I was called at 0958hrs today by a company called Prism Industries in Oxford, who specialise in recycling.  They said they were in the area collecting redundant IT equipment for recycling.  My immediate response was that I didn't have anything to recycle.  Before the words were out of my mouth, they hung up on me. No "thank you for your time"... nothing. Just a dead line.

I rang them back on the number they'd called from ( 01865 893296 ) and said, "Hello, you just rang me and hung up..." and, before I could finish what I was saying, they hung up on me again.  At best, they are exceptionally rude but, more importantly, they've missed an opportunity to build customer relations.

Good customer service is essential to the success of every business and, as anyone who follows me on Twitter will know, I'm quick to praise good service and equally quick to criticise poor service.  And those of you who've met me through networking will also know that I'm quick to make recommendations and suggestions and to offer support.

Missed Trick # 1:
Immediately following the call, I realised that I do in fact have some redundant IT equipment in the garage.  (This will not be going to Prism).

Missed Trick # 2:
Even if I hadn't had any equipment to recycle right now, if they'd just taken another  minute or so to tell me about their recycling service, I would have remembered them when I did need their service which, given the rapid advance of computer technology, wouldn't have been too far hence.

Missed Trick # 3:
Two of my clients are IT companies and I know lots of people and businesses in Reading, Berkshire, London and beyond who may need to recycle their old IT equipment right now; people to whom I will now NEVER recommend Prism; on the contrary I will strongly advise against using their service.

The staff at Prism Industries in Oxford need to recognise that business is not just about making the immediate sale; it's about building relationships and making yourself memorable for all the right reasons and that includes being courteous.

Given that I only learned of Prism Industries' recycling business in Oxford today, they have certainly made themselves memorable, but for all the wrong reasons.

If the owners/managers of Prism Oxford ever read this brief blog, they might consider making "Five Star Service by Michael Heppell" compulsory reading for all their customer-facing personnel.

For anyone else reading this blog, I highly recommend that Michael Heppell's book be part of your staff induction procedure for all customer-facing staff.

Quality customer service is paramount to the success of all businesses.

On 11th April 2013 I received a call from John Fenton, the owner of Prism. This blog, which I originally wrote in early February, had just been brought to his attention and he rang me to apologise for the service I'd received from his company.  He didn't want me to take down the article; instead, he intends to use it as part of his training and induction process with his new recruits.

I think that's an excellent idea and one which has been adopted by many global companies including, infamously, United Airlines - whose baggage handlers broke a passenger's guitar and then gave him appalling customer service.

The passenger was so incensed by the service he'd received from United, that he made a YouTube video about his experience.  The video went viral (at the time of writing it's had almost 13 million hits) and had a drastic impact on United's reputation and share price.  United, reportedly, use that video as part of their customer service training programme.

Lesson learned.  And here's that video...