Another moment of Vendor Luv.
For several years I’ve ordered items for MPOW through CDWG (the government arm of CDW). It’s a particularly sweet deal for MPOW, because they do a great job of handling split shipments, essential when I have to get seven identical items to seven distributed MPOW-ers.
There’s a guy there named Jeff. It’s not just that Jeff takes care of MPOW (and by inference, me), though he does, or that he’s prompt and efficient, though he is. It’s that every time we interact, he adds a tiny bit of value to the equation–a reference to the weather, or a comment about an upcoming weekend or holiday, or a simple “Hello.” When I’m knackered and sweaty from dealing with vendors who speak in cyborgian meter (Must have IP address! What is your intranet? Cannot authenticate! Identify your central office! Cannot compute!), Jeff feels as refreshing as a cold glass of lemonade.
Maybe Jeff is an advanced cyborg, though I don’t think so:
“Yeah it has been hot here, but overall a spectacular summer.”
” I can’t believe I’m already seeing the back to school stuff on TV and in the mail… HOLY COW!!!!”
“No prob Karen.. I’ll take care of this 4 ya.”
To me, Jeff is CDWG… just as the guy who walked me to the right aisle for the nutrition bars, acting genuinely pleased to help me, is Costco… and the fellow who stayed with me, making small talk, while I crawled under my desk to install a Firewire card on my cranky old PC is Dell… and the guy and gal who shimmied open a stuck microfiche drawer so I could finish my research, smiling the whole time, are Gleeson Library.
No prob, Karen. I’ll take care of this 4 ya. Everything you need to know about customer service, right there.
Posted on this day, other years:
- OCLC in the headlights - 2010
- OpenURL, Insert Book - 2005
- Vlog Check: danah boyd greets lita - 2005
Well said, Karen. My CDWG person is Eric — he’s become a friend as well as the best rep anyone could hope for.
Kudos to Jeff. We can all take a lesson from him.
Back at my first Systems Librarian gig in San Antonio, TX, I had to take a second evening job at QVC (that’s right, one of those shopping channels… I’m not a proud man) to make ends meet. Before my first day of work, they put me through a week of Customer Service training, and let me tell you, that was some of the best education I ever got.
Thanks so much for reminding me of it. I too often get caught up in the stresses of life and work and forget what a difference a little attitude adjustment can make.
If you haven’t directed this vendor luv back to CDWG’s management, please do so. They should know how well Jeff’s representing.
This guy sounds great. IMHO, what he’s doing is exactly what a good reference librarian does (on a good day). So much of these transactions is over and above the simple exchange of information.