In the Sea
of Cortez, John Steinbeck describes a fishing expedition: “The Mexican sierra has 17 plus 15 plus nine
spines in the dorsal fin. These can
easily be counted. But if the sierra strikes
hard on the line so that our hands are burned, if the fish sounds and nearly escapes
and finally comes in over the rail, his colors pulsing and his tail beating in
the air, a whole new relational externality has come into being—an entity which
is more than the sum of the fish plus the fisherman.
The
nature of customer service is fundamentally an experience--feelings
characterize it more than facts; emotion more than logic. Steinbeck’s reminds us that no matter how
accurate our customer assessments, they will never completely assess its magic.
With our objective data, tidy
calculations, and sterilized reports, we must never forget to rely on the
unscientific report of those directly involved in creating the experience.
What
data guides your decisions about your customers?
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