We hear all the time about all the things that have been inherited because of slavery: our diets, broken family structures, irresponsible men, our inability to learn like other people, financial instability and more. But there is one thing that is constantly left off of that list: Customer service.
What do I mean? During slavery, Black folks were not only forced to serve their masters, they were forced to provide a service with a smile (and in some cases, a smile and a song). If our service was less than stellar, we were punished.
So let’s see, we can trace just about every bad thing happening now to slavery (never mind the MANY examples during the post slavery era where we have destroyed the alleged bagages we supposedly inherited). But here in 2011, we still talk about the poor customer service we provide…to each other. So our inability to strap on a condom, our preferences for light-skinned women, women who prefer weaves over their own natural hair, Black on Black crime…all from slavery. But what about the raw ignorance we encounter in the drive thru in many of our own communities?
I knew of what was probably one of this nation’s only Black-owned customer service provider. They were contracted by Fortune 500 companies to handle phone support for their customers. Overall, this company ranked last in customer service surveys when compared to the other customer service contractors. Eventually, this company was bought out and was able to turn things around. That was not the fault of slavery. Just bad management.
If we can lead in every recorded bad statistic and trace it to slavery, why are we not leading the way when it comes to customer service?
Customer service and slavery
by Duane on October 27th, 2011 at 7:22 amWe hear all the time about all the things that have been inherited because of slavery: our diets, broken family structures, irresponsible men, our inability to learn like other people, financial instability and more. But there is one thing that is constantly left off of that list: Customer service.
What do I mean? During slavery, Black folks were not only forced to serve their masters, they were forced to provide a service with a smile (and in some cases, a smile and a song). If our service was less than stellar, we were punished.
So let’s see, we can trace just about every bad thing happening now to slavery (never mind the MANY examples during the post slavery era where we have destroyed the alleged bagages we supposedly inherited). But here in 2011, we still talk about the poor customer service we provide…to each other. So our inability to strap on a condom, our preferences for light-skinned women, women who prefer weaves over their own natural hair, Black on Black crime…all from slavery. But what about the raw ignorance we encounter in the drive thru in many of our own communities?
I knew of what was probably one of this nation’s only Black-owned customer service provider. They were contracted by Fortune 500 companies to handle phone support for their customers. Overall, this company ranked last in customer service surveys when compared to the other customer service contractors. Eventually, this company was bought out and was able to turn things around. That was not the fault of slavery. Just bad management.
If we can lead in every recorded bad statistic and trace it to slavery, why are we not leading the way when it comes to customer service?