cashgrinder

Being in the customer service industry, I find it hard not to analyze every customer service interaction that I have. I find that most of the time the people that I encounter in customer service jobs are completely untrained, and lack the basic skill set to be successful in customer service.

The main piece of the puzzle that is missing is customer advocacy, and when that is lost, so is the great customer service experience that I expect from each interaction. This is something that I instill in my agents from day one. When a customer has an issue, we need to work as hard to resolve it as possible and always look at an issue from all angles. For example, I was in a Macys store a couple weeks ago with my girl friend and she wanted to get some pants for work. When she found what she was looking for she wanted to get two pairs. Well they only had one size in stock and said they would have to order the other one. So of course, they said that the shipping would cost us. So we proposed the question “if you don’t have the item I want, why should I have to pay for the shipping to buy it. I came into the store so I could have it today” the retail associate stated that the system would not allow her to discount the shipping so she called her supervisor. The supervisor then agreed that they cannot discount it and we would be responsible to pay the shipping charges. Well as it turns out it’s not our fault that they don’t have the item in stock and yet it just became our problem. So we explained again the situation as we see it and asked to speak to the manager ourselves, so the retail associate called the manager again and said “they want to talk to you. They said it not their fault that we don’t have it in stock” My jaw almost hit the floor, she basically just talked about us right in front of us as if we are a big pain in her ass. I don’t even let my agents ask questions like that when the customer is not within ear shot let alone if they can hear. In my opinion, the only thing this woman really wanted was for us to leave, as it did not fit her day to complete her job on behalf of the customer, and they way she said it she obviously had not interest taking care of a customer. The way she positioned our request to the manager gave him the idea that we are terrible customers. As if we are trying to get something for nothing, so of course he was just going to come out and do his dammedest to ensure that if we want to buy from Macys that we would be paying to ship anything they are currently out of stock on.

All in all we got the pant because they magically appeared in stock when she looked again. But customer service rule number one: always be the customers advocate, as a customer service representative be understanding and make sure that you attempt to find a solution to the issue.

So the second piece of the puzzle that most people miss is: always be thinking of what you can do for the customer. This is often harder but your customers will appreciate the fact that you are finding some kind of solution to the issue.

We went in to America’s credit union to close and account, as they are becoming bank of America’s credit union (at least that’s how they are known in my house). The first lady that helped us pretty much just looked at what we were up to and didn’t know what to do so asked a peer. At that point, the peer took over and told us that we cannot pay off the credit card and close the account because there is still going to be interest on the next month. Well I can understand that, but we were more than willing to pay it out right there, and utilize the $50 that is held in the savings account to go against it as well. The person setting behind the desk said that we couