How to Influence Excellent Customer Service

This concept is a no-brainer, really. If you treat others the way you would like to be treated, they will return the favour in spades. So it starts with being friendly, and it goes from there. I'm writing this story finally for my favourite all-time cab driver, Charlie (his real name; he wanted it that way). He kept asking, "Where is my mention in a story?" so here it is, and it's about more than just him.

Charlie and I hit it off immediately, which doesn't happen that often with a cab driver, in my experience. Much of it is that we both had a lot in common: wisdom from advanced age, a love of talking to make the ride more pleasurable, a love of learning, and the ability to talk about just about anything. (I'm sure Charlie will tell me what I missed and what needs correction or modification, and that works for me because I can always improve, making the world a better place)

But let's go back to the importance of influencing excellent customer service and why that's worthwhile. First and foremost, it brightens your day and makes it more enjoyable, so your mood stays positive. You learn stuff. You actually don't want the ride to end; both you and your day go by much quicker. You aren't bored, which makes the world a better place for both of you, if only for a short time. 

I am developing a scoring system for excellent customer service, for both personal use and my new business, which is just starting out. This is the second card I have made, and there will be many more in the future. I only buy 50 at a time because the business is ever-changing as it develops, so the outdated cards, all with blank backs, make good notepads since they are on recycled heavy kraft paper stock.

Version 2 hit the streets 10 days after Ver. 1
Already up to Ver. 6 and will probably have 5 different cards for different business focus.

I broke one of my own rules here; no miceprint, and there it is in bright red, tiny, tiny print. The email address will change when the website domain gets activated, and Oz, Ozzie, John (my real boring name) need to be bolder, and the Make the World logo needs to go in it, and there needs to be a refinement on the company name; otherwise, it is perfect lol.

The scoring system is based on the old 1 to 10 rating, but excellent customer service means going beyond the norm, so it starts at 11 out of  10 for the first plateau. Charlie is a 13 and will ask why, of course. The highest rating I have given so far is for Mitch, my new Financial Planner at RBC, but he must be stupid, really. 

I'll let that sink in for the moment.

You are all familiar with the acronym KISS, and the last word is stupid. This is actually a compliment: Mitch made switching my investments from another bank to RBC so simple that he was the author of "Keep It Simple, Stupid," and I am also stupid because I like that approach to business. Mitch currently holds the record for my highest score: 25 out of 10. The reasoning is that the investments were significantly higher than a cab fare, and the money saved and the restructuring of my investment mix make it so. Essentially, I was investing in Apple 6 times. My approach was well above average, but according to Mitch, it can be improved further with some simple moves he helped put into motion.

This is a mock-up of a business card redesign that I did for Mitch's counterpart, who redid all my personal banking stuff with a photo of his current card on the right. Jake prewarned Mitch that I was a talker lol, and Mitch ate it up and went full-blown showtime with my appointment. Jake has a score of 11 out of 10, and overall, my move to RBC is in the 15-20 range right now because of all the personal contact. Minimal bot exposure, massive real-people contact with a sense of humour, and the only downside for me is it's a bit of a jaunt, but I often get Charlie for that trip, so that takes the overall score up a notch or two.

After I left the session with Mitch, I was crossing the street at a light to go to Burger King for a Whopper lunch, and there, stopped at the light, was my Purolator driver, Ryan, for whom I made a shirt to thank him. He gave me a friendly wave, and we had a very short, friendly conversation in the middle of the crosswalk while the light was about to change. Ryan is currently an 11 out of 10. We should hook up next Tuesday when I get a delivery from Long & McQuade from Dan Tran, who has worked himself up to a 13 out of 10 and is working on my second new keyboard in a week, plus a significant trade-in over the phone ($1119.62), because of the trust we have developed. He even told me what their selling price would be for the used keyboard I put up for trade. I was expecting around $500!!

Now, a couple of stops later, I visited Mike at Vintage Tonewheel Restorations, who confirmed I made the right choice in purchasing the Yamaha keyboard. Mike is also an authorized repair service for Yamaha and does lots of repair work for Long & McQuade and knows Dan. Apparently, Dan and Mitch went to high school together, as well! Ryan is also Mike's Purolator delivery guy and the only one who will take the extra walk to the back of the house to deliver stuff, going that extra mile for everyone, really.

