty train came from Manhattan and I jumped in it just to get out of what was an alarmingly dangerous situation.

This wasn’t a standard station in which you could run up some stairs to get out on the street. This station was so deep down that it required stairs plus a very slow elevator to get out. We could all have been trapped.

Neither the conductor nor the motorman in the middle of the train used the loudspeaker to advise passengers to get on the other train. It seemed as though they didn’t understand that their job also consisted of communicating with passengers about safety issues. Perhaps they saw their function was simply to get the train from station to station.

How many other people we work or conduct business with or count on have the same lack of understanding about the depth of their jobs and responsibilities? A doorman does more than open the door, accept packages and sort mail. A pleasant greeting is essential and reacting with common sense to emergencies are just as important as the obvious parts of a job.

Even though we increasingly specialize, nobody is exempt: There are many layers of responsibility and expectation with every job. People who don’t get this [should] lose theirs.

A fabulous PR writer I know couldn’t juggle projects or cover various topics simultaneously, key to working at an agency. Another former colleague wrote brilliant PR proposals and press releases but fell down on client contact. His arrogant attitude with heavy doses of–  “if you don’t work in NYC you aren’t worth my time”– turned off clients most of whom were far smarter than he and from elsewhere.

Contractors who don’t get that the updates about disruptions to a remodeling schedule are as important as impeccable workmanship; haughty or disinterested restaurant wait staff; collaborators who don’t share and customer service people with chips on their shoulders have all missed important layers.

What are some less conspicuous aspects of the job you have–or the jobs you’ve observed–that must be done as well as the obvious and in a timely fashion? Do you think employers don’t always point them out? Should they have to?

Case I. A middle aged postman delivers the office mail. Although there are seven businesses here, some with several employees, we get little USPS mail. Envelopes and junk mail are usually scrunched together by several thick, tight rubber bands. One of the pieces in this particular pack was a 9×12 envelope, with cardboard to keep the contents flat. To accommodate the mailman, it was folded along with the rest of the stuff and the contents were ruined.

Case II. As a result of my stolen wallet, [reported here on January 21 in "Service of Opportunity"], I received a letter from the fraud department of one of the credit card issuers. The bank’s missive asked me to sign and return the letter. I could do it only after changing the sentence in which I was asked to swear that I had never used the credit card. Well, I had used it–until it was stolen. So I amended the letter to say I had not used it “since it was stolen on January 17.”

The letter also listed as fraudulent a charge I’d approved when reporting the theft. [This meant my taking time to warn the recipient about the situation and to ask them to let me know if the money bounced.]

The letter did not list the online purchase I was told had been made after the card was stolen. I’ve just learned that nothing was stolen. The amount quoted as spent, by the clerk to whom I reported the stolen card, was my total expenditure of the previous month.

Lastly, it became a game for me to figure out where to return the signed form. The paper was plain–no letterhead–and the address elements were sprinkled here and there over the sheet.  No return envelope came with the query.

Case III. One of this blog’s readers, graphic designer Iris Bell, sent in this malfunction. A drugstore chain in New York, Duane Reade, has a new website as part of its redesign, she noted. She wrote that she was “just told by their Customer Service department that: ‘Unfortunately, our website is not Mac-compatible.’” And Iris concluded: “Amazing. I don’t know if their site works on smartphones.”

I wonder how many slipshod moves are made because of lack of training, thinking, caring or supervision or maybe plain stupidity or boredom? Shouldn’t folly be caught by a supervisor, or have all the supervisors been fired?

A loss leader draws customers. Retailers, restauranteurs–anyone, actually–expect to sell the item at a loss [or maybe not at all].

I got the idea for this post from the cover of the ThursdayStyles section of The New York Times on January 28. The construction of the bodice and bow at the waist of the featured gown by John Galliano for Dior did not allow the wearer to do anything but stand all night: Sitting either for dinner or scatological reasons would be impossible because the elements would attack–dig or slap–nor could you ballroom dance or be hugged while wearing it. The bow is too huge and stiff. So why bother design such a gown? The Galliano and Dior names–and the dress–were featured prominently in coverage of this year’s Paris haute couture shows so it served its purpose.

