Who's Right?

November 4, 2008 -- I remember some years ago now that one of the first things learned at my introduction to the work world that the customer is always right, even when he or she is wrong, the customer was always right.  As I have watched the tide change about this, and maybe us counselor types contributed by promoting self assertiveness and positive self-esteem, I have become more and more perplexed that as a consumer or customer I find myself in the role of thanking the worker for allowing me to give him/her business- thank you for letting me spend my money with you instead of the other way around.  Now I whole heartedly support being courteous to whomever is assisting me in a store or business- that is common courtesy.  But somewhere along the line, it seems to have become a chore for customers to receive “the customer is always right” treatment.

In parish government- this is our goal.  We recently conducted our first quality assurance check on customer service and found that although the vast majority of our employees are friendly, hardworking, and dedicated employees, that message wasn’t always coming across, especially during phone contacts with the general public.  While episodes of downright rudeness were very minimal, the standard of “the customer is always right” seems to be pretty challenging during this Recovery and Growth era.  Adding to this challenge is the reality that the focus and concerns of the public are so wide and varied, prioritizing the issues of public calls is a continuous balancing act, especially on a stretched workforce.  While some residents are fully repaired and functioning “normally”, others are just getting started and the concerns and needs are very different.  Regardless, the situation is what it is and we must be able to respond appropriately.

Here is where one of those opportunities to partner with the public presents itself.  We have established some standards for our phone contact with the public and need to have you, the public, help assist us in identifying not only where the areas for growth are but where we are excelling.  Remember that many of our employees are bombarded each day by a series of frustrated residents who may or may not be frustrated with parish government.  However, our goal is that when someone completes an interaction with parish government their commentary reflects at a minimum, “at least she/he was courteous”.  We obviously strive to be helpful and courteous, but we must at least be courteous, even in the face of some pretty difficult confrontations.

So, next time you have reason to call or come into parish government, please let the employee know if she/he was courteous and/or helpful- it is great to get the feedback directly from you.  If there are specific examples that you would like to email into my office to let me know of a great or not so great exchange, please feel free to do so @ This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .  It obviously helps if our employees get the benefit of kindness on the other end but by all means “the customer is always right”.

God Bless,

Craig Taffaro, Jr.