Who says the internet is full of garbage?? Great post, I was searching for newspaper hartford and came across it. Glad I did….

I’ve witnessed a lot of shenanigans out there, but I confess I haven’t run into a case of problems being manufactured simply so someone could create the illusion of riding into town on a white horse with a solution in hand. Would I debate the possibility of someone being that cynical? Nope. Not for a moment. All we have to do is look at the growing prison population of downfallen former CEOs and Members of Congress to understand that too many, too often, place an equal if not higher value on the illusion of accomplishment than on actually getting anywhere. From a customer satisfaction standpoint, there are those out there that see delighting their customers are a corporate commitment, an integral element of the overall strategy for growth. Sadly, there are also those who see it as no more than part of their public relations campaigns. For those, as long as they can manipulate reality in such a way that it leads to a positive headline, they feel they have done their job.

Many years ago Hertz (before Ford) Car Rental lost their #1 rating based on customer survey data.

Budget took over as number 1 because they had more complaints than Hertz. The complaints were fixed or addressed in an efficient way, and this made car rental customers think better of them.
Hertz had far fewer faults in their service, but Budget rose in the estimation of their customers by dealing promptly with screw ups that Hertz did not have.

Budget would probably get more recommendations based on how they fixed problems, rather than a company which provided a “faultless service.”

There is more interaction in righting a problem and giving your customer service a chance to react. I have worked in some companies who deliberately create a minor problem, so they can be seen to quickly and efficiently fix it.

Duncan

Duncan