I was for a brief period in the food business. There I learned that desserts are loss leaders for restaurants because the ingredients are expensive and they are labor-intensive, therefore unprofitable, yet expected and fun to admire. Think of size 0 models and the self-consciously healthy who inhabit four star restaurants: They would never order the amazing pastries or sugary concoctions on display on silver trays or rolling carts. The lower end of restaurant chains feature desserts, even though dinner portions can be gargantuan. Much of the time even dessert-lovers hardly have room for coffee much less a sweet treat.

Retailers draw me inside with a window manikin dressed in a glorious pattern on a blouse which I know in advance won’t suit me. And I’m tempted by a fantastic pleated skirt on display although the ensuing dry cleaning bill would land me in bankruptcy. But while I’m inside the store, I buy a plain white blouse and simple pair of slacks–mission accomplished for the store!

One of my clients sold value-priced curtains and drapes. Nearly all their sales were of unimaginative weave and fabrication and in beige. Every market they would introduce wonderful, creative additions to the line that editors adored but most buyers were afraid to carry. Smart ones did because like the brightly patterned blouse, they’d attract customers who would usually buy something from the department.

Can you think of loss leaders you appreciate or have deliberately introduced to attract attention and sales?

Have businesses dropped visual treats and goodies to save money, while especially in this economy, they are necessary to attract customer interest and sales?

A reader of this blog, NYC advertising man Hank Goldman, wrote me the other day, “Aren’t there some things a person would rather NOT KNOW?!?!?!?”

He was referring to an iPhone app [application] that for $1 tells you who dropped you as their Facebook friend. Otherwise, if you pay attention to such things, you’d only know that you had fewer friends by looking at your total, but you wouldn’t know who the culprits are. [Maybe if you're dropped by a rash of friends, you'd best review your Facebook posts. That may be the reason.]

I agree with Hank.

I must be part ostrich, unlike so many who rush to Google to find out every detail about some new twinge. When I go for checkups, I am far more afraid of learning how I am than anticipating pain or discomfort from the standard tests. I know you are supposed to be riveted by how every vein and artery is functioning but….in too many instances the chicken in me votes for a head in the sand approach.

I never look at needles heading in my direction, be they for vaccines, drawing blood or delivering Novocain and in the dentist chair, my eyes are clamped shut for dear life no matter what. I also can’t look at car accidents.

I don’t want to know what’s in the traditional Scottish dish, haggis [made of sheep innards and other things]; I love meat but don’t want to see it butchered, and I arch my back when asked what I consider impertinent questions such as “what did you pay for that?” or “how much did you get for your house?” 

Should someone say, “For years I’ve been wanting to buy a laptop, a raccoon coat, a couture gown or a weekend home in Columbia County, do you have an idea what the price range is these days?” that doesn’t bother me.

I could never be a reporter who rushes up to somone who has just lost a beloved child, parent, husband or sibling and asks, “How do you feel?” Could it be because I know the answer? 

I believe that trade secrets should remain secret and war strategies the same.

If I’m supposed to know something I’ve learned that in time, I will find out the details soon enough whether or not I want to.

Are there any things that you could live without knowing too much about or are you a brave sort who stares the gory facts head-on? Is it easy for you to ask personal questions? Do you think you appear uncaring or disinterested if you don’t?

Volunteering is what my family has done for generations. I’ve done a chunk of it myself on numerous boards, countless committees and by mentoring students. I believe in the concept.

Everyone has their reasons: My Mother volunteered because she wanted to supplement what she gave to the organizations she supported. Volunteering on boards or committees of industry organizations can provide invaluable contacts, useful gossip–even new skills. Some feel they gain social standing and companionship. Others enjoy the work, accomplishing something and helping others.

I wonder: How did the volunteer model became corrupted by large corporations and small companies when they turn interns into volunteers?  I am irritated when I hear about interns working for free while their employer is compensated for this work–by advertisers, clients, subscribers or others. I don’t suggest that interns be paid a full salary, but they should be paid something. The words “child labor laws” and “minimum wage” come to mind.

In theory, interns take away more than they give: Experience and teeth to add to their resumes. Well known brands and industries with too many wanting to get in take advantage of the situation. But they are also taking advantage of young men and women. Isn’t this behaviour generally frowned upon?

