Baseball on KBAT, 680, AM, San Antonio, Texas in 1963-64

1963 Houston Colt .45s
1963 Houston Colt .45s

In June of 1963 my family moved from Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, Arizona to Seguin, Texas. Seguin was thirty miles east of San Antonio and near my mother’s family. The reason we moved was my dad’s orders to go to South Vietnam for a one-year tour of duty. He would be there from August 1963 to August 1964.

If anything good came out of a year’s family separation, it was my getting my very own electric AM radio. Dad also got me a one-year subscription to The Sporting News Magazine and well as Baseball Magazine’s 1964 season preview magazine. It contained all the official records for the then twenty Major League Baseball teams.

When we moved to Sequin, Texas dad made sure I knew the Houston Colt .45s baseball team’s games were easily found on my radio. He found the game on KBAT, 680, AM, San Antonio, Texas. He put a spot on the radio dial using red fingernail polish in case I lost the station. That way I could dial it back in. It would be years before digital dials would be available on radios. He also gave me a copy of the Houston team’s schedule for 1964. I lived my life with the ball games being the focal point.

Gene Elston and Loel Passe were the radio announcers. I spent almost every night with them talking on my radio in August and September of 1963 and then again in April through September 1964.

Today baseball gets a bad rap for being slow in the age of video games and Sportscenter highlights. Baseball is not boring. I like to call baseball a talking sport. I love the stories the announcers tell between the ebb and flow of the game. The stories start during the pre-game broadcast. Many times they would begin with a story from baseball’s past, sharing the history of the game. Yes, they would do a preview of the day’s game before moving to the action. I would get excited as Loel and Gene would comment on Houston Manager Harry Craft taking out the line-up card and meeting to opposing manager. I always like it best when the Colts played the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would mention Walter Alston taking out the line-up card. They had Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

The pregame broadcast would be especially fun when the Colts played the Milwaukee Braves with Hank Aaron and Eddi Matthews. The Braves manager was Bobby Bragan. He was a southerner who later was president of the Texas League. Bobby Bragan could spin a yarn as good as anyone. His stories are still legendary.

Back in 1964 baseball games were only on television on Saturdays, so the radio was the window to the world. Gene and Loel could paint a picture with words. The grass was greener when they described it. The humidity in old Colt Stadium in Houston had me sweating 150 miles away.

The team wasn’t very good in 1964. It was a bunch of young kids and older players.  I didn’t care how bad they were. They were my team. Before the season ended manager Harry Craft was replaced by Luman Harris as manager. I still remember the players. Jerry Grote and John Bateman split the duties at catcher. Walt Bond played first base. He was the best offensive player on the team. At second base was an old Nellie Fox. The hall of fame would be in his future. It would be for his paly with the Chicago White Sox in the 1950s, not Houston. Eddie Kasko was at shortstop. I remembered him from his days with Cincinnati, third base was Bob Aspermonte, the outfield was Al Spangler, Jimmy Wynn and Joe Gaines. The pitchers were Bob Bruce, Turk Farrell, Ken Johnson, Don Nottebart and closer Hal Woodeshick.

Most games started at 7 PM and ended by 9 to 9:15 PM back then. I would sit on my bed reading the Baseball Magazine and The Sporting News while Gene and Loel told their never ending stories. That was the year I grew to love baseball. As a ten-year-old boy, there was nothing better. Television, playing with friends and everything else took a back seat to listening to the game on KBAT, 680, AM in San Antonio, Texas.

Listening to baseball on the radio was fun. It still is. I am listening to the New York Mets playing the Texas Rangers in the next to last exhibition game of the 2015 exhibition season as I type this story. No, I don’t have the game on the television. I am listening to it on the radio.

I Believed I Could Fly

Superman

In 1956, my father returned from a one-year tour of duty in Turkey. Our family moved to Greenville, South Carolina. The Unites States Air Force stationed dad at Donaldson Air Force Base, a C-124 airfield that emphasized air transport and called itself the “Airlift Capital of the World”.

My first memories are from living at 201 Maco Terrace in Greenville from 1956 – 1958. That was also the first house my parents owned.

My favorite TV show during those days was Superman. Superman always began, “Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look, it’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s Superman! … He fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice, and the American way!”

