THE FRIENDLY WAY

[Music] customers face-to-face inside where we help arrange for service and receive payment as well as outside where we plan for the service needed then install it repair it and collect coins from boxes or whether were among those whose efforts are unseen and unheard by the public that we all serve working with equipment turning out the best planning what is needed where it's to go watching its cost he hit into the nationwide network keeping the equipment free of dirt and trouble or whether we are working with papers getting out orders for service and bills with extra attention to accuracy and promptness processing payments records and letters with an extra touch of neatness and dispatch no matter what our job this story can begin with any of us or for that matter with any of the public we serve the millions of customers who make millions of calls every hour a day each one the most important thing of the moment operator can you help me reach my wife I was supposed to meet her this afternoon downtown in Richmond in Virginia but my car broke down [Music] yeah sure Henry Graham rule number 718 well that's just it I'm sure she must be at one of the hotels but I don't know which one she's probably combing the hospitals and jails for me do your best will you time to check the Richmond hotels but if you don't hang up I'll call you back thanks thanks a lot no lady we haven't found your husband yet but don't worry we will we've covered all the jails now we're starting to check the hospitals just don't worry he's found it turn up somewhere one way or another fine way to begin a vacation hello mr. Graham that's right mr. Graham we located mrs. Graham for you what oh that's wonderful operator thanks a million you're welcome here's mrs. Graham yes being helpful is part of everybody's job giving some extra touch of service however little is one of our greatest responsibilities because the people who pay for the service like to be treated that way and because it makes the work itself more pleasant long distance thank you I am sorry they do not answer I will call you in about 20 minutes mr. Brown is not expected until tomorrow will you speak with anyone else pleasant dependable service from Pleasant and dependable people that's the heart of the telephone business it's the basis for every procedure however routine which is passed on from generation to generation through training and by example the big reason behind everybody's job is serving the customer in some vital way no matter how far removed from him the work may seem so ours is a story about the customers we serve and the big the little the everyday things that we can do to make it more easy and pleasant for them to use the telephone and to deal with telephone people well you don't have to do that I'm going to vacuum anyways well thanks but we believe in leaving a place just the way we find it that's very considerate no wait something else I can do no I was just wondering whether I would ever get Bobby here to learn the same lesson that extra touch the trifling little thing that can make the big sometimes a tremendous difference between cold routine and satisfying service have you called a telephone company yet I'm doing it now well don't be long about it breakfast nearly ready remark hello this is Frederic Jay Williamson out on common Avenue there there's something the matter with our telephone it's nine eight seven seven two we've got an extension in my workshop last night when I was working out there I knocked over a bottle of turpentine some of them must have got all the wires because since then we've been getting kind of a buzzing sound well that's a shame mr. Williamson well I can hear it now we can take care of it by twelve o'clock will somebody be there well can't you send somebody a little earlier we're going out in a couple of hours and expect to be going all day I'll find out if we can do it any sooner we hold the line just a moment please sure are they going to fix it yeah well come get your breakfast that's fine Thank You mr. Williamson goodbye goodbye was it so long I told the girl we were going out in a couple of hours and she took the trouble to make sure the phone will be taken care of before we left she didn't believe in God I think she really meant it hello yes this is the telephone repair service I've got a report that your line is noisy and I'm testing it to find the trouble oh yes I can hear it we'll have to send a man out to repair it I understand you won't be home after you leaven that's right then we'll make sure he gets there before you leave that's fine you're welcome mr. Williamson goodbye already people of promise citizens these days yeah maybe so these folks aren't like they really made it and there were many nights about it too through their voices alone they gave him a feeling of friendly efficiency of confidence in their promised confidence in those who would keep that promise confidence that they and their company can be depended on look Jim okay okay one more touch of dependable pleasing friendly service a blending of people and materials to form pathways that carry messages to distant ears and return the distant reply these pathways of communication are kept in service even while others are being changed through the extra skill and care of those who realize that the wires they handle are channels for vital living conversations but even though the man in the street may be impressed by the intricacies of wire and cable he likes his service with the warmth of a human touch in our business offices it takes people Pleasant courteous dependable people to represent our company to customers on a wide variety of matters such as payment of bills orders for service criticisms or commendations and inquiries about any company services or operations such service requires people people who can listen with understanding while the customer tells his story in his own way good morning I came in here because I want to make a complaint oh I'm sorry to hear about that won't you tell me about it and I'm sure I can help you you see I have a party line and the other person seems to use it all the time and talks forever why only this more to be good the service must of course be accurate complete and free from delay and now mr. Avery I'd like to verify the spelling of your name as it'll appear in our directory then anyone looking for your telephone number will be able to find it and you won't lose any of your calls oh yes it's so important will you check with me while I spend your name but efficiency alone is not enough to be really good our service must reflect the company is a friendly understanding and reasonable organization of people while you're away mr. Winslow I think the best arrangement would be to help your service only temporarily disconnected then you can be sure of keeping your a present telephone number and your service can be reconnected for you whenever you're ready for it we depend on our people to give customers problems personal and individual consideration rather than routine treatment I'm sorry to hear of your husband's illness and hope that he makes a quick recovery in view of the circumstances we shall be glad to extend the time for payment of the bill for two weeks until the 15th and she requested and finally to be successful we depend on our people to be sincerely interested in serving customers and to have a genuine spirit of helpfulness you can be sure mr. Peterson we'll do our best to help improve the service on your party line that'll be fine and thanks again miss Marsh you're entirely welcome goodbye goodbye mr. Peterson [Music] behind those of us who deal directly with customers are others who give their work an extra touch