Valuation 2009 is just-kinda-sorta around the corner, so I thought it would be appropriate to tell a tale from the road. Pay close attention because it even has a warm, fuzzy moral at the finish. Move over, Aesop, Andy's throwing around parables!

So last year at the Valuation Expo, an appraiser and her son approached our booth to inquire about how the ACI software can help her appraisal business. After a great conversation she turns to me and asks, "Who is your most important customer?"

Without skipping a beat, I responded, "You are, of course."

She looked at me with complete skepticism for throwing out such a cheesy, canned response. We shared a good laugh together, and then I said, "Let me qualify that!"

You see, there are many approaches to customer service, depending on your focus. Are you trying to bang away calls as fast as possible? Are you trying to train a user? Are you trying to sell something? Are you working with a group?

The easiest and most efficient way to service the customer is to go tunnel vision and focus your entire troubleshooting world on the current caller. If there are no distractions, the spotlight is on "the tech, the caller, and the problem," taking us well on the road to resolution!

In today's digital world it's easy to get roped into a telephone call after setting down the fax you just received to answer the email that your Smartphone just reminded you about. You know what I'm talking about! Multi-tasking can be useful, but sometimes the line of communication must involve two parties, and that's it.

Distilling a customer service experience down to just the basic elements of "tech, caller, problem" leads me to the inevitable conclusion that YOU, the customer I'm currently working with, are my most important customer.

Philosophically,
Andy

P.S. Mark your calendars for Valuation 2009 in New Orleans, November 8-11.