By Rich Kizer and Georganne Bender

A few months a go we decided to do a little experiment. We knew we were going to be in six major cities over a three week period, so we kept a journal documenting our customer service experiences in each place we stopped. We noted our interaction with every airline, hotel, restaurant and store we flew on or stepped foot in. At the end of the three weeks we’d had a handful of pleasant experiences, but we’re sorry to report that most were nothing to write home about. Several times the interaction was so bland we compared it to doing business with a vending machine. And some experiences were just plain depressing. Even some of the great customer service leaders, the companies that everyone talks and writes about, failed to do much more than handle the transaction.

Are we being picky? Maybe. After all, we observe the customer experience for a living, but we don’t think we’re that much different than you are when you’re a customer. And we’re certainly no different than the tens of thousands of customers who do business with you each year….. READ MORE