Leslie Wilcox Blogs

Icky Excess in Phone Greetings

       Whatever happened to "How may I help you?"

        Have you noticed that consultants are messing with the simple, straightforward sturdiness of the business greeting?

       Gurus of customer service are going for icky excess.

        I called for a hotel reservation. The front desk employee answered, "How may I inspire you today?" Well, that's a whole different subject, unrelated to hotel reservations.

       I needed to check with a banker. "How may I exceed your expectations today?" was the standard greeting. Hey, let's start with meeting expectations and move on from there if needed.

       Despite the frothy and ambitious overtures, I went away from each phone call without the service I'd called about.

       I liked the old model: Underpromise and overdeliver.

       Give me plain wrapping with something real inside. Not fancy packaging around a bunch of nothing.

        A friend of mine has a different take on this:  "Oh, relax,"  she says. "They want to elevate our mood.  Let them try. "

        I could use less uplifting from strangers and more basic service.

       But there's a positive here. The customer service wizards know that saying "Thank you" remains a must at the end of all calls. No substitute for it, so the unvarnished courtesy stands. Thanks for that.

         

         

      

Ever Met Anyone Like Nancy?

        Gasagasa. It's a Japanese word that describes someone with a lot of energy--and it should be Nancy Murakami's middle name.  For nearly 27 years, Nancy has radiated a field of natural energy at PBS Hawaii, where she serves as our Traffic Manager.

        It's a demanding job, making sure television programs are received by satellite, recorded for playback, and placed in our schedule, while taking many pro-active steps to satisfy production needs, viewer interest and FCC and other legal requirements.

        We've all seen how the TV business has morphed over the last three decades. Nancy, who once sat at a typewriter with white eraser fluid, now uses a complex, specialized computer network  that is re-invented every few years, and she uses the language of "metadata."  Nancy's a wonder, taking the learning curves in stride--even when at times it was necessary to work seven days a week  to master an ornery new computer system.

       She is a woman who could teach all of us online correspondence. Her email messages are brief and clear. If it takes one word to convey what she needs to say, her note will be one word. Of course, she's busier than most folks. If you ask for more information, it's available. In her head is a huge archival library of PBS programming information.

       Other staffers lean heavily on her, and she backs them up without any thought of credit or reward.

       Ever met someone like this--someone who's such a perfect fit for a job that you almost can't imagine anyone else doing it with such skill and aplomb?

         It's marvelous to behold.  And today it  is a daunting thought.

         Because Nancy Murakami is retiring today.

         From now on, Nancy's positive energy will be working fulltime on behalf of her young granddaughter Sydney and other family members.

          Mahalo, Nancy, for your skills, commitment and gasagasa productivity, enabling PBS Hawaii to deliver quality programs on schedule for nearly 27 years. 

Imperfect Process, Perfect Gifts

     The generational divide is alive and well, and it worked very well this Christmas for my daughters, who are young adults.

      I went into their favorite, edgy cosmetics store to handpick gifts for them. It's a place of myriad extravagant choices, and at those prices, I wanted to get just the right thing to go with their skin tones.

      But the loud, driving pulse of the shop's audio system made decision-making a pain and a chore.  The sales staff seemed energized by the insistent music, moving about with attitude, but the pneumatic sounds drained me. I stepped up to the counter, bought gift cards, and beat it out of there.

       "Great!" my daughters said as they opened up the gift cards. "Perfect!"

        "I just wish gift certificates didn't seem so impersonal," I told them.

        "Are you kidding?" said one. "This is as personal as it gets. I get to pick what I want. Sorry, Mom--but do you really think we want our mother choosing our make-up?"

         Another daughter laughed: "I bet the music got to to you!"

          Yup. They have my number.

          And so does the store. I was a quick, low-maintenance, high-profit customer. In and out.

          On a later shopping trip I happily lingered over the shelves of a store playing muted seasonal songs. Until my youngest daughter, who was with me, said, "Can we get out of here? This old-fut music is driving me crazy!"

Bogged Down With Spellcheck

  Spellcheck was a never-used function on my computer until two months ago.  That's when I hurriedly wrote a business letter that emerged with an embarrassing typo. I'd left the "l" out of the "public" in "public television." Oops, that couldn't happen again. So I started using Spellcheck.

      However, I'm already OVER this online feature.

      Reason: the outlandish words it offers me to help me with spelling. When I write "public," it asks if I means "pubs". When I write mahalo, it suggests "manhole," or "Maalox," or  "meal" or even "manacle." Huh? And worse, when I write pono, which means righteous, balance, doing the right thing, it wants me to consider "porno."

       I don't see Spellcheck as my protector. Rather it's a  heckler. So, off it goes, back into hibernation.

