So being "Back in the Saddle" and all, back to work has me pondering. Uh oh, you say? Rightly so. Many know that my new job is an old job, something I did 3 years ago to "get by" when I owned my shop, but didn't make a stitch of money. I'd sworn, then, that I'd never let another Christmas go by where I couldn't afford both food and a Christmas Tree like the year before. It had broken my heart, and to this day, it will never happen again. So unemployment isn't forever, either, and neither is the duration of my sanity for seeing the inside of the walls of my home. I have given up on finding gainful employment this year, it's pointless. With more people out of work than ever, and sales stinking like rotten fish water, there are no management level jobs that a.) are available, and b.) anyone would take with a sane mind knowing that termination or layoff lays immediately around the first failed matrix month. So I decided to take a temporary position back at a national retailer(who I shan't divulge the name of for fear of breaking the no blogging rule), the customer service King of the world. It is remarkably brainless work, passes the time, and I get to shop and talk on the phone. What's not to like, true? Well, except the monotony of scripts and dialogs formed for me for expediency's sake. And the drone of too many mother's wondering which fleece hat is better? Who the fuck cares, really? It occurred to me today that I don't like doing this anymore. I dunno, maybe I'm becoming sullen in my poverty. But this particular retailer does tend to attract the wealthier clientele, and, quite frankly, they seem a tad petty.
So I sit, uncomfortably, for hours, answering call after call with an "intrinsic ability to create genuine welcome, and make my customer feel valued and comfortable" as my quality coach put it today. I think she just likes my phone sex voice. LOL, I have always been cursed with a husky, smoky, throaty voice, and hours of repeated dialog force me to tone down my voice so that I'm not hoarse . So I'm quietly sensual, apparently, and it earns raves from the leaders of the company. They like it. Hooray! LOL
I want to do something engaging with my life, something that seems to matter. I don't even know what it is anymore. I know that the longer you are unemployed the more difficult it is to get back into the field, and the more you begin to question yourself and everything you ever did. I'm at that point now, where it all just seems so damn pointless. Because perhaps it's one of the intrinsic reasons that this economy is failing. Perhaps we've pushed our retail into becoming devoid of any meaning. People lost the faith in the reasons why long ago...it's only a job, only a paycheck. They don't believe in the product, don't believe in the company they work for, and for REAL, most people can't STAND their respective companies. WHY THE HELL NOT???? We spend more time at our jobs than we do with our loved ones and we HATE IT?? I know some of the reasons. Many of which surround the fact that so many of these companies mistreat their most fundamental resource...the employee. And of course many companies have lost the faith in themselves and their products, so you get that trickle down effect. How do we get that faith and pride back?
My current company is a paragon of greatness when it comes to belief, value, and respecting their greatest resources: employees and customers. I may be just a seasonal puke, but my questions, concerns, difficulties, and levels of comfort are taken seriously any time I wish to address them. There is no length they will not go to to try and make my experience a great one. My chair doesn't feel good, I get to try out any number of different ones till i get one that suits me. Need a foot rest, no problem. Screen diffuser? Wrist guard? Stretch Break? Absolutely. And today a customer told me a story that was so feel good it made me tear up a little. He said his package had been delivered while he was away, and Fed Ex had left it on his stoop, as it was too big for his mailbox. He never received it, because it was stolen before he'd gotten home. He called us to report it, but figured he'd be out the 50 bucks he'd paid for his shoes. Was he? Of course not. The rep he spoke to replaced his items free of charge, no shipping, and expedited them. This man is a customer for life now. It cost our company less than 100.00 to earn this man's respect and business for the next 50 years. Not bad. It's things like that more businesses need to be thinking about. Screw 6 Sigma management. Treat your employees like they fucking MATTER. Treat your customers like what they ARE: the REASON you are in business. I owned a business, and I know first hand what loyalty from both pools can do for you. Employees that believe in you and feel valued will stick with you and make their sales, or quotas or whatever even in hard times. Customers that love you and feel special will return, and bring their friends and work hard at marketing you so that you will succeed because they WANT to give you their business long term. I know that somewhere in their dense little minds executives know all this. Libraries worth of reading materials have been published about this very simple premise. Yet STILL, they treat their labor like trash, and expect their customer relations to be amazing. Whatever.
So I may not particularly like what I'm doing, but I do appreciate being made to feel like it is something important. And in today's economy, I suppose that by infusing one small part of the shopping world with a great experience, and creating that cash flow still counts for something.
No comments:
Post a Comment