Granted, it is disruptive to bring someone in to a team for only three months when it can take that amount of time for a nubie to catch on. But business owners don’t suffer this disturbance–their staff does. Owners profit from free work. There are employers who toss interns at overstretched departments instead of adding assistants to the payroll. Again, it’s win-win for the owner and yet another responsibility for the out-of-breath staff.

Do you think that interns get enough out of the experience that they don’t need to be paid? If a company has enough to do that it can benefit from the efforts of an intern, should it pay? Or should the company be commended for volunteering its facilities and staff to train the next generation?

My wallet was lifted from my purse in a library in a bucolic upstate New York village last week. When the state trooper took down the particulars and I asked if he thought that the economy was the reason for a sudden spate of robberies in this normally crime-free town’s library, he politely and quietly said, “and opportunity.”

I use the word spate as the library director’s pocketbook was stolen from her office three days before Christmas–two similar crimes in less than a month in this library is a first.

I wasn’t home for long when I got a call from the library’s director. She apologized. Her immediate response, the phone call and her concern were a surprise to me even though I’ve lived in this town for quite a while. I was born and bred in a city where you are largely anonymous and where a lifted purse is considered no more serious in the scheme of things than a head cold.

She really made me feel better.  She mourned for the time–until now, really–where theft wasn’t an issue at her library. She said they’d have to consider installing cameras [the state trooper wished they already had them]. She repeated several times as we spoke, “We’ve been so spoiled.” She is right. And I felt spoiled that she took the time to reach out to me.

So what else did I learn as a result? So much obvious stuff–what I put in a “gosh-gee-whiz” category and others would give a great big “duh.” I nevertheless share my findings in the hopes you will never need to use any of them.

**Just because you’re not in the five boroughs of NYC doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be vigilant.  [Darn].

In an early Woody Allen play, Don’t Drink the Water, he spoofs a typical American tourist in Europe. In the opening scene, she’s ironing, with her oversized pocketbook swinging from her arm. I try not to be a city slicker in the country, but I will no longer be shy about dragging my bag with me even for the seconds it takes to cross the library from the computers to pick up a paper from the printer.

**Remember where you squirrel the sheet of paper onto which you’ve copied the fronts and backs of all your credit cards. In my panic to call the bank and credit card companies, I couldn’t find it and my bills with the numbers aren’t stored at the house.

But all you need is your social security number.

Do make the calls the second you realize what’s happened. The perpetrator had already charged up money for an online purchase.

Don’t forget to cancel the bank card you use to pull out money from ATM machines. In my case, it required speaking with a second department at the bank.

The state policeman asked for the credit card numbers and it would have been simpler had I had them on hand.

**Make a list of any entities that automatically suck money out of a credit card account. I am sure I forgot one and it’s driving me nuts.

**You can get a temporary ATM card from the bank. [I must remember to return mine and I know this only because I asked. Wonder what the fee would be if I tossed it?]

**Turns out that I must wait for 12-15 days before I get my credit cards which seems nuts to me–they have all my information and know how I pay my bills. I obviously can’t use something I don’t have–aren’t they missing business? I’m told that American Express gets you a replacement card almost overnight.

**I keep a credit card holder as well as a wallet in my purse and I should have put more in the holder–spread things around. I do this with cash and have emergency money tucked here and there. But I use my driver’s license all the time to get into office buildings in the city and all but my business credit card gravitated to my wallet: Big mistake.

**Speaking of driver’s license, while I can sign up for another one on line, it could take up to 15 days to get: Another head-scratcher. Are people supposed to hitchhike for half a month?  So I plan to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles in person to get a temporary one.

**Ask the police for a written record of the theft. I was told I won’t have to pay for my temporary license if I have it and you never know how else it might come in handy.

**A friend suggested I check with the local post office to see if the person had dropped the wallet in the postbox. There’s only one box in town, in front of the office. The staff looked while I was on the phone and it wasn’t there.

**Try not to think of the money lost, whether in train tickets, on a subway/bus MetroCard and in cash. It doesn’t help. I miss a shot of my Mom as a teenager stored in my wallet and other mementos. My new wallet will be streamlined.

Do you have tips to share to help smooth the mop-up of lost ID and credit cards or to prevent their theft to begin with?

I wasn’t always this cynical, but I can’t help but cringe every time I hear a radio or TV station tell me to go to their web site to find legitimate resources that accept money to help Haitian earthquake victims. I similarly flinch when I see retweets of announcements that this or that organization, publisher or business is launching or supporting a fundraising drive.

