Subscribe to my Feed
« When times are tough, it’s time to sing! | Home | Business apology Tip #11: Circle back »
For great customer service, check out … the U.S. Postal Service
By Lauren | June 10, 2009
Of all the government agencies that have taken a hit in the popular press, nobody gets a tougher rap than the U.S. Postal Service. We all know the stereotype: retired-in-place employees who move at a geriatric snail’s pace and whose sole delight in life is to fold, spindle, mutilate and lose any hapless piece of mail that falls into their not-so-capable hands. (Steven Spielberg had a ball lampooning postal workers in Men in Black II. They’re all disguised aliens? No surprise.)
But in truth, postal workers are usually decent, dedicated people who really want to serve their customers. I saw one shining example yesterday. Thanks to federal budget cuts (I guess Congress needed the money to bail out Wall Street), the hours at our local post office have been cut almost in half. They’re only open from 9 AM until 5 PM now, making it very difficult for working folks to use their services. But one employee - let’s call him Sam - went the extra mile for all the tired, frustrated people who just wanted to get their packages in the mail. Sam had to close the front door at 5 PM sharp, but he agreed to wait behind the building to collect and mail the parcels that his customers weren’t able to drop off on time. As one of those customers, I was very grateful.
Sam took a real risk by helping us out. A union worker, he could have gotten in serious trouble for bending the rules. But he cared enough about getting the job done right and making his customers happy to take that chance. And I don’t think he was alone in that attitude. Comedian Bill Maher recently observed that private companies could learn a lot from the U.S. Postal Service, a “company” that’s able to take a letter and, for less than fifty cents, deliver it across thousands of miles in two or three days. He’s right … and they do it one Sam at a time.
Topics: Business Ethics, customer relations, ethics |
June 16th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
[...] Of all the government agencies that have taken a hit in the popular press, nobody gets a tougher rap than the US Postal Service. We all know the stereotype: Read the rest of this great post here [...]