Have you heard about the singing bus driver from Ottawa who was asked by his employer to “stop singing” after 11 years of serenading his passengers?
The transit company responded to passenger complaints about the “singing”. Since this story was released, there has been an outpouring of support on Facebook and in the community for the singing bus driver. People have weighed in on both sides of this issue, but it appears that the majority say “let him sing”.
Was the employer right to ask the driver to stop something he had done every day on his route for 11 years? Was there a creative solution to this problem? Should every customer complaint be treated equally? Sometimes organizations make the wrong decisions while trying to do the “right” thing.
We are all familiar with the saying “you can’t please all the people, all of the time”. The reality is that unhappy customers complain, and happy customers rarely let you know how they feel, unless you ask. In trying to provide good customer service and respond to customer complaints, the transit company may have angered some of its other customers who weren’t given the opportunity to voice their opinion.
Responding to customer complaints and resolving issues can be a challenging task. Before you make decisions that change your service delivery you need to know what the majority of your customers are thinking. If you only focus on customer complaints you may end up heading off in the wrong direction. Do your research, look for a creative solution and most importantly use common sense.
Personally, I would choose the singing bus driver over a surly unpleasant driver any morning.
