Our industry is a little odd to say the least No I am mot going to dribble on about haw tech, or perhaps more accurately the software industry, has made the world a much better place. What really means me proud to be in this field Is the amount of personal accountability our C level executives take. Even Google the most anti-people company in tech, has brought on customer service reps for their enterprise and hardware products.
For instance, Apple’s Tim Cook wrote an open letter in which he took the hit for issues that Apple users had with Apple is mapping solution. He even took things a step further by getting rid of Scott Forestall the executive who refused to take responsibility for the issue.
Microsoft took things a step further by making long-time CEO and figurehead of the company resign due to the much overblown Windows 8 situation; more on this at another time. If this isn’t personal accountability then nothing is.
Time and again I’ve had to deal with companies outside of our industry and been sorely disappointing. My two favorite recent examples are 1-800 Flowers and UPS. Both these firm take pains to avoid any sort of customer service responsibly. For instance, the flower company has an automated message is your call them on a high volume day that simply hangs up on callers. UPS is a bit better -they will take your call but claim that their distribution Centers do not have phones. That statement is, if true, an obvious safety issue for their employees. The reality is that they “don’t have phones” really mean “we don’t want you calling us”.
The time has Come for these businesses to start being a little more customer focused.