to make sure that the promises we make are kept that's why orders for telephone service must be accurate in every detail so that the right customer will be billed the right amount the right line will be selected and connected to the right places the right equipment will be ordered out and the man to install it will be there when the customer expects it similarly every listing for the directory is checked and double checked for accuracy of every detail before the order is typed while it is typed after it is typed and making up the directory itself requires the same extra touch of painstaking accuracy every one of thousands of listings must be correct clear and in the proper place every name every address every telephone number must be right must be clear so that it will be easy for anyone to find the correct number of any telephone he may want to call for the telephone has become a servant indispensable for modern living thanks in no small measure to the efforts of those pioneers who helped overcome its early difficulties each had his own separate problem but all were inspired by the same idea to make the telephone more and more dependable easy and pleasant to use for more and more people the solution of one problem led on to the solutions of others annoys taken out for a sound made louder led to more distant connections each contribution enable the human voice to come through more clearly from farther and farther away other devices made it possible to switch each telephone to more and more telephones over longer and longer distances at first across the street then from city to city from coast-to-coast until today the very skies and the oceans themselves are spanned by invisible pathways for the human voice at the same time some of us worked and still work on the instrument itself to make it ever more efficient and easy to use while others others worked with customers helping them to select the service best suited to their needs the combination of perfected equipment and improved service as made of today's telephone and in valued service more than worth the cost good service has meant good business for everyone concerned excuse me but I couldn't help noticing that pin you where are you with the telephone company yes now they're getting a new one soon for my 25th year Oh a big business career a start at the bottom and land at the top well I've got the ways to go yet but I can't kick I've made pretty good progress during the past few years thanks to our expansion program you know maybe you could tell me something oh what's that well I'm just a small manufacturer but we've also grown and I find it's getting harder and harder to keep in touch with our customers personally you're no longer able to call them all by their first thing exactly yet as big as the telephone business is you people have never let it become cold and impersonal but the editorial writers call a soulless corporation well we've always recognized that us being a real danger and I think you've met it quite successfully for instance take what happened to me this morning I was making a call from the telephone booth in the railroad station oh I'm sorry mr. dial a wrong number no no how am I gonna get the operator Oh operator I just dialed and got a wrong number I'm ought to change and put in a quarter to get you if you'll dial the number for me you can keep the change I'm sorry you had trouble sir I'll return the coin what number where you're calling please main Oh to 165 did you again is this main Oh to 165 there seems to be some difficulty but Norman please you're connected with me no to 165 sir are you sure your car the right number apparently not I want the Harrington pump company please do one moment sir miss LaSalle I'm sorry you were called by mistake information will you check the telephone number of the Harrington pump company on South Street I tried may Note 2 1 6 5 I got someone else I'd be glad to the number is main Oh 2 1 5 6 - 1 5 6 thanks a lot you're welcome this is B operator did you get the right number sir yes it's May no two one five six somebody wrote it down backward just a moment now get it for you Jordy pushy 8 you're trouble you're welcome all that service and I still have my quarter says how do you people do it well all we try to remember is that no matter how large our business may grow it's still made up of individual customers each of whom likes to be known as a person not as a number well that sounds simple enough but it's extremely difficult to carry out when you're handling thousands of problems it's easy to forget that to each individual customer the only thing that matters is its own particular problem well exactly what do you do to get the idea across and make it stick especially among those of your employees who may never come directly in contact with the public yeah that's a long story actually there's no one thing we can do what's happened I think is that we develop sort of a tradition about how we try to live and work remembering always that we're just people dealing with other people both inside and outside the company then what it boils down to is the golden rule treat others the way you yourself like to be treated you've got it phone's dead knock it out frankly I thought the house was gonna fall in well it's all over now that's this country life for you every time it sprinkles word cut off from civilization who could that be well since I don't really know I'd hate to get look what I found one telephone man says he wants to try our phone well it's a good trick if you can do it it's dead that's what I told him I just stopped in to test it only on the outside ma'am I'll bet the inner man is plenty dry would you like a cup of coffee oh thanks very much how come you're out this direction Holly a storm knocked down some wires a few hours ago we got every man we could put them back in service again creamer sugar no thanks I suppose I look at your telephone oh yeah looks natural don't you think that's because it's dead you know just testing this I got it here oh no just testing you see I was working on your line at the pole and I wanted to make sure your telephone was all right well sure is darn good service that is what emergencies can be met and smoothed away by helpful friendly people giving dependable service whatever or wherever the job may be good citizens doing a good job that's the reputation that we want to continue to have wherever we go for it's a reputation that carries over into our personal living well miss Bea mount will be glad to open a charge account can you give me a reference or two well I'm with the telephone company Oh fine say by the way do you happen to know a Dorothy Larson she works there too can't seem to place her do you know what she does no but she goes to our church she's an awfully nice girl and capable too we depend on her a lot to keep things going that's our telephone people will be recognized off the job as friendly dependable citizens so long as on the job and as part of the job we try to treat our customers better than they may expect not only because that's the kind of people we like to be but because it's good business the more our customers like the service the more they use it and the more the business grows with greater opportunities for everyone in it but the bigger the business the more necessary it becomes to watch the little things that keep the public's liking and respect only then will they continue to feel they can depend on us and that even if they could they wouldn't want to take their telephone business anywhere else and since this is too big an order for any one person or department to handle alone good service friendly service still is and always will be everybody's job [Music]