In 1956 and 1957 I would run around the house with a towel for a cape and wearing only my brief undies pretending I was Superman. I would have my arms stretched out in front of me, my head down as I was flying around the living room and kitchen.

One evening I decided I would try to fly. I got on the couch and then stood on the arm of the sofa. Suddenly I jumped with arms outstretched.

Instead of flying, I feel like a rock. My forehead found the corner of the coffee table. I didn’t fly but instead received a big cut. We had to get in the car and drive to the emergency room at Donaldson AFB. The wound was so severe that blood was flowing from my forehead into my eyes where I couldn’t see.

I asked my mother if they would get me a seeing-eye dog if I went blind. Suddenly, the laughter filled the car. My parents were laughing at me.

The doctor also chuckled as I received the fifteen stitches to stop the bleeding as mother retold the story. I have heard the seeing-eye dog story for over fifty years.

The happy ending was I got stitches, didn’t go blind, and learned I couldn’t fly. Growing up a military brat was a never-ending adventure.


Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a novelist, poet, book reviewer, and award-winning short story writer. His work has appeared in over twenty venues, including Bewildering Stories and Beyond Imagination. When not writing each morning at his favorite coffee house, he supports his writing, reading, and book reviewing habit working as an IT application support analyst. He is a former Captain in the US Army. His blog Kepler’s Book Reviews was named a 100 best blogs for history buffs. You can visit him at http://www.jimmiekepler.com.

Family Reunion

Smoky Mountains - Missionary Baptist Church 3

Family Union

The setting was an old wood framed church house.
Built on the crest of a gently sloping tree-covered hill.
Its wood siding all faded and weather-worn.
The brass church bell for years had been still.

He walked up the hill to the church house.
With each step, old long-past years reappeared.
Soon in his mind, he could hear the congregation singing.
Then down his cheeks streamed the warm, wet tears.

Once again, the old song leader was his grandpa.
His young Mama on a pump organ played.
Packed on the third pew were his mischievous boy cousins.
Standing by the back door to the music his dear daddy swayed.

And old remembrances flooded his being.
A grand family reunion was well underway.
Hearing again the stories of King Jesus,
He couldn’t hold the tears at bay.

Then he moved from the little wooden church house.
Walked down the hill on the path just ahead.
The music and memories slowly fading in the distance.
He arrived at a cemetery with the graves of his family long dead.

There will be a great reunion in heaven in the future,
They’ll all be reunited one wonderful day.
They were all Believers in Jesus,
He’s the Light, the Truth, and the Way.

Jimmie Aaron Kepler
December 2015


Picture Credit: Jarek Tuszynski / CC-BY-SA-3.0 & GDFL [CC BY-SA 3.0 or GFDL], via Wikimedia Commons

Baseball on KBAT, 680, AM, San Antonio, Texas in 1963-64

1963 Houston Colt .45s
1963 Houston Colt .45s

In June of 1963 my family moved from Luke Air Force Base near Phoenix, Arizona to Seguin, Texas. Seguin was thirty miles east of San Antonio and near my mother’s family. The reason we moved was my dad’s orders to go to South Vietnam for a one-year tour of duty. He would be there from August 1963 to August 1964.

If anything good came out of a year’s family separation, it was my getting my very own electric AM radio. Dad also got me a one-year subscription to The Sporting News Magazine and well as Baseball Magazine’s 1964 season preview magazine. It contained all the official records for the then twenty Major League Baseball teams.

When we moved to Sequin, Texas dad made sure I knew the Houston Colt .45s baseball team’s games were easily found on my radio. He found the game on KBAT, 680, AM, San Antonio, Texas. He put a spot on the radio dial using red fingernail polish in case I lost the station. That way I could dial it back in. It would be years before digital dials would be available on radios. He also gave me a copy of the Houston team’s schedule for 1964. I lived my life with the ball games being the focal point.

Gene Elston and Loel Passe were the radio announcers. I spent almost every night with them talking on my radio in August and September of 1963 and then again in April through September 1964.

