When I was in college, I worked at a movie theatre. Whenever I worked behind the vending stand, I used to challenge my co-workers to sell more nachos than me. The job, obviously, wasn’t commission-based. There were no prizes or rewards for being the best nacho salesman. I just did it to make my shift […]
Read MoreA couple of weeks ago, my furnace kicked off sometime in the middle of the night. In the morning, it was cold. Really cold. And I have a baby. We solicited the advice of friends and family, tried those little tricks you should try, and then began the calls to see how soon someone could […]
Read MoreSo, I’m in Chicago last weekend with my family and decided to take Baby Marlow, our 3 ½ -year-old daughter, to American Girl on Michigan Avenue. I knew I was in for an expensive trip, but I wasn’t prepared for the single most ridiculous thing that has ever happened to me at the register in […]
Read MoreI’ve come to think that the old adage, “The customer is always right!” is only useful for someone just learning service. It’s a safe way for a new or entry-level employee to operate. In my role handling escalations, responding to complaints and maintaining a company’s reputation, I have come to a deeper understanding, and you […]
Read MoreMost of us have jobs that involve customers and customer service, even if that is not in your actual job title. My question to you today is when is it appropriate to do something extra-ordinary? Chances are, “Do something special for customer,” is not on any forms at your organization, unless you work at Zappos […]
Read MoreThe dual Christmas and New Years holidays serendipitously fell on two consecutive Monday and Tuesdays. This meant: 4 day weekends, slow work weeks, and lots of time to celebrate and relax with my family. For the first time since my maternity leave, I had a lot of quality time on my hands with my son. Email notifications […]
Read MoreI recently moved. You know the story: packing everything I own, finding a day I could coordinate everyone I needed to help at the same time (and a truck, and a trailer), cleaning crevices in my house that haven’t seen daylight for the better part of two years (who cleans the top of the molding […]
Read MoreThis is a bad Reman U. I mean it. It hasn’t been thought through, agonized over, contemplated, speelchecked or proofreaded. I didn’t have a blinding insight nor did I have one of those everyday experiences that suddenly feels like an analogy for good work/life decisions. What I do have is a deadline, a commitment… ultimately, […]
Read MoreWhile job searching a few years ago, I kept saying, “I don’t want to work in customer service.” I was several years into taking sales and customer service calls involving lots and lots and lots of angry customers. I was worn down from dealing with unreasonable requests, “No, I cannot overnight a 280lb item,” “No, […]
Read MoreNowadays contact with your favorite (or least favorite) brands is only a tweet away. We’ve all seen it: a customer is angry with a product or service and they take to Twitter to call out a bad experience. I’ve done it myself. This gives the brand a chance to fix the problem, to make things […]
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