Remember Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid.
You're critically wounded and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley , on 11-14-1965, LZ X-ray , Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1 and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters
to stop coming in.
You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns and you know you're not getting out.
Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away and you'll never see them again.
As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.
Then - over the machine gun noise - you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter..!!
You look up to see an un-armed Huey!! But.... it doesn't seem real because no Medi-Vac markings are on it.
Ed Freeman is coming for you..!!
He's not Medi-Vac so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fireanyway. Even after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come.
He's coming anyway.
And he drops it in and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board..
Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire to the Doctors and Nurses.
And, he kept coming back..!! 13 more times..!!
He took about 30 of you and your buddies out who would never have gotten out.
Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise , ID
May God Rest His Soul.
I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we've sure seen a whole bunch about Michael Jackson!!!

How Accurate is the BBB Rating System?

I take my dress clothes to the cleaners instead of washing them at home. When I travel and have to meet with clients or have a speaking engagement, I like to be able to just grab some of the clothes already pressed and on hangers and hit the door. So to me I don't mind spending $25 to $40 per week on laundry. I think it is worth it.

So you are wondering where I'm going with this . . .
Well, I'm a member of Service Roundtable, it is the worlds largest private contractor group, I do recommend membership, go here for more information. In the last few days on the Service Roundtable forum, I've been reading comments both good and bad about the Better Business Bureau rating system. I wanted to post my opinion on the forum itself, but decided not to because I know I would have made some people upset. . . So I'll post it here. The timing is interesting because recently I decided to try a new dry cleaner since I have been using the same one for six years, and I have a 50% off coupon for a competitor who is even closer to my office, almost within walking distance.

When I entered the cleaners, where I've never been to before, the person greeting me did not smile, nor welcome me in any positive way, She just said, "What do you have?" I showed her and she started sorting them and said; "That'll be $12.50 after the coupon" I asked, do I have to pay now? She said "Yes, payment has to be made when you drop off". Okay, this is different, guess it doesn't really matter.

Several days later I go to pick up my laundry. Everything was cleaned and pressed except my shirts seemed to have some wrinkles pressed and starched into them, I questioned this when I looked at them upon pickup. The girl at the counter agreed that indeed was the case and offered no solution. (my regular cleaner would take the shirt back and make it right for free) I also noticed a button missing on one of the shirts. I asked if they replaced buttons she said sure, it will be 3-6 days and at an additional cost. (My regular cleaner replaces buttons free), I decided to just take everything and never go back there and stick with the people I trust, even though they are more expensive.

Just out of curiosity I decided to look up dry cleaners on the Better Business Bureau website in Louisville and just see what they say about the dry cleaners I just did business with. They were rated an "F" due to an unresolved complaint. I checked on the cleaners I regularly use and they were rated an "A". Although the system that the BBB uses is not 100% perfect, based on my small, and unscientific example, it seems right on.

There was a contractor on Service Roundtable venting his frustration with the BBB because he has an "F" rating due to an unresolved complaint. He claimed that he did resolve the problem after the consumer took the issue to the government licensing board and it was resolved there, and that having to report the resolution or issue to the BBB was unnecessary. He felt he was being treated unfairly. I've run several different service businesses and had to deal with thousands of customers and never had a complaint or issue elevated to the BBB. I have to assume this contractor does not take customer compaints and problems very seriously since he has complaints elevated to the point where he may lose his license.

In my world, how can a business person get a complaint from a customer and go to bed at night thinking they will just go away. Plus if you have someone contact you from the Better Business Bureau, how do you just ignore it? I was at the post office a few weeks ago and was sorting through my mail standing next to a very unkept, dirty looking guy in bib overalls. He was sorting his mail also. I happened to have a letter from the BBB and the guy next to me noticed and said. "Yeah, I've got those (while pointing at the letter), you just can't make people happy anymore." I just smiled and grabbed my things and left.

Oh the BBB letter? It was an invitation to a golf scramble.

Rambling about Customer Care Plus

Okay, so here it is. I've been working with my good friend and partner Mark Schmidt on Customer Care Plus for over a year and it is now available. Funny, I don't hear any music or cheering, not even any phones ringing with people asking to sign up. Nothing. Did I expect anything different? Of course not, something like this takes time, and we actually have to get potential clients to admit they may be doing things wrong before they spend money to find out what they actually are doing wrong.

People have a natural reaction to bad news, they don't want to hear it. In fact, most people would prefer it just goes away. So, you are probably asking . . . Frank, why do you offer a product that will give you bad news?

Ever go to a professional baseball game? Think about how many times during that game you looked at the scoreboard, sometimes after every pitch, just to see if it was a ball or strike. Most people want to know if their team is winning, losing, catching up, improving, declining or whatever. We like constant feedback, but we don't like failure. I sincerely believe, those of us whose destiny is to become successful want to know how we are doing, moment by moment if possible. Those whose destiny is to eventually fail, are so concerned about getting caught doing something wrong that they fail to understand the importance of measuring. Plus isn't great to be caught doing something really well also? I want to hear that too!

Is Customer Care Plus for everyone in contracting? No, in fact I would prefer that if a potential client does not have the will to change or modify the way they do things in response to customer reports, please don't call us, I don't want you to spend money on something that accomplishes nothing.

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