Today baseball gets a bad rap for being slow in the age of video games and Sportscenter highlights. Baseball is not boring. I like to call baseball a talking sport. I love the stories the announcers tell between the ebb and flow of the game. The stories start during the pre-game broadcast. Many times they would begin with a story from baseball’s past, sharing the history of the game. Yes, they would do a preview of the day’s game before moving to the action. I would get excited as Loel and Gene would comment on Houston Manager Harry Craft taking out the line-up card and meeting to opposing manager. I always like it best when the Colts played the Los Angeles Dodgers. They would mention Walter Alston taking out the line-up card. They had Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale.

The pregame broadcast would be especially fun when the Colts played the Milwaukee Braves with Hank Aaron and Eddi Matthews. The Braves manager was Bobby Bragan. He was a southerner who later was president of the Texas League. Bobby Bragan could spin a yarn as good as anyone. His stories are still legendary.

Back in 1964 baseball games were only on television on Saturdays, so the radio was the window to the world. Gene and Loel could paint a picture with words. The grass was greener when they described it. The humidity in old Colt Stadium in Houston had me sweating 150 miles away.

The team wasn’t very good in 1964. It was a bunch of young kids and older players.  I didn’t care how bad they were. They were my team. Before the season ended manager Harry Craft was replaced by Luman Harris as manager. I still remember the players. Jerry Grote and John Bateman split the duties at catcher. Walt Bond played first base. He was the best offensive player on the team. At second base was an old Nellie Fox. The hall of fame would be in his future. It would be for his paly with the Chicago White Sox in the 1950s, not Houston. Eddie Kasko was at shortstop. I remembered him from his days with Cincinnati, third base was Bob Aspermonte, the outfield was Al Spangler, Jimmy Wynn and Joe Gaines. The pitchers were Bob Bruce, Turk Farrell, Ken Johnson, Don Nottebart and closer Hal Woodeshick.

Most games started at 7 PM and ended by 9 to 9:15 PM back then. I would sit on my bed reading the Baseball Magazine and The Sporting News while Gene and Loel told their never ending stories. That was the year I grew to love baseball. As a ten-year-old boy, there was nothing better. Television, playing with friends and everything else took a back seat to listening to the game on KBAT, 680, AM in San Antonio, Texas.

Listening to baseball on the radio was fun. It still is. I am listening to the New York Mets playing the Texas Rangers in the next to last exhibition game of the 2015 exhibition season as I type this story. No, I don’t have the game on the television. I am listening to it on the radio.

Hello, I’m a Military Brat

Pease Air Force Base at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The picture was taken in the May 1966 from the balcony of the operations building. I was in the 7th grade. There is one KC-135 and six B-52s on the runway.
Pease Air Force Base, Portsmouth, New Hampshire. There are one KC-135 and six B-52s on the runway. The picture dates from May 1966. I was in the 7th grade. I lived on Pease AFB from February 1966 to May 1967 and was in the 7th and 8th grades while we lived there.

What is a military brat? A military brat is the son or daughter of an airman, marine, sailor, or soldier. These children of career military have shared characteristics. They grew up in a community of service. Sacrificing for the greater good is part of their character. They moved on average once every three years to a new state, region, or country.

Academic studies show military brats lack racism.1 They are the only color blind group in the USA. They are the most open-minded of any subgroup in the world. They are more tolerant and embrace diversity with respect for others better than their civilian counterparts to include those raised in liberal homes. They are equally respectful and tolerant of conservative, moderate and liberal points of view.2

They adapt to change and new situations better than any group in the United States. 2

They are socially independent. They do well in personal relationships. They put the needs of the other people ahead of their needs.

Military brats who grew up as military dependents particularly in the late 1940s to early 1970s are kinder, caring, and more loyal than their raised as civilian children counterparts. They were higher achievers academically and professionally make the best employees due to characteristics like self-discipline, self-starter, flexibility, and their personal fiscal responsibility. 2

Most military brats do not have a real hometown.2 Most do not know their cousins, aunts, and uncles or grandparents very well. Many do not trust the governments of North Korea, Russia, and China.

The word brat is not derogatory. It stands for:

B – Born

R – Raised

A – And

T – Trained1

I’m a military brat. My father served in the United States Army, United States Army Air Force and the United States Air Force (USAF). He retired from the USAF.