I don't write fiction. Everything here is true and even more unbelievable than fiction. All of the people have gone the extra mile for me, and I will or have returned the favour in some way, be it a custom T-shirt, regular T-shirt, high-definition mini poster, custom coffee mug, etc., which are my way of saying thank you. What are the chances they will promote my business and direct some to me? 30 out of 10 is highly likely.

I also plan to start a certificate high-definition award they can stick on their wall at home or anywhere else they like, displaying their current score, all in the name of fun. It will include the make the world a better place graphic and my autograph for Oz, who can't draw a stick man to save his life in analog art but has a better handle on graphic art, he thinks.

So, Charlie, I still have to develop the award system, and I might just do it so I handwrite the score so I can buy a whole bunch of them at a low price because I plan on doing this with all my suppliers, services, friends, etc., but only if they go above and beyond the norm.

So how much do you think my life and theirs are better now? That number is growing every day.

Y'all have a wonderful day!!

(Grammarly is going nuts here. 69 suggestions or changes. I wonder how many I will dismiss lol?)

Oh god!!!!! I can't stop crying!!!!!

Thanks for the write-up. See you when I see you. 

That was Charlie's response to the email for the link to this story. Cab drivers have lots of time between fares. The world is just a little better today! That's how we all should do it!

Here's how I plan to "reward" Charlie: with another thank-you, because he is a good guy and is trying to help my business grow. This is an image of a magnetic sign for his cab doors (magnetic signs are sold in pairs). We will see how much time he has to read my blog, since he hasn't seen the final product, which was actually ordered today, right after designing it on a Saturday.

We're both going to be a little more inspired to keep up the excellent customer service with this gesture, and the next version will have the 13 crossed out with a 14 or 15 penned in above the current rating of 13. Turns out Charlie's cab owner won't let him put it on the cab, and it is also a wrap job instead of a paint job. Charlie says he's going to stick one on a passing cop car for fun. He is that for sure!

Here's an example of how it pays to do product reviews with companies like Vistaprint. They let you include a picture in the review. Their response is listed below, and they went above and beyond my expectations. It is a major reason I am now a Vistaprint Pro customer and will do significantly more business with them as my business grows. (Ozzie the Old Guy Ltd. operates in Canada only for now, and I'm developing the website in Canva. Coming soon!)

We are deeply sorry that your initial order has not arrived yet, and we sincerely apologize for the unexpected wear on the cuffs of the shirt you received from your earlier purchase. We appreciate you letting us know and sharing those details with us, and we are glad to hear that you love the print quality of the garment. To help your shirts last longer, we recommend washing them inside out on a gentle, cold water cycle and tumble drying on low or hanging them to dry to protect the seams. To resolve this issue for you right away, we have replaced the t-shirt. The order number is the same as the initial order, and you may track it from the order history or shipment notification email. If your request is urgent and you need an immediate solution, please reach out to our Customer Support team via: vistaprint.ca/customer-care/help-center.

I think I have found a primary supplier here, along with the 7 hours of Google Meet training from 2 superior support personnel. This is the first problem I have had with product quality, and the picture shows how minor it is. I did wash the T-shirt on the warm cycle, and the dryer setting was also warm.

Procter & Gamble promised to give me a prepaid debit card for a can of Gillette top-of-the-line shaving gel that did not spray. Coupons didn't work well either because none of my local stores carried the higher-priced product. It seems the propellant leaked out, and the shaving gel turned into a solid gel. I didn't think that would happen. Today, it showed up in the mail, and I thought it was just another credit card I was waiting for from my new bank, RBC. The debit card was worth twice the price of the original product I bought on Amazon. P&G sent a Mastercard debit card, knowing it could be redeemed at Amazon or anywhere else that accepts Mastercard. I don't remember the name of the customer service representative at P & G, but kudos to you for going above and beyond what customers expect, given what can happen in the mass production of aerosol products. I never raised my voice once in the telephone conversation, and P & G backed up the quality of their product with a quality response to a customer. 14 out of 10 on my excellent customer service rating system.