For a number of years now I have enjoyed conversations with friends about terrible customer service or great customer service, and it seems there is an endless supply of stories, especially here in the big city of Toronto.  We Canadians pride ourselves on our stereotypical politeness and our overuse of “please” and “thank you” but the sad fact is that the average customer service experience here in Toronto is mediocre or “good-enough” at best.  Here is the problem:  when we get great service, whether it is at a restaurant or while dealing with a utility company or any other service industry, we are genuinely shocked and almost overwhelmed.  We RAVE about the wonderful service.  Why?  Because it isn’t normal here!  Isn’t that wrong?  So I have created this category in this blog.

As a professional Communication Coach I train people in advanced communication skills which, as you can imagine, includes customer service, building rapport, conflict management etc.  Considering my job, I guess it’s fair to say that I’m a harsh judge of excellent service, but the other reality is that I am a very happy, positive person 99% of the time, and I go in to any interaction with a smile and positive attitude, and the hope that it will be a good experience for both/all of us.   I definitely do not try to be a jerk to anyone!  I used to work customer service myself (most people have at some point).

So I thought I would create a blog category where I can RANT and RAVE about the good, the bad and the ugly customer service here in Toronto.  Heck, there may even be stories in there from outside of this city.  It could be on the topic of public transit, restaurants, utilities, camera shops etc.  No topic is off-limits or too personal.

I can promise you that even though I will use this blog to vent a bit and let people/companies know when they have acted poorly, I will also praise the hard work of others, to make things balanced and fair.  My goal is to be entertaining as well as informative.   I think you will agree that my posts are quite down-to-earth, personable and I hope insightful.

I welcome your comments and stories, but please keep them polite and professional, so I can allow them to be posted.

Thank you!

Yours in pursuit of customer satisfaction,

Coach Ric