For one thing, some of the stations that are promoting these “good works” are the very ones most of whose hosts can’t bear to part with a penny in taxes on their bloated incomes to help others. They celebrate the “free market system” that removed all the constraints that previously held banks, insurance companies and others in check, encouraging a dynamic of greed which in part accounts for the financial earthquake the world currently experiences.

So I smell a rat when they ask their listeners and viewers to go to their web sites-I see them translating each hit into future advertising dollars.

Can’t you just hear it? “Look at how generous and wealthy our audience is! Advertise with us and the same riches can be yours. Why, through our web site, we are responsible for collecting $X million to help this tragic situation,” all said with appropriately pious, self-righteous expressions. “Aren’t we wonderful?”

But that’s not all. In past crises, such as the horrendous tsunami in South Asia  in  2004, I donated money directly to a charity I knew was legitimate, only to be bombarded for years after with so many marketing pieces that I became frustrated and angry. I am certain that the cost of producing and mailing these pieces far exceeded the amount of my donation. I didn’t give money to support fundraising.

There are legitimate, truly well-meaning people and organizations. President Obama has charged Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush to bird dog disbursement and implementation as well as fundraise and help untangle the horrific crisis in Haiti. They hope to help a country down on its knees to stand tall on solid infrastructure. They, too, have a web site–www.clintonbushhaitifund.org. Maybe this is an answer?

What’s a person to do if they want to support a cause, but at the same time they don’t want to add to the self-aggrandizing initiatives of a company or subsidize a fundraiser’s marketing department? Any ideas?

Have you ever watched a movie and had to leave early–so you don’t know the ending? I like to know what happens. So here are some follow-ups to four previous posts.

Postal “Service”

Mervyn Kaufman wrote about his excruciating US post office experience in “Service of Ho Hum,” December 8, 2009. The who cares attitude he described struck us in other ways this Christmas, the first year that the postal service lost two packages-one we sent and one destined for us, mailed from the Midwest.

All we have from our lost package is the address and return address ripped from the book mailer packaging and sent us, with a printed form letter postmarked Atlanta, noting that the package had fallen apart and sorry, but the contents [wrapped gifts] were lost. The package, mailed from upstate New York, was slated for New Hampshire.

In addition, a letter with a check in it that we mailed to Brooklyn in mid-December has yet to arrive or be returned, and we hear from a friend who lives in the Midwest that she hasn’t received a bill from a credit card company for the past two months. All this happens as USPS business continues to drop off while staffing doesn’t. 

Fur Flying

We left Catherine C’s story in “Service at the High End,” November 23^rd, up in the air. Did the furrier find and return her lost coat? No. This is what she reported:

“I got a check from my insurance company, which will duke it out with the furrier.  I had to ask the furrier to give me a refund for the storage, cleaning, and relining of my coat (shouldn’t have had to ask), and I never got any kind of written apology.  I still believe the latter knows what happened to my coat.  

“I’ve learned some things that make me question their quality and make me thankful I’m no longer dealing with that firm. I’m glad I didn’t take their offer of a more expensive coat if I paid the difference in value between the new one and my coat. 

“I am in the process of having a new coat made at a furrier that was recommended by the style editor of my client, Departures magazine.  It happens to be a close friend’s furrier, too.  And I’ve triangulated and heard only good things.  This furrier stores on premises, which is good.  It’s taken me a little while to get my head around the whole idea of making a coat because there’s an element of faith involved in what it’s going to look like.  It’s starting to come together.  Wish I had it now!” [Catherine wrote this on a frigid day.]

Ring Up a Great Deal

On a cheerier note, I visited the same T-Mobile phone store that was the subject of the January 28, 2009 post, “Good Service is In the Air, Isn’t It?” Last year, I bought a cell phone with charger, earphones and 1,000 hours of service for $130–$10.83/month for 12. The purpose of the visit last week was to renew the account, which I did for $10-there were 700 phone hours left to use. This brings the monthly cost of the phone and service to $5.83-for what I hope will be 24. The charming and efficient young woman helping me had me in and out of the store in minutes.

