In the middle of a hectic morning, a strange number flashed on my cellphone. I picked up. It was a bank employee who, after verifying my identity, condescendingly asked when I might settle my credit card bill. I saw red. This particular bank has partnered with and bought so many other banks in such a short space of time that my payment got lost in the shuffle. But never mind, I had the payment slip, which I dutifully faxed. But several phone calls later with the usual customer service reps and we are still nowhere. In the meantime, interest charges and late fees that should have been reversed, are mounting.
The first time I called to settle this dispute, the customer service representative instructed me to fax the copy of my payment slip, then call them again to verify that I faxed it. I reminded him I was doing the faxing, so it would be clear to me that I had done it, and shouldn’t they be the ones to call me to verify that they had received it? In this country, the burden is always on the customer. In developed countries, companies scramble to give the best service. Could the underlying attitude be the very thing that keeps us behind?
On the same day, I was finalizing a purchase of a vacuum cleaner from the supplier of other items in my home. I asked for a discount, which they were very reluctant to give. I reminded them that they had already made a lot of money off me and that I had even recommended them to other clients. They hemmed and hawed until I told them to stop being so fixated on pesos and cents and look at the big picture. If a client is taken care of rather than taken advantage of, the chances of getting more business from them and their network increase greatly.
Every time I have a positive experience with a company or service, I pass it on to my network of friends. I don’t earn from it, but I feel everyone should know about it. Good products, efficient service — these are all to be celebrated. If your customers are happy with you because you serve them well, your job is more than half done. They will return to you and give you more business. This is integrity at work and working for you.
I’ve written about my terrible broadband service before. What I haven’t shared is that it was the rival provider who, feeling alluded to, apologized for their bad service. I had to tell them it wasn’t them. What a hilarious exchange. Of course, the real culprits have not been in touch; the service is still bad (eight hours to download on the fastest package) and I haven’t received a single promised rebate. Tsk, tsk.
These experiences are with three very different companies, but the theme is the same. In our country, service is always directed towards the bottom line. It is a very dim, self-serving view. This attitude is the very same one that brought us to the ZTE deal-from-hell. We like to use the word “service,” but we really do not know what it means. It certainly doesn’t mean using the people’s money to enrich yourself. It also doesn’t mean milking your customers dry so that you can earn more, more, more and fast.
That seems to be what runs our country today, from government to business: greed — for power, wealth, status — all the transitory things that do very little to create true peace and happiness. It is each one for himself. The now-infamous phrase “moderate the greed” is such a violent kick in the gut because it so accurately describes the degree to which the Filipino has sold his soul.
We must work to transform the greed. We must learn to serve. Authentic service is at the heart of such a transformation. What does it really mean to serve on every level? As a husband and father, what does it really mean to serve your family? If you are stuck in that paradigm of being just a material provider, then it is very easy to fall into the trap of greed, but if you come to understand that being a provider has moral implications — and that’s the main thing — the equation changes. You begin to work inwardly and make choices differently because you know that there is no price for your integrity. As a person who was brought a family into the world, your higher mission is to give them strength and quality not just of body, but of self and soul. You can give that to them if you strive, where you are, to be that way in thought, word, and deed.
As a doctor, what does it mean to serve? Do you drown your patient in drugs or do you take the extra step and work with him on the level of his biography, to see how his life story has shaped his biology, and then work from there? How do you serve with your full, human capacity and how do you bring that forth through the work you do, no matter what it is? This question can and must be asked of every role we play in society today.
The other day, a friend recommended her landscaper. “They’re good people,” she said. These are words that stick. These are the very qualities that build success. I don’t care that your company sells high-end products. I care that the people behind it carry the kind of consciousness that can turn this country around. The question is: how much more money do you really need to make in your lifetime and how do you plan to use it, not just for your needs, but towards authentic service?
Truth. Integrity. Service. These are the very things missing in our country today. Without them, evil reigns and endures. If each Filipino commits to living and working with truth, integrity and a vow to truly serve his community, greed would be transformed, and the Philippines our children deserve would be ours as well.
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PAGASA (Peoples Assembly for Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy) is dedicated to helping anyone who is ready to be the change today. We have been giving weekend workshops that have set individuals firmly on the path of lasting inner change towards societal transformation. If you are ready to be the change, join us in Baguio on March 9 and 10 and in Tagaytay on March 29 and 30. Please check us out at www.pagasa.net.ph or send us a message at 0906-5002747. Healing the nation is serious business, so please don’t inundate us with jokes and junk. Log on to www.truthforce.info for your dose of relevant, true and good news.