Many years ago I participated in a conference with Manpower Inc, where the keynote declared that 80 percent of the jobs of the future do not exist today (then). This has proven true. Who would have thought that someone could have a career of mapping businesses on online map tools (Apple Maps or Google Maps). Who would have thought it would be a full time job to ensure your company has sufficient visibility on social media. I recently stayed at an AirBNB apartment in Paris, where the woman revealed to me that acquiring properties and renting them out on AirBNB was her full time job!! I was recently in Chicago, where posted in the L train was what seemed to be an advertisement for people who would rent their idle cars out to people looking for short-term rentals. 

There are many examples out there of how the world of work is changing based on people seeing a need and turning it into a profitable business model. The message? No matter what your role, no matter what your industry, it is important to keep an eye out for disruptive ideas, disruptive technologies and other opportunities that might change the way you work or who you are
competing with.

It is interesting to see the two directions customer service is going in these days. The ying and the yang is servicing customers to death vs forgetting that customers exist at all.

To provide an example, I recently invested in an Iphone. This has been an eye opener to me who has thought the days of servicing the customer have died.

If you have a problem with your Iphone, you can log into the Apple site and choose from many options: Frequently asked questions, live I-chatt, and even dialing a telephone number and speaking to a human being!! Not only that, you can go into an Apple store and speak to a human being who is happy to help you, even if you bought your product somewhere else. Just to add to the level of service, you can even go onto the Apple site and book an appointment with a technician in the store and then physically show up at the store at the scheduled time and avoid any line that may have accumulated in the store! Finally, to add to this, shortly after your Apple service experience you will receive an email asking about your feedback on it.

Let’s now compare this to a recent experience I had with an Iphone application, Sirius Radio. This is an applications promoted for the Iphone (an option and an additional charge) that provides satelite radio. The application you purchase works for both the Iphone and any computers you might want to run it on. The application was not seamless to set up, so it required a call to their support line. The woman on the line did not sound like she knew anything about the application. She then sent me to the media player supplier (a completely separate comany). The media player company advised me that they only handled the Iphone and that if my problem was with the computer, I should go to Sirius. When I called Sirius again, they referred me back to the media player supplier. In otherwords, I was caught in a service cycle focused on placing blame on the other party and not on how to make it work for me.

The problem today, in my eyes, is that the service game is not dependable. Go into Apple, or Bath and Body Works, and you get personalized attention that makes you feel like your business matters. Go to Sirius, or Rogers Cable (a Canadian supplier who doesn’t even have a number you can call on its website) and there seems to be an absence of concern about convenience to the customer.

With Rogers, I simply wanted to change credit card information on the Rogers site, who had “conveniently” gone completely online based. While this is conceptually convenient, if the technology is not working there is no way to get service. Guess what? If they don’t figure it out, they are not going to be paid!

While it is easy to understand that technology is the way of the future, organizations seem to be forgetting that in the end, it is service that counts and without service, customers and potential customers can quickly and easily jump ship.