Cup of Joe from Sam

And Sam in his coffee cart– “Coffee Service with More than a Smile,” December 15, 2009–is as welcoming as ever. His music transitioned this month from seasonal Christmas to energetic music with a Middle Eastern twist. He’s added a variety of cold cereal to his breakfast offerings and his prices remain reasonable–75 cents for a cup of coffee.

We missed him when he left a substitute coffee person to tend his cart on the southeast corner of 44^th Street and Third Avenue so he could visit his family in Egypt. The substitute had no interest in any of us–didn’t bother to remember if we took sugar, skim or regular milk and could be sour and rude. He also left each day hours before Sam does.

Do us a big service: Share some follow-ups either from one of our post topics or your life.

An assistant is more effective and crucial than the boss in some offices or businesses. He or she may even be smarter than the supervisor or business owner.  Kudos to managers who hire and encourage super-bright assistants: They feel secure enough to harness someone else’s energy and intelligence.

What got me thinking of assistants in the first place was a three hour marathon dental appointment I enjoyed last week. The dental assistant was one of the best I’ve encountered and I’ve spent hundreds of hours in dental chairs. Hayde Roman was so focused on the procedure that at times she finished the doctor’s sentences, anticipating his needs for this or that tool. She was also skilled and confident in her part of mouth-related duties, from taking molds to x-rays. The dentist, Dr. Kenneth Hochman, isn’t shabby either–he’s kept my mouth pinned together for years. His dental capabilities equal his team-building ones. Rose Melendez, a former best dental assistant, now office manager, has been at Dr. Hochman’s for years. Dental hygienist Jackie Gibson cleans teeth like no one in New York.

I’ve worked with the best and worst of assistants. The best was inquisitive, quick, fun, smart and great all ’round. She knew nothing about public relations or the specialty of the agency when she joined the office and picked it all up in a trice. The worst was space cadet material, so clueless I don’t know how she figured out how to get to the office. As she was the final straw–the impetus for my leaving that agency and starting my own business–I should thank her as horrifyingly forgettable as she was.

Some bosses hamstring their assistants, winding them up and telling them precisely what to do next. The subordinate loses the ability to think or make decisions, which is good neither for the business nor the assistant. There should be guidelines and standards, but I’ve found that there are many paths to a satisfactory conclusion and that only if someone isn’t thinking or is being lazy or careless should they consistently feel the breath of a boss down their neck. [In this case, they should also look for something to do that they care about and certainly be replaced.]

At the other end of the spectrum was a place I worked for my senior year in college. I reported to the assistant to the top clergyman at Boston headquarters of a major religion. She ran the operation giving him time to perform his religious duties. The place purred.

Some subordinates don’t understand how to take advantage of an apprenticeship and they resent it. If being the boss is in the cards for you, it can be a big help to have worked for a great teacher and to have been the best assistant in his/her shop.

Can you tell us about some memorable assistants you’ve observed, benefited from or worked with?

We’re supposed to feel good about a job well done. But when some people do their jobs, they seem to create even more work as a result. I noticed this most recently a week ago when elevator inspectors in our office building left the floor tiles askew and soiled–basically ruined.

During the addition of a guest bathroom, the electrician made vivid, black handprints all over freshly primed walls. He hadn’t protected the wall by wearing gloves nor did he try to clean up after himself.

I’ve assigned projects to freelance writers whose work is creative, accurate, fabulous, and submitted well within the deadline. Several, however, presented lousy work that I had to rewrite–and even research–before sending the project to a client for approval. Adding insult to injury, I’d then be under tremendous time pressures because inevitably they’d also have missed my deadline. The whole point of hiring them to begin with was to alleviate such stress.

I was totally amazed by a so-called expert who presented an article to a magazine I worked for with only one fact expressed over and over again so as to cover pages with words. When I asked him for additional information–I had a list of specific questions–he said he didn’t know the answers to any and wouldn’t offer to look up a single fact. When I suggested to the editor that we scuttle the useless piece I was told that the “author” was a big name in the field and that his byline lent us prestige. So we further perpetuated the myth of his expertise by publishing “his” article that we researched and wrote.

Can you explain why some people feel comfortable providing substandard work–how come they aren’t embarrassed?  Why have they no pride? Didn’t they get the memo that part of any service is to improve all aspects of a customer or client’s experience and not to leave a mess?