(My apologies, dear reader, for my slow blogging lately. I've been on the road for most of that past three weeks and I'm working on another exciting book project. More to come on that one soon).
One of my core beliefs is that we are in the midst of a customer service revolution. A combination of increasingly competitive markets and technology that allows small voices to be heard widely (e.g. this blog) have pressured organizations to listen and adjust to the needs of their customers. This is driving tremendous improvement in our quality of life. And I believe it even forces improvement in monopoly-like organizations - for example, my trash collection service.
A few weeks ago I had a personal experience of customer voice that buoyed my belief in the Challenge Dividend and improved my morning commute as well. It all started during my usual drive into the office in the morning. Driving along a winding two-lane road near my home, I noticed that traffic was stopped and backed up for no apparent reason. I then saw that a trash collection crew was the hold up. At 7:20am they were clogging a busy route for commuters to pull trash from people who lived along the road. Every 30 seconds or so a single car would make a break into on-coming traffic to pass the truck, but most of us were forced to wait. Needless to say, this caused a bit of frustration and tension as I watched the minutes pass in my tight schedule of dropping the kids off for school and making it into work.
I figured it was a one-off occurrence at the time. But I began to see the pattern emerge again in successive Thursday mornings. It didn't make sense - why would the company pick up trash during rush hour on a busy road? There is plenty of time before 7am and after 8:30am, when the bulk of travelers are showering or computing.
So I did what any empowered consumer of the 21st century would do - I wrote an email to the trash collection company. Here's my note:
I am writing to ask that you alter the time on one of your routes. The
specific route is on Hwy 32 near Clough Pike. In recent weeks, your
trucks have been making pickups on 32 at peak rush hour, around 7:20am.
Their stops on this road back up traffic for several miles and minutes.
In addition, this causes safety issues for both car drivers who must pass
them, and the trash collectors who must cross lanes of 55 mph traffic to
pick up and carry bags and boxes.
I request that you shift this route to something much earlier in the
morning, or later in the day when the morning commute is complete. I
think it would be better for your customers (us drivers) and your
employees' safefy. Thank you very much.
Bob Gilbreath
As you can see, my goal was to help them understand an issue they need to correct. I tried to provide as much detail as possible, and made clear the safety concerns as well as multiple customers' inconvenience. I was unsure what impact this letter would have. The company is a private one with a monopoly on local trash service, so I was doubtful. But I was pleasantly surprised to receive the following response:
Dear Bob:
Thank you for sending us an email and bringing this issue to our attention. I will definitely pass your email on to the route supervisor so he can discuss it with the driver in your area. Our number one priority is the safety of our drivers and the residents in the communities in which we provide service. Routes are set up based on traffic in the area or congestion throughout the day. Based on your email it does not appear that this is the safest part of the day for our drivers or our customers.
Please do not hesitate to contact our customer service department at (513) 742-2900 or via email if you need any further assistance.
Thank you,
Carolyn S
Customer Service
Wow! A well-though out response with zero defensiveness. A company that is far from the front lines of customer service offering up one of the best responses I've ever seen. The best news? It's been 3-4 weeks since my note and I have not seen the trucks blocking traffic in the morning.
It is great to be able to improve my morning commute by applying a little pressure on this company. It is also nice to see a company who views my complaint as an opportunity for them to improve their service. That kind of win-win is what the Challenge Dividend is all about.
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