Bob the Builder

April 4, 2011 by Gail
Filed under VPL

Anyone who knows me well, knows customer service is a deal breaker for me. It’s the difference between whether I’ll come back or not. Whether I’ll tell my friends it’s worth their while or not. There’s no rocket-science in GOOD customer service but there are consistent, courteous and calculable features of how that’s done well.

VPL

VPL is short for Very Penneylane. They’re my take on everyday lessons from life. Lessons learnt and others where I missed the boat completely. Life’s long or short, depending on which end of the paddle you draw. Either way, being stuck up a creek without one makes for some interesting observations.

ABOUT that Lesson

I’ve known Bob for just over 12 months now. He does customer service like no-one else in Waipukurau. Right off the bat he’s warm, friendly and can’t do enough to please you. You might say he’s doggedly determined when it comes to consistency.

He models how customer service can be a feel-good experience all the time, every time. Infact, in all the 12 months I’ve known him, I’d be hard pushed to think of time when he was grumpy, surly, he ignored me or treated me as if I was an inconvenience.

And while his offices are a little off the beaten track, any one (in this community) whose worth their salt knows this affable community member. And if they don’t, they should. You’ll find him in the building he calls an office at the Waipukurau Rubbish Tip. I call him ‘Bob the Builder’ though he’s more ‘site foreman’ than builder as we know the role.

It’s his attitude to customer service that impresses me most. It’s just so consistent. Always courteous, his is an open, heart-felt grin that he gives away because he just loves the interaction with people. To be honest, I often wonder whether people in other service industries like their jobs because some days, I have some serious doubts. Take a Bob-tip: SMILE, it’s guaranteed to make yours and your customer’s day.

He’s not always in the Office, sometimes he’s on walkabout around the site. Other times he might even have a day off. That’s him in the pic, taking my ‘green waste’ payment this morning. He’s a true-blue Waipukurau character. You know he likes you when he pees on your car wheel. He’s peed on mine twice. I reckon he’d call that, a value-added service!

Make no bones about it, Bob’s a builder. He doesn’t just know how to do customer service, he delivers it each and every time too. He’s consistent, that’s the real lesson.