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Whatever happened to customer service?

July 10, 2013

Next time you lock horns with a surly vendor, take heart. Customer-oriented firms are still out there. Here are some of the best of those serving OEMs, courtesy of our readers. (From November 8, 2005)

Leland Teschler

Time was when service to the customer was the mantra of successful businesses everywhere. The idea has been popularized by such best-sellers as In Search of Excellence, and Good to Great, which foster the notion that fixating on the needs of customers is a key to business success.

How things have changed. Type “bad customer service” into Google and you get links to about 400,000 pages. And those pages are chock-full of customers who get waited on by lackadaisical fast-food servers, wander through superstores without laying eyes on a store employee, and look in vain for paper towels in public rest rooms. All this might lead some to the conclusion that customer service got derailed somewhere, at least when it comes to consumer goods.

Read the full article (as a pdf).

About the Author

Leland Teschler

Lee Teschler served as Editor-in-Chief of Machine Design until 2014. He holds a B.S. Engineering from the University of Michigan; a B.S. Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan; and an MBA from Cleveland State University. Prior to joining Penton, Lee worked as a Communications design engineer for the U.S. Government.