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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:The Digital way of working
Moderator:QUARK::LIONELON
Created:Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:5321
Total number of notes:139771

1056.0. ""Few Good Words" for the Road" by ODIXIE::BAHL () Wed Mar 21 1990 08:50

    Last week I was in Albuquerque, NM on a training and found a sheet of
    paper in my hotel room, which made me feel very good and I want to
    share those few words with yo'all (DIGITs).
    
    			== To Our Guests ==
    
    		In ancient times there was a prayer for
        	  "The Stranger within our gates"
    
    	Because this hotel is a human institution to serve people
    	and not solely a money making organization, we hope that
    	God will grant you peace and rest while you are under our roof.
    
    	May this room and hotel be your "second" home.
    	May those you love be near you in thoughts and dreams.
    	Even though we may not get to know you, we hope that
    	you will be comfortable and happy as if you were in your own house.
    
    	May the business that brought you our way prosper.
    	May every call you make and every message you receive
    	add to your joy. When you leave, may your journey be safe.
    
    	We are all travellers. From "birth to death" we travel between
    	the eternities. May these days be pleasant for you, profitable
    	for society, helpful for those you meet, and a joy to those who 
    	know and love you best.
    
    I hope you enjoyed reading these few lines as I did.
    
    Gulshan Bahl
    
    PS: Moderator, Feel free to move this to any appropriate conference.
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
1056.1humanizing businessODIXIE::CARNELLDTN 385-2901 David Carnell @ALFWed Mar 21 1990 13:1317
    
    Ref: 1056.0
    
    I like the way this sheet has "humanized" the business transaction,
    moving beyond just another vendor selling you a hotel room for the
    night.
    
    Perhaps Digital should consider placing a few good words onto a sheet
    for our customers, packed with the terminal, left behind by a Customer
    Services engineer after a site repair call, etc., all in order to
    further humanize the transactions between Digital products and services
    and our customer users and decision-makers.
    
    With regards to traveling, anything that helps take away the
    strangeness of being on the road certainly helps alleviate the downside
    of being on the road -- tell us the name of the hotel in Albuquerque.
    
1056.2STAR::MFOLEYPump up the jellyThu Mar 22 1990 00:027

	We'd probably just get slapped with a lawsuit for doing something
	like that... Part of being popular I guess..

	:-) :-)
							mike
1056.3Yup, I've been there alsoSCAACT::RESENDEJust an obsolete childThu Mar 22 1990 15:105
I stayed at that same hotel last year and received the same.  Likewise, I was
struck by the "HUMAN-NESS" of the action and deed.  Nice to know, that while
they want me for my $$$$, they still treat me like a person!

Steve
1056.4They are ...SCAACT::RESENDEJust an obsolete childThu Mar 22 1990 15:123
For those interested, the hotel is the Holiday Inn Pyramid, just off the 
interstate and North of the big DEC facility, and in the parking lot 
of the local DEC office.
1056.5BOLT::MINOWGregor Samsa, please wake upSat Mar 24 1990 07:1117
re: .2:

Of course, we could do something as simple as put a sheet of paper in
the computer that says something like:

	Hi, I'm Martin Minow.  I built your computer at Dec's Westminster
	Plant.  If you have any questions, or if something is missing from
	the shipment, please call me at 508-493-9922 so I can help you
	get your computer running.

	Thanks for buying a Digital computer.

	Martin.

And, yes, the phone would be answered by the tech who built the computer.

Martin.
1056.6Inspected by No. 23TLE::AMARTINAlan H. MartinSat Mar 24 1990 07:354
Re .5:

After all, they do it with pants, eh Martin?
				/AHM
1056.7SAUTER::SAUTERJohn SauterTue Mar 27 1990 09:4923
    re: .5---If we put that notice into every computer and terminal that
    we built, your telephone would never stop ringing.  Lots of the
    questions that customers have can be answered by specialists who are
    trained in supporting the product and dealing with customers.  When
    they get a question they can't answer, that would be a good time to
    get Martin into the loop.  Otherwise we'd never see another product
    from Mr. Minow.
    
    There are people who like dealing with customer telephone calls and
    are very knowledgable about the products those customers call about.
    
    (I know this is hard for product development people to believe; after
    all, wouldn't _anyone_ capable of product development prefer to do
    that?  I found it hard to believe too, but I saw these people with
    my own eyes.)
    
    I think the specialists at the Customer Support Center do a good job at
    handling an enormous number of calls per day.  Although it would boost
    my ego if I could put my name on every product I built, it is
    sufficient for me that the support specialists know that they can
    contact me when they have a question that they can't handle themselves,
    and get a quick and accurate response.
        John Sauter
1056.8Need for the "personal touch"BSS::C_BOUTCHERFri Mar 30 1990 07:3720
    re:0  Thanks for sharing this with us.
    
    re:7  If the phone never stopped ringing for the people that built a
    product, maybe - just maybe - that would mean we have a problem with
    the product that needs to be fixed.  Too often we lose sight of the
    customer that receives our products and services and we fail to
    personalize our service for the customer.  We need to look for new ways
    to bring us closer to the customer.
    
    Example, for the past five years, I have had my home phone number on my
    business cards.  Working in Corp. Accounts for three, now at CSC/CS, I
    have had three phone calls at my home from customers as a result.  In
    most cases, they were just pleased to have access to my home number and
    that was enough.
    
    This is not to say that everyone needs to have their home number on
    their business cards, but we need to break out of our shell and develop
    personal rapport with our customers at all levels of our organization,
    not just at the CSC's.  We need that personal touch ...
    
1056.9A Possitive Statememt!!!!WFOV12::MROCZEKWed Apr 04 1990 16:4717
    Hi there,
    
    About 7 years ago the group I was working with in Enfield put an
    800 number on the static bag over the modules we built. Most of
    what we built went to internal customers but some also went to the
    field. The 800 number was for a RED phone out in the process where
    the Modules were built and was answered by any one on the floor.
    We did not get a whole lot of calls but we did get some, mostly
    from System plants just wanting to see if it was for real and some
    from the Customer in the field, who wanted to say that they had
    just installed the Module at a customer site and it worked great.
    We really were trying to help people understand that we really did
    care about what they were finding with our modules. It was usually
    exciting when that phone would ring and people would run to answer
    it. For us it was our way of showing the personal touch.