I am also a former United States Army officer. Growing up as a military brat helped prepare me for my service. It was all natural and comfortable to me. I felt it was where I belonged more than anyplace else in my life.

1 http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=military%20brat

2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_brat_(U.S._subculture)


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s work has appeared in six different Lifeway Christian publications as well as The Baptist Program, Thinking About Suicide.com, Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine and more. His short stories The Cup, Invasion of the Prairie Dogs, Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story, and The Paintings as well as Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection are available on Amazon.com. He is also the author of The Liberator Series. The Rebuilder – Book 1 is available for pre-order on Amazon. It will be released October 1, 2015. The Mission – Book Two will be available Spring 2016, The Traveller – Book 3 will be available Summer 2016, and The Seer – Book 4 will be available Fall 2016.

Customer Care Tip – Tell the Customer What You Are Going to Do: The Next Step

Customer Service Tip – Tell the Customer What You Are Going to Do – The Next Step

Let’s face it; we have all had bad customer service experiences. Like me, I bet you can recall the details of every instance of bad service. If you are like most people, you probably told anyone who would listen about your dreadful experience.

The average customer will tell many people of a bad experience. That’s the type of word of mouth advertising we do not want.

One way to avoid painful misunderstandings is to tell the customer what you are going to do. Make sure they understand the next steps in the process.

Here’s a checklist to help:

  1. Recap expectations and follow-up items in a summary form.
  2. Ask the customer if your understanding is correct.
  3. Tell them your name and that you are the person responsible for resolving the issue.
  4. Tell the customer any requirements they have. Examples would be:
    1. What paperwork or documentation do they need to provide?
    2. What format is the paperwork or documentation? Electronic or paper?
    3. When is the paperwork or documentation due?
    4. Contact information if they need help, have questions, or need an extension?
  5. Tell them what to expect from you.
    1. How will you acknowledge receipt of the paperwork or documentation?
    2. How long will it take to process?
    3. What you they expect to receive from you and when?
    4. How is resolution notification handled? The is a great touch point for a courtesy contact of the customer.
    5. Contact information if they have questions or if they feel you are too slow and need a status update.

Having a road map to help the customer understand the next steps is an excellent way to create goodwill. The client has confidence when they have an understanding of the process. Knowing by name a contact person who handles managing their issue is a core ingredient to world-class customer service. You can provide this point of touch even if the follow-up work is someone else’s. The name you give is the one managing the incident or case.

Follow through on all promises. A great plan requires execution. Failure to follow through will lose all the great service and goodwill you work so hard to create.

Customer Service Tip – Tell the Customer What You Are Going to Do – The Next Step


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s work has appeared in six different Lifeway Christian publications as well as The Baptist Program, Thinking About Suicide.com, Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine and more. His short story stories The Cup, Invasion of the Prairie Dogs, Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story, and The Paintings as well as Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Care Tip – Taking short-cuts/not asking for the sale is bad customer service.

Customer Care Tip – Taking short-cuts/not asking for the sale is bad customer service.

Let me share with you a recent experience of receiving poor customer service. Here are some of the lessons from the situation and my story.

Last Saturday morning my car battery died. It was the original equipment battery that came with the car. Let’s face it, car batteries die. My story is the service or lack of good services I received from a garage that has worked on my vehicles for fifteen years. During those years, I have paid them over $10,000 for both routine maintenance and major repairs for more than a half-dozen cars I have owned.

In the thirty days before my battery died my car had been in their shop three times. The first time it was there my engine had died when I was driving down the highway. It had happened one other time about a week earlier, as well. In both instances, I only turned the key and restarted the car. I asked them to check the fuel and electrical system to see what was happening. They found nothing.

About ten days later I was back to have for my annual state inspection. They inspected the car and sent me on my way.

My third visit was just a week before the battery failed. This time I was in for an oil change. When the car was ready, I noticed they had not washed the windshield and windows like they usually do when I get the oil changed. I also found they had not vacuumed my car. The complimentary cleaning of the interior is one of the services they provide make their higher prices more tolerable.

Here is why I got upset this time. I realized they usually used their battery tester every time I was in for routine service or major repairs. They would always let me know how the battery tested and if it was nearing the end of its life cycle. I had them pull my records. They attach a copy of the battery test to the invoice when they check the battery.  They had not tested my battery my battery my last three visits.

