#277 - Customer Service
Every day when he walked into his office, he reminded himself of two things:
1) He really needed to take down all the god awful pink Sally had forced upon his office.
and
2) He was there because no one else wanted to deal with anything.
A kid acting out in class? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
A parent furious that their child has failed a class? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
Teachers and social workers bickering in ICMs? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
Teenage pregnancy. Drugs. Family troubles. Social workers. Abuse.
All these things and more were truths facing the students at his school, and no one knew how to deal with them. To be fair, there were other counsellors, but for some reason he was the one the teenagers connected with. He had students calling to see him that he didn't even know.
In his business, word of mouth was more important than acutal figures. So what if he had a caseload higher than anyone else. So what if he worked longer, and sometimes met with the kids outside of school.
He wanted to ensure that these kids had the best they could have and if that help came in the form of a breakfast club, lunch programs, after school drop-ins, youth groups etc., then he would make sure he did that.
He always considered himself as being the ultimate in customer service. After all, he wasn't in business for himself -- he was in business for the kids, and they were the ones that knew exactly what they wanted.
All teenages know exactly what they want. It's getting there that's the problem.
Linus Van Pelt
Peanuts
263
1) He really needed to take down all the god awful pink Sally had forced upon his office.
and
2) He was there because no one else wanted to deal with anything.
A kid acting out in class? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
A parent furious that their child has failed a class? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
Teachers and social workers bickering in ICMs? Call Mr. Van Pelt.
Teenage pregnancy. Drugs. Family troubles. Social workers. Abuse.
All these things and more were truths facing the students at his school, and no one knew how to deal with them. To be fair, there were other counsellors, but for some reason he was the one the teenagers connected with. He had students calling to see him that he didn't even know.
In his business, word of mouth was more important than acutal figures. So what if he had a caseload higher than anyone else. So what if he worked longer, and sometimes met with the kids outside of school.
He wanted to ensure that these kids had the best they could have and if that help came in the form of a breakfast club, lunch programs, after school drop-ins, youth groups etc., then he would make sure he did that.
He always considered himself as being the ultimate in customer service. After all, he wasn't in business for himself -- he was in business for the kids, and they were the ones that knew exactly what they wanted.
All teenages know exactly what they want. It's getting there that's the problem.
Linus Van Pelt
Peanuts
263