When you flip a light switch, the lights go out. When you try to turn off the TV, it goes off. When you unplug your fridge, it stops cooling your food. So why on earth don’t computers shut off when you hit the power button?

This has plagued me for years. I’ve been told that you can damage your computer by shutting it off the wrong way, and I accept that – but I want it to be my decision! Instead, there are times when I hit the power button and the computer remains on. It’s as if the computer is finicky, like a cat, and it will do just as it pleases.

When I’m using a desktop, that’s fine; I can unplug it and it will go off. But there are numerous times that I have had to unplug my laptop and wait for the battery to drain before I can get the thing to turn off. My current laptop battery lasts about eight hours. This disappoints me, to understate it. I finally removed my battery to expedite the process.

You may be asking yourself what this has to do with customer service. I agree; this takes me beyond the culture-building and branding on which I’ve built my reputation. But this technology issue does frustrate me as a customer, and that too is a key part of customer service.

If your product makes your customer unhappy, then – even if it’s a really cool product – your customer will be forced to struggle with it or, more likely, you will lose that customer: not just now, but good luck winning a burned customer back in the future, once you’ve gotten your act together.

This isn’t news. But here’s how it plays to customer service. When the product you make does not show care for the customer, it shows that your company does not respect the customer. Lack of regard for the customer in any respect is poor customer service.

This is what David Packard was referring to when he said, “Customer satisfaction second to none is the only acceptable goal.” The founders of HP insisted that their customers be satisfied – actually, delighted – with the quality of the products they bought. …With the knowledge of the sales staff. …With the accessibility and responsiveness of the engineers. …With the flexibility and respect of the accounts billable department. Sure, Packard and Hewlett wanted their employees to be polite, to smile, to say, “Let’s make it happen” instead of “Our policy says….”

But that narrow definition of customer service didn’t happen in a vacuum. It happened in a culture of customer-centrism; brand that was consistent throughout its entire operation, from the corner offices to the factory floors.

I’m not saying that HP hasn’t stumbled in recent years. Actually, we have put a moratorium at Coiné on buying any more HP products, at least until we are satisfied that they have gone back to their roots. We have had nothing but nightmare service from this brand since our first purchase years ago. Hewlett and Packard are surely turning summersaults in their graves.

But that is because company leadership has turned its back on its founders’ core principles. The wisdom of David Packard’s admonition, quoted above, remains.

I’ve wandered away from my initial comments on irascible computers. That was more than half jest. No one company is to blame for this design flaw: it’s just the state of the art. I’m sure it will pass as technology progresses.

But here are a few examples of products and process that show either regard or disdain for the customer:

When a restaurant is popular, people will overwhelm its capacity to serve without a wait. That’s merely the nature of the beast. First Watch restaurant in Naples, Florida, does something that I’ve never encountered before, though. When there’s a wait, they wheel a self-serve coffee cart out front, for its patrons’ comfort. Self-serve, and for free. Wow! This is Process at its customer-serving best.

I rent cars frequently in my line of work, and most often I find myself in American cars. It’s amazing to me that Detroit is still so out of touch with its customers. For instance, on the GM model I last drove, only one door has a key hole. If I’m on the left side of the car and don’t have the remote opener, I have to walk around to open the door.

My Saab (also a GM brand) suffers from the same design flaw. However, in most ways, it is one of the most customer- (driver-) sensitive cars I’ve driven, and I’ve tested about every brand of high-end sports car there is (I’m shopping for a new car right now). For instance, the headlights automatically go on whenever I turn the car on, and go off whenever I remove the key. Because of this neat feature, I’ve never had to have a jump. I love it!

I bought the very first MP3 player ever sold, the Diamond Rio, I believe in 1995. If memory serves, if you loaded songs at full quality, it would hold about six. You could fit upwards of 36 songs on there if you compressed the files and didn’t mind the corresponding drop in quality. But, tiny-capacity-be-damned, I love my music, especially when I run, and this device had been written up as shake-proof.

Uh… it wasn’t. It stopped playing about two minutes into my runs, and wouldn’t come back on until it had rested and collected itself. Then there was the sound quality. Even at only six songs, it gave a tinny sound. I switched headphones, and I used two different computers to upload my songs, just in case. It was the Rio.

The product simply didn’t work adequately to sell, but the manufacturer didn’t care: they were out for a quick hit. Greedy, short-term thinking has a way of bringing about short-term results. Does this company even exist any longer? They were first to market, and they trumpeted a really, really cool product. Today, zillions of people own MP3 players. …Apple ipods. They work.

The customer service ethic must pervade every last aspect of a company’s culture in order for its brand to work. Departments throughout the company have to share a passion for serving the customer, or all of the company’s branding efforts will ring hollow.

In a future entry, I’ll share my thoughts on customer service departments. It won’t be pretty.