Service Suggestions COMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND RELATIONS WITH CUSTOMERS HAROLD WRIGHT CHAIRMAN. 72 W.ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO By John W. Ferguson Commonwealth Edison Company, Chicago, Ill More and more, as time progresses, we note that business houses of large calibre, as well as public and private corporations, are laying greater and more urgent stress on the necessity of Courtesy on the part of officials and employees in their dealing with the public. In the last few years, hundreds of able articles have been written, and thousands of addresses have been made to drive home the idea that Courtesy is one of the most important factors in promoting business success. One large corporation has started the publication of a pamphlet, the frontispiece of which represents an arch whose stones are labeled. Vision, Ambition, Energy, Friendship, Cooperation, and Equity, with courtesy as the keystone, all together confirming Success. This makes a very convincing picture. Each of the six stones first mentioned is necessary for Suc cess, but all together without Courtesy can never bring that desired result Many people, however, seem to think that Courtesy consists only of the softly spoken words in personal contact, the smooth "Say it smilingly" verbal expression on the telephone, or the well rounded sentence in written communica tion Fundamentally necessary as they are, their function is not complete without the assistance of the great factor "Courtesy in Act." Not in the least detracting from, or deprecating the value of Courtesy in the spoken or written word, I am satished that, in the last analysis, Prompt Action is the convincing and satisfying Proof of Courtesy in the mind of the Customer. An ancient Latin proverb has it, "Bis dat quis Cito dat" ("He gives twice who gives quickly ") Long years of experience has taught many of us that the customer who finds his requirements not only cheerfully but promptly furnished, or whi receives a prompt and courteous explanation that this cannot be with complete information why such is the case, will at all times have a friendly feel ng for the company He will also in many cases give expression to this feeling and thus advance the much desired propaganda of Bt" IFTUS THEN EMPHASIZE COURTESY IN WORD COURTESY IN ACT SUCCESS The chairman of this ...ttee will be pleased to send a copy of the pamphlet to any one request ng same Service Suggestions No. 7 WHAT MARCH, 1922 Subject:-Telephone Control are you doing to properly control the answering of your telephones? The ever increasing use of the telephone makes it necessary to give careful consideration to this vital phase of our business. The telephone offers a quick method of getting information. If this plan is followed (with the ex- On the next page are pictures showing methods of telephone control, i. e., Monitor Board, Order Table, Key-Cabinet, Individual Telephone and Private Branch Exchange. Your committee believes that a study and analysis of the telephone situation in Needless switching from "pil your company should be made and that changes made as a result of such action will prove beneficial to all concerned. lar to post. Customer to operator, to clerk No. 1, thence to clerk No 2, who knows nothing about it. Dissatisfied customer. Service Suggestions No. 8. Page 1. (Continued on page 368.) Minimum inconvenience. Customer to operator, to clerk who takes message and delivers it to proper department. Result: Customer satisfied: Service Suggestions COMMITTEE ON COMMERCIAL SERVICE AND RELATIONS WITH CUSTOMERS HAROLD WRIGHT CHAIRMAN, 72 W.ADAMS STREET, CHICAGO BRIEF review of business conditions during the past year has brought out the most salient fact that most all business has undergone rehabilitation to a certain extent, with a readjustment and a very strong under-current of stability more pronounced than has been noticeable for some years past. Electric light and power companies owing to the diversity of their patronage are more fortunate than most business activities and are in a better position to work for business development than their less fortunate neighbors. It therefore behooves the industry not only to take advantage of its pportunity to do its bit to help round the corner to the straight road to renewed prosper.tv, but also to prepare its own organization and facilities to meet the increased demands which must surely be made upon it in the next few years to come. So in considering its possibilities and in order to outline some comprehensive plan of action, a resume of the development of the industry during possibly the past ten years may be of material aid in arriving at some definite plan of action During the five years preceding the World War, the electric light and power industry experienced a period of unprecedented expansion and devel pment. The use of electric service had passed its embryo state and had become an absolute necessity in the home and in the commercial and industrial field. This condition was unquestionably brought about as the result of the activities of the then highly developed sales forces of the various com pan es cooperating with the sales forces of the manufacturers of the vari us electrical de vices Not only were the then known uses of electric service intens vely develope 1. but new fields and new devices for the use of electric energy were rap diy developed Shortly following the beginning of the World War, and particularly after this country became in volved in that great strife, the industry underwent a most decided change. All business except that which entered in some way into the production of mun tons of war, or was Service Suggestions No. 9. Page 1 (ontinued on page 1'0 |