Yesterday, I had coffee with Tom Vander Well of QA QnA. We sat right across the street from Sears Tower. He was the bigger deal. I was so looking forward to meeting him. Not many folks in the Customer Service Industry have figured out the power of blogging. Tom is one in a fine group that knows the business.
Tom company’s C. Wenger Group does data-based assessment of how the customer feedback loop works. The special magic is that his company sees the people and hears the words behind the numbers that they collect. That’s why they have some of the most impressive clientele in the Midwest — names that are on that Fortune list.
No matter what your work is, it really is customer service. You should be reading Tom Vander Well’s blog.
Proof of his real customer-centered, relationship focus, though, lies in the gracious company Tom was. In my excitement at a long-awaited chance to meet-up, I rattled on like a box of birds about business and blogs. [blush]
Thank you, Tom! Please know the longer you know me, the quieter I get. Really.
Despite the picture he took, don’t get the wrong impression about what he says I lost at Panera. I had to tell him something that the folks back in Des Moines didn’t know yet.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz!!
You’re too kind, Liz. Thanks for taking the time to chat. Yesterday afternoon I walked down the streets of Chicago like I was floating on air – and although Chicago blues were on my iPod, my spirit was actually “jazzed” from our conversation.
And, no worries please. Your so-called “rattling on” was filled with thoughts and questions that are still doing some worthwhile “rattling” in my brain!
Thanks again, Liz!
Tom,
It really was fun to be with you. I’m so delighted you’re jazzed. The sky is up and I know you’re going to be way, way up there as high you care to go. 🙂
Thank you, Tom!
Hi Liz,
Thanks for highlighting Tom. His stuff is superb, but maybe I’m just saying that because stuff like questioning “rest practices” and the average manager’s ability to create an effective survey resonate with me.
Mike
Hi Mike!
You always could pick the great ones. I agree with what you like 100%!!
I haven’t met Tom in person, but he really knows his stuff when it comes to customer service and is a nice guy.
when i meet someone new and feel they are in the mucky muck category I can be quite the rattler too – see liz – something to have in common – us rattlers need to stick together –
i love that at least with some our rattling can find it’s way and rattle inside, ever so thoughtfully
very cool comment
had a dream last night that derrick and michael were showcasing my new blog and that i got to meet you
Mother Earth
http://www.bestwellnessconsultant.com
Mother Earth,
Meeting me isn’t such a high falutin’ big occasion. You just tell Derrick and Michael to set up Friday meetup and we’ll get together. It’s easy.
Then we’ll rattle each other to death like a couple of old Schwinn bicycles that don’t know how to break. 🙂
Your are on!!! I’ll talk to the boys and see what’s possible
man i had the dorkiest schwinn known to suburban mankind – my dad boughtt it used and it had a super padded seat like none other in the neighborhood — i said to myself i am saving all my quarters from now on cuz this bike just won’t do
“mucky mucks” by the by —- is my way or my expression of actually down playing the whole high falutin thing – seriously we are all pretty darn special in our own way – I have let title or a navy suit intimidate me in the past only to find they clean litter boxes and have to grocery shop just like ME!!! The more folks I meet who are up to big things in their work or their world – the more I want to learn from them
when they treat me like a regular gal I wonder why I make them out to be ever so much more than they are ???
I loved how you described tom as the bigger deal
mother earth
http://www.wellnessconsultant.com
Mother Earth!
You bet we’re all pretty darn special — that’s what makes the world go around every little detail that gets our incredibly different brains going. 🙂
Of course, Tom is the bigger deal. He got so much going on. I’m just a writer who lives in your computer . . . 🙂