In Service to Each Other

I will continue the story that I started from my last post at a later date. Meanwhile, as most of you know, I live in a paradise called San Diego, California. Paradise however is under siege while I write this post. The attacker is mother nature in the form of fire. In the 70's, the band Steely Dan performed a song with the lyrics, "Here come those Santa Anna winds again...". Although the lyrics sound poetic and even mystical in their reference, those of you outside of California may not be aware that the winds referred to in the song are hot winds that start in the deserts of California and Arizona and whip back through SoCal raising temperatures (as much as 30 degrees) and drying the low lying chaparral as well as trees, structures, and our skin. So much so that San Diego residents pray for rain to come quickly each time the winds revisit us.

This week is the anniversary of what is known in San Diego simply as "The Firestorm". In that October week in 2003, residents in our paradise experienced the evacuation of 50,000 homes and the loss of lives (both human and animals), destruction of property (from ranch houses to exquisite mansions) and the bruising of the spirit of thousands of individuals, a spirit which has only recently been regained.

This past Saturday, the Steely Dan line was repeated in the minds of many of us who remember that week in 2003; as the winds started and the temperatures rose. Yesterday, the dry terrain exploded again in a new firestorm, this one much worse than what we had experience four years before. As I write this entry, 513,000 homes have been evacuated resulting in the displacement of some 600,000 people. Evacuation centers have been set up across the county in schools, churches, colleges, fairgrounds and the football complex (Qualcomm Stadium) where our beloved San Diego Chargers are scheduled to play the Houston Texans in a game this Sunday. Ironically, 47 of our football heroes and their families have been evacuated from their own homes mostly in the Poway area north of San Diego. You can probably imagine that Poway is one of the most affluent areas in San Diego county. Because of the very poor air quality we are experiencing, it is unlikely the game will be played Sunday, at least here in San Diego.

Yesterday, my fiancee, Duchess, and I gathered some blankets, pillows, bottled water, pet food, and any other items we thought people could use. We packed up our SUV and headed to Qualcomm Stadium to deliver our offerings. What we saw was the greatest example of internal customer service (serving each other), we had ever witnessed. Hundreds of other people drove their vehicles into the parking area and got in line to drop off donations where thousands of displaced San Diegans were parked or stationed. In a very orderly manner (drastically different from a typical game-day crowd), the amazing volunteers dutifully directed traffic, guided us to appropriate drop-off areas, and gave encouraging words of thanks. Because of their highly organized efforts, these and other volunteers, we were able to get us in and out in 15 minutes.

After dropping off our donations to the appropriate tables, Duchess and I returned to our car. Both of us paused to take a last look around and then we looked at each other and began to cry. I said, "For all those cynics in the world that doubt the basic goodness of people, they should come to Qualcomm Stadium today." Duchess agreed and reinterated that the sometimes hidden compasion of human beings seems to display itself whenever others are in need. San Diegans are no exception.

How does all this relate to customer service? Is not serving each other the highest form of customer service? Are we not put on this earth to be of service to others? I believe we should all be more than just occupants of this earth organization, we must be participants. Participants care about their actions, care about others, and care about the quality of the service they perform. Whether you are an employee of a corporation, a member of a church, or just an individual participating in the journey of spaceship earth, we should care about each other by doing the best we can at servicing others in our communities, organizations, and our families. We all need each other.

Steely Dan made great music, but I would rather people adopt a line from another song performed by my other favorite group - The Beatles, when they said,

"And in the end, the love you take, is equal to the love you make."

God bless San Diego.

D.C.

Disservice or Dishonesty?

Has this ever happened to you? You receive a call from a very enthused but obviously amateur solicitor who presents you with the great news, "I am very happy to inform you that you have been chosen to receive one of three gifts from our company!" This seemingly generous offering comes from a company who I shall just refer to as SV. The friendly female caller goes on to tell you that they are quite legit and they are trying to promote their company, new to our town, by calling at random several residents and giving away prizes that include: A 52" liquid crystal TV, a Chevrolet Expedition SUV, or, an all expense paid vacation for two to a great vacation place.

Although I would not usually bite on something like this, I figured that the least and most likely prize will be the vacation package and since I am getting married soon, what a great chance to get a honeymoon trip. I said, "I'm interested in finding out more." The caller proceeded to not surprise me by saying all I had to do is attend a "90 minute presentation" with my significant-other to listen to what SV had to offer. I told them that my schedule usually prohibited me from this amount of time spent doing almost anything, let alone listening to a sales pitch. I was assured that there would not be any high-pressure tactics, just an "informative presentation" that I could take or leave. Regardless of our interest in their services, we would still win one of the three prizes.

I asked the caller to send the contact information via email, and I would talk with my significant other. If I could come up with a date (they required a specific time in the evening for our presentation), I would contact them. She agreed.

We made an appointment to go to what turned out to be a nice office and on arrival checked in with our special "prize-winning number". Just as we were told, we listened to a semi-professional presentation about SV and the amount of money they could save us on travel. There were four other couples around our age group and everyone had a lot of travel experience. This told me that the company did a good job of narrowing down the demographics for the type of prospects they wanted to attract. After the presentation, each couple was assigned a single sales person to "talk about the presentation and answer any questions we might have".

My fiancee and I sat in front of a pretty lady in her 30's who turned out to be someone they brought in from their Denver office. These people are known in the sales industry as "closers". People who specialize in getting the sale and the check. My fiancee and I discussed this possibility before we arrived at the presentation and promised each other that neither of us would give-in to any sales offers, no matter what they offered us. We were there to collect our prize! The Closer when through a synopsis of what we had just heard, then proceed to try an close us. The great travel savings program would cost $7,000.00. Yikes! However, after nearly an hour of high pressure tactics, she gradually came down on her price until we were offered a discount package that would cost us only $1,000.00. We stared at her in silence.

So, the "90 minute presentation" finally concluded after nearly 3 hours. My fiancee and I stuck to our guns and left the Closer visibly frustrated and practically escorting us toward the door. Not so fast! We want our prize. Neither my fiancee nor I were surprised to see that our scratch and win prize card revealed - "A Las Vegas Vacation!"

To be continued...