       And I'll do what I should have done in the first place:  Take a minute and proofread.

        Now, I know that when I write "blog," I won't get a sneering Spellcheck question, "Did you mean to write 'bog'?" 

       Sounds like an editorial conclusion, not a helpful hint. No wonder I prefer to be left to my own devices.

Public Blog, Private Conversations

     I'm learning something interesting from writing this blog. People who read it usually don't post comments on it. Instead, they'll email me, at leslie@pbshawaii.org.

     Either way, I get to hear what they have to say, and I appreciate it.

      It's telling me that more readers of this blog would prefer to have a private email correspondence than a public conversation.

       Interesting, huh?

      

    

Surfers Rule!

     Surf filmmaker David Brown says he's used to getting rejections from corporate funders when he requests money to make documentaries.

      Except in Hawaii and California, he says, "the corporate funding world has a deep-seated lack of respect for surfers and surfing."

      Brown managed to find the funding, mostly from foundations, to make Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown (no relation). Woody Brown, now 95 and a Maui resident, is beloved as a big-wave surfer and ocean sports innovator . His story involves bliss and tragedy, abandonment and reconciliation.

        Next year, the PBS network will take Woody Brown's story national. PBS Hawaii took the lead in presenting the documentary last week.

        We love showing programs about the people and things of Hawaii.

         It was a kick hearing from Hawaii's ocean-loving community during the presentation. "Surfers rule!" said one man, calling in a donation to make it possible to create more high-quality programs about Hawaii. "PBS rules!" commented another.

          We applaud David Brown for his film-making. And we thank Woody and another legendary waterman, Brian Keaulana, for being the subject of another television show, Long Story Short, that ran the same evening (and repeats today at 2:30 pm.)

           Our island community has great aloha and respect for watermen and waterwomen. Perhaps their skills aren't fully appreciated in land-locked states or areas where water takes the form of a placid lake rather than crushing waves and treacherous rip currents.

          Yesterday's hang-loose young island surfers have grown up.  And we thank them for contributing financially last week to the cause of more programs about our islands!

          

          

At Home in the Ocean

     In our island culture we have a high regard for people who know their way around the ocean. True watermen and waterwomen aren't only swimmers, or surfers, or paddlers, or divers. They're adept whatever the ocean pursuit, although they prefer some activities more than others.

     Makaha's Brian Keaulana, widely recognized as an ocean risk-management expert, is one of these watermen. At age 46, he's already a living legend. And he's the son of a living legend, Buffalo Keaulana. These men are just at home in the ocean as on land and have saved many lives.

     Ocean sports innovator Woody Brown, 95 years young and a Maui resident, is another waterman for life.

     Go deep with Brian Keaulana and Woody Brown in different shows on PBS Hawaii Tuesday, Dec. 11! In Long Story Short at 7:30 p.m., Keaulana talks about his deep attachment to the ocean and pulling off a harrowing rescue at dense sea caves near Kaena Point. It made news around the world. Of Wind and Waves: The Life of Woody Brown, showing at 8 pm, is a world television premiere. Next year, other PBS stations will be following PBS Hawaii's lead in broadcasting it.

      We'll have other watermen on the air too. Members of the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Foundation will be in our TV studios, gladly accepting callers' contributions so that PBS Hawaii may create more quality local programming. Surfer and KGMB9 Weather Anchor Guy Hagi will co-host the TV presentation with his wife, KGMB9 News Anchor Kim Gennaula.

      I invite you to watch---and appreciate the lives of Hawaii residents who have tremendous water skills and who help make the ocean safer and more enjoyable for the rest of us.

Common Ground for Competing TV Professionals

     What do Kirk Matthews, Linda Coble, Gary Sprinkle, Pamela Young, Kim Gennaula, Guy Hagi, Emme Tomimbang, Ron Mizutani and Howard Dashefsky have in common, other than they've become familiar faces following long tenures at different commercial TV stations in Hawaii?

      They all actively support Hawaii's public television station and its mission of enriching civic life. In fact, we're fortunate to have Pamela and Gary hosting this evening's PBS Hawaii presentation of a concert in Tuscany by the great tenor, Andrea  Bocelli. Starts at 7 p.m.

      Public broadcasting was founded in 1967 as an alternative to the commercial networks, not to compete with them.  In Hawaii, that makes PBS Hawaii "the sweet spot" of TV stations, a gathering place for all who care about quality television programs and lifelong learning.

     We want everyone to feel welcome here. And we are thankful that TV professionals who compete against each other as their respective TV stations aim for higher ratings, generously and happily help PBS Hawaii. When they ask for your contribution, they are doing so because they believe this non-profit television station adds value to life in our community.

        Viewer contributions enable us to serve as an independent voice in the media, unbeholden to special interests.