I addressed the lack of testing with the shop foreman and then the owner. They had failed to check my battery. They also had not provided their concierge-class complimentary services.

What I received was the excuse that they had made a conscious decision due to the increased workload to service customers faster by not testing the battery or cleaning the car. They equated better service with handling a higher volume of clients instead of providing their past quality service.

The results of their actions caused me to get stranded for over an hour while I waited for assistance. They also missed out on selling me a battery. If they had tested and then told me the results showed that it would fail soon, I would have bought a new one immediately.

I believe their short-cut contributed to my being stranded with a dead battery. They missed the chance to make a sale. They also missed out on creating goodwill.

Most of all, they are now at risk of losing me and my extended family as well as my friends as customers.

Customer Care Tip – Taking short-cuts/not asking for the sale is bad customer service.


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s work has appeared in six different Lifeway Christian publications as well as The Baptist Program, Thinking About Suicide.com, Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine and more. His short story stories The Cup, Invasion of the Prairie Dogs, Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story, and The Paintings as well as Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Care Tip – Your attitude should be, “It’s a joy to help.”

Customer Care Tip – Your attitude should be, “It’s a joy to help.”

I do technical customer service and support by choice, not by chance. There are other jobs and tasks I could do instead. However, I enjoy serving people and not being a servant to a computer server.

Years ago I decided customer service was a mindset. I could choose to give poor, average, or great customer service to my clients. My attitude toward them was not dependent upon how nice or demanding they were toward me. I believe everyone needs the same level of service I would give my mother or my spouse. I learned a long time ago that rarely is the client or users reaction to me personal. I should give my best. The result is they’ll get great service and reflect a more positive attitude back toward me. I honestly believe this. I have experienced it.

Colossians 3:23 in the King James Version of the Bible reads, “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;”. You may ask what a Bible verse has to do with customer service. My thought is we need to realize that our role is serving the customer. When we give our best, it has an active reflection on us, our co-workers and management, and our company. Let your life be guided by religious belief, “to God be the glory.”

Remember you not only hold the key to the type of experience the customer has, but you hold the key to the way you react to your clients.

I’ll be honest and admit not all customers are a joy to help. Some clients can become a major challenge. When the customer is a challenge to help, it is time to give the extra effort and “nice them to death”. By that, I mean I double my efforts to take care of them. I make sure in spite of their bad attitude that I am the point of sunshine in their day. I make sure of the handling of their issue to mutual satisfaction. I do not let them get to me. I enjoy the challenge of helping them get from where they are to where they need to be.

You can’t make everything right for everyone. You can manage how you react to them. You can do your best to make sure they have a good experience. When resolving their issue why not join me in telling them, “It’s a joy to help”.

Customer Care Tip – Your attitude should be, “It’s a joy to help.”


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s work has appeared in six different Lifeway Christian publications as well as The Baptist Program, Thinking About Suicide.com, Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine and more. His short story stories The Cup, Invasion of the Prairie Dogs, Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story, and The Paintings as well as Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Care Tip – Allow the Customer to Have a Good Experience.

Customer Care Tip – Allow the Customer to Have a Good Experience.

What is a purchaser’s experience when they have a customer service issue with your company? Is the issue handled to a mutually acceptable resolution? Is the patron’s experience a good one or one of frustration? Is your customer left with a good experience?

Most businesses policies (the why) and procedures (the how) are bountiful. Many times the regulations exist because once upon a time someone had good intentions. Our fairy tale like intent can turn into a nightmare. Policies designed to help our customers can morph into a procedural obstacle course of frustration.

We need to take a step back and look at the real reason for the policies in place and at the procedures for implementing said policies. It is not uncommon for careful analysis to come to the realization that our processes supply our needs while forgetting about the desires of our customers.

When customer’s needs take second place, they receive second class service. Fortunately, the situation is correctable. Here are a few simple steps to help make the service better.

  1. Ask your customers what their experience is like to work with you. Is it good? Is dealing with you a painful, cumbersome experience?
  2. Use a secret or mystery shopper to rate their experience with your business.
  3. Go undercover to find out for yourself what the experience is like dealing with your company. Will you like the answers you learn?
  4. Many times a good reference point on the level of customer care your company gives is found in how you are treated by your computer support people.

