Service With a Smile

Yesterday was yet another day that I had choreographed down to the minute.

8:00 - arrive at school
9:25 - pick up a spare power supply for the computer (I go through a lot of those for some reason ...)
9:45 - hair appointment
11:00 - sign up for my new cell phone
Then, my plan was to return to school for the remainder of the day and be back in time for the kids after school.

All went according to schedule ... until I went to get my new cell phone. What was supposed to be a 15 minute transaction (to sign up and get my new cell phone), started at 11:00 (as I had mapped out in the schedule-in-my-mind) and it is still not complete.

It was one glitch after the other. And it just so happened that my cell phone number was 'lost' in the masses of others as it was being ported over from my old carrier. Some computer/Internet/? failure of epic proportions transpired yesterday. I was just lucky enough to be caught in the middle of it all.

The interesting thing about this whole endeavor to inquire about and change over to a new cell phone carrier is the service.

I was impressed by the person who I talked to initially on the phone. That one impression kept me wanting to go to this company throughout the weeks that I mulled over this decision to change providers.

The impression that I got from my (then) current carrier was one of disinterest. At every turn, I was referred to their call center. Will there be any penalties for transferring? "Call the call center." I was standing right there in front of them ... but they didn't want to help me. Begrudgingly, my wish was granted. But there were computer problems. It took a good half hour for the search to be complete and I was told my account didn't exist. I must have already cancelled it. No - I didn't. I had just talked on my phone minutes prior and I had made no move to change carriers at that point (but my loyalties were certainly moving to 'the other side'). It took 45 minutes to find out that there wouldn't be any extra fees.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that changing carriers would be a pain in the neck. So I had convinced myself that it was probably best to just get the bill switched over to my name (my cell phone was a gift from Second Son many years ago, so it was in his name). Again - "Call the call center" was the answer. This seems crazy, since we were both there and one would assume that they would require ID for this kind of transaction. But no - "this is all done in the call center" we were told. Twice (we tended to be disbelievers so we went to another location).

So ... we walked over to the competition.

Yes! They could do everything that we asked. Right then and there. In person. Hallelujah!!

Unfortunately, 'Aurora' crashed (their computer system??) as my transaction was in midstream. But the service? Outstanding! I found a pleasant, eager and willing employee to walk through this with me. It was frustrating. But this one person made the difference.

As my son and I were talking about which plan/cell phone provider was the best for my needs his advice was "It all boils down to service". I decided to let service be the deciding factor. And I'm so glad that I did.

If I would have had a disinterested, uncaring and frustrated (and believe me, there was good reason to be frustrated) employee helping me yesterday, I would have walked away from the whole experience with a very bad taste in my mouth. I would have immediately questioned this company and my loyalties would have been shaky right from the start.

Instead, I am impressed.

One person can make all the difference in the world. The front line staff that deal with people day in and day out can easily become lackadaisical in their work and attitudes. But when they rise to the occasion and attempt to make every experience a positive one ... people remember that (they also remember the disinterest).

I walked away from a day where I had every reason to be over-the-top-frustrated ... but I wasn't. Though this whole scenario had to be discouraging to the staff member who helped me, I have a feeling (because of the attitude she adopted) that she walked away from the day knowing that she had done all that she could do.

When you provide 'service with a smile' ... and mean it ... you are usually still smiling at the end of the day.