Succeeding in Your Business by Cliff Ennico

Does it seem to you sometimes that nobody knows how to do their jobs anymore?

My mom is 81 years old, a widow who lives about a two-hour drive from where I live. My mom is not usually a complainer, but when I called her this past Sunday, she was nearly in tears due to three separate incidents that occurred within a three-day period last week.

Incident No. 1: She received an IRS Form W-9 (request for federal tax ID number) from her bank showing an incorrect Social Security number for her checking account. She was afraid to return the form by mail, so she visited her local branch and spoke to an officer she trusted. The officer, after several unsuccessful efforts to contact the bank's tax department (she was put on hold several times listening to music, just like us customers), finally reached a human being and learned that the Social Security number belonged to my father, who died more than a decade ago. Except that it wasn't my dad's Social Security number — the number was one digit off. Apparently, this bank went through several acquisitions and the digit was changed somewhere along the way. Good thing my mom didn't have any problems that would have required that number to be correct.

Incident No. 2: Mom received a letter from her Medicare Part D prescription drug insurer notifying her she would be dropped within 60 days unless she provided certain tax information. My mom knew of this requirement, and had mailed the required information three weeks previously by certified mail. She had a return receipt, so the information was lost somewhere at the insurer's office. Unfortunately, Mom had not kept a duplicate copy of the form. Since she doesn't have a computer, I had to download the form from the insurer's website and overnight it to her. She then had to take a taxicab across town to her accountant's office to obtain a printout of her electronically filed income tax return, which was required to be attached to the form.

Incident No. 3: Mom went to the supermarket to buy groceries. The checkout person, who was "multitasking," neglected to scan Mom's "frequent shopper" card, so discounts on some items were not recorded on the register tape. Mom complained to the clerk's supervisor, who came over to the register and began manually changing the prices on the register tape to record the discounts (apparently, she didn't know how to void the transaction so the clerk could record everything again).

Midway through doing this, the supervisor announced that her shift had ended. Both she and the clerk disappeared, and Mom had to wait 20 minutes for another supervisor to come over and finish the job. After 90 minutes at the checkout counter, Mom finally did get her discount, but it wasn't over yet, folks. Because Mom can't lift heavy objects, someone else has to pack her groceries and then hand them off to the supermarket's delivery staff for delivery to Mom's home. Four hours later, the supermarket delivery person arrived at Mom's home. Several items were missing, and included in Mom's delivery was a 3-foot-tall plant that clearly belonged to someone else. Mom took a taxicab to the supermarket the next day (she can't drive anymore), lugging the heavy, odiferous plant, and insisted that the missing items be replaced. After some discussion, the supervisor (a third one) told her she couldn't do that but would refund Mom's money for the missing items. Mom took the refund, shopped for the missing items, and checked those items out at the register. Again, the clerk forgot to scan Mom's "frequent shopper" card ...

Now, no one has said it's easy being an old lady. Each incident by itself was trivial. But taken together, they paint a nasty picture of a society that simply doesn't work well anymore. Despite — or maybe because of — our reliance on computer technology and an overeducated work force with little or no common sense (two of the three supermarket supervisors Mom dealt with were college graduates!), America is facing a crisis of competence at all levels of business.

Here's my advice to the brainless morons Mom had to deal with this past week:

Stop rushing — slow down and take the time to think about what you are doing so you get it right the first time;

Lose your "attitude" — care about your job enough to want to do it well, whatever that job is, even if that means staying five or ten minutes past the end of your shift without pay;

Remove computers from the customer service process — train human beings who can respond quickly, efficiently and empathetically to people's problems, and communicate with people in clear English (or Spanish);

Care about your customers, even if it hurts — treat them with respect and patience as individuals, and try to place their needs above your own.

After all, you will be old yourself someday ...

Cliff Ennico (crennico@gmail.com) is a syndicated columnist, author and former host of the PBS television series "Money Hunt." This column is no substitute for legal, tax or financial advice, which can be furnished only by a qualified professional licensed in your state. To find out more about Cliff Ennico and other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit our Web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2009 CLIFFORD R. ENNICO.

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