Service, Anyone?

My point isn't that they use the phone, but rather what occurs—or at least, should occur—during the call. And it isn't some idealized version of customer relationship management. Rather, they want simple, old fashioned customer service.

Let me illustrate with an example from my own catalog-shopping experience. There's a reason I use a specific office supply cataloger. Every time I call the cataloger's toll-free number, I test the customer service reps (CSRs) in slightly different ways. The last time I ordered, I told the CSR I couldn't remember the type of toner cartridge my printer takes. By keying in my last name and ZIP code, the rep had my full record in less than 10 seconds. By the time I hung up, I had spent money and was smiling.