You hold the key to a customer’s experience when they have a customer service issue with your company.  You can make sure the issue is handled to a mutually acceptable resolution. You can ensure the customer’s experience is not one of frustration. You are the one who can allow the customer with a good experience.

Customer Care Tip – Allow the Customer to Have a Good Experience.


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler’s work has appeared in six different Lifeway Christian publications as well as The Baptist Program, Thinking About Suicide.com, Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine and more. His short story stories The Cup, Invasion of the Prairie Dogs, Miracle at the Gibson Farm: A Christmas Story, and The Paintings as well as Gone Electric: A Poetry Collection are available on Amazon.com.

Customer Care Tip – Respect Your Customer By Respecting Their Time.

Stopwatch in HandCustomer Care Tip – Give your customer respect by respecting their time.

The late comedian Rodney Dangerfield had a catchphrase, “I get no respect”. If your customers feel they get no respect, you’ll soon be out of a job. One way you can show respect to your customers is by honoring their time.

Today people are busier and busier than just twenty or thirty years ago. People are over scheduled. They work more hours now than ever before.

The last time I checked we still have only twenty-four hours to a day. Today people multi-task working from home in the evenings and even checking email and text messages from home and when they are out shopping.

Time is valuable. That is why people get unhappy when they think someone is wasting or intruding on their time.

When I make an outbound service call or call back to the customer, I ask them if this is a good time for them. I ask this question even when I have an appointment with them. Why do I do this? Situations change. You can listen to the background activity if you are calling someone on the phone for clues. You can tell if they are busy and stressed. You can offer to call back if the timing is wrong. You can suggest they call you when it is a better time.

Other times you may be providing face to face service to a client. Never forget they come to us needing us to do something for them. When they arrive, they want help now. They want everything solved on their schedule. Most of all, they do not want to be made to wait.

You know slow or bad service. Have you ever walked away because the person is just too slow? I have.  Slow or bad service is especially frustrating if it is taking too long for a job that should be quick and easily handled.

You would think since we all are busy, and all have experienced slow service it would be easy to remember to be not slow. Don’t do it to your customers! Slow or bad service includes how long someone waits on the telephone.

I find it easy to tell when someone is getting impatient. You should be able to determine that as well. If they are looking at their watches, you know you are probably guilty of doing things too slowly!

You need to put yourself in your customer’s shoes. Avoid chit-chat or small talk when possible. Sure, both are good to build rapport with the customer, but just shooting the breeze wastes time for this client and those waiting in a physical line or call queue. It’s okay to talk to your customer about their concerns and how you make them whole.

Never forget the great customer service is about putting your customers ahead of your needs. One way you do this is to respect their time. Respecting their time is

  • Quickly identifying their needs
  • Staying on task
  • Seeing things from their point of view
  • Solving their concerns the first time
  • Avoiding transferring the customer to someone else
  • Taking ownership of their concerns

When you do the above items in a timely manner, you show respect for your customer. Good service will build customer loyalty. Customer loyalty adds to your bottom line. It increases profits and you’ll never have a customer say, “I get no respect”.

Customer Care Tip – Give your customer respect by respecting their time.

Photo Source: http://www.pdclipart.org/displayimage.php?album=32&pos=41
PDClipart.org – Public Domain Clip Art, Images, Pictures, Photographs, Graphics.


Jimmie Aaron Kepler

Jimmie Aaron Kepler is a writer of speculative fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and reviews books. He’s written for Poetry & Prose Magazine, vox poetica, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, Bewildering Stories, Beyond Imagination Literary Magazine, Thinking About Suicide.com, Author Culture, FrontRowLit.com, The Baseball History Podcast, Writing After Fifty, Sunday School Leadership, Church Leadership, Motivators For Sunday School Workers, The Deacon, Preschool Leadership, Sunday School Leader, and The Baptist Program. For sixteen years, he wrote a weekly newspaper column. He has written five fiction and poetry books. All are available on Amazon.com. His blog “Kepler’s Military History Book Reviews” was named a 100 Best Blogs for History Buffs and has had over 750,000 visitors.