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Marketing And The Speed Of Light

Mar 04, 2016
by Caroline Miller
15 Lesson On Innovation for 2016, forgetting the human factor, Robert Safian, speed versus service, the technology barrier, when business grows too fact
2 Comments

Speed in technology is critical.  The theory is that if you can get your service or product to market faster than anyone else, you increase your customer base.  Deliver pizza 5 minutes faster than your competitor, and you win the race.  That’s why  Robert Safian, editor of Fast Company explains, technology is pushing us to “adopt an ever-faster metabolism.” (“15 Lessons of Innovation for 2016,” by Robert Safian, Fast Company, March 2016, pg. 16.)

He could be right, but I’m betting he’s wrong.  Here’s why.

Recently, I had a question about my cell phone.  Did my plan cover long distance calls?  What I required was a simple yes or no answer. I punched in the customer service number, but didn’t get an operator.  Instead,  was met with an array of menus.  Suddenly, I felt exhausted, like a salmon confronted by a ladder on its return from the sea.  Eventually, the machine ran out of options and asked if I’d care to speak to a human.  I would.  That’s when the program hung up on me.  The lines were busy, it said.  I should try again tomorrow.

Naturally, I did what any red blooded consumer would do.  I headed for the store that sold me my plan. Miguel, the clerk, greeted me from behind the counter. He didn’t know the answer to my question and suggested I call customer service.  I must have grown pale, because he decided to call for me.  Magically, a disembodied voice rose from the speaker box.  Eddie was its name.  He listened to my question, but didn’t know the answer, either.  He disappeared behind a wall of canned music.  Miguel and I were treated to Waggoner’s complete Ring Cycle before Eddie returned with the information I needed.   

Satisfied, I released my grip on Miguel’s tee shirt.  Until then, I’d been clinging to it as if it were a dinghy in a storm tossed sea.  The wrinkles I’d left on his torso were deeper than those on my aged face.  I had to make amends.  Could I could fill out a customer satisfaction card, I asked, Miguel looked at me as if I’d been foolish enough to allow bats to nest in my ears.

“I don’t think we have such a thing,” he replied.

“May I speak to your supervisor, then?”  Miguel continued to look perplexed.  “Surely there is someone with whom I might leave a compliment?”

Miguel held up one hand and stepped away from the counter.  When he returned, a 2 x 2 inch yellow post-it was stuck to the end of his finger.

“Really?  Someone will read my note scribbled on that?”

Miguel shrugged to say he didn’t know.

I left the store feeling both sadder and wiser.  A company racing to grow its client base isn’t going to keep it very long without some human interface and a way to reward the few employees left in its workplace. 

cell phone joke

Courtesy of glasbergen.com

 

About the Author
Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate. Caroline just published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens Her third novel, Trompe l"Oeil, is available in October, 2012 from Koho Pono, LLC. Caroline published Heart Land and Gothic Spring in 2009.
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2 Comments
  1. Susan March 4, 2016 at 12:00 pm Reply
    Everything is right on and accurate in this story except you don't have any wrinkles!
    • Caroline Miller March 4, 2016 at 12:03 pm Reply
      Ah, a fellow computer sufferer who has gone blind from staring at algorithm menus. Yes, I have wrinkles.

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Contact Caroline at

carolinemiller11@yahoo.com

Portland, Oregon author Caroline Miller had distinguished careers as an educator, union president, elected official and artist/advocate.

Her play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast, was performed at the Post5 Theatre, Portland, OR, January/February 2015

Caroline published a serialized novelette, Marie Eau-Claire, on the website, The Colored Lens.  She also published the story Gustav Pavel,  a parable about ordinary lives, choice and alternate potential, on the website Fixional.co.

Caroline has published four novels

  • Ballet Noir
  • Trompe l’Oeil
  • Gothic Spring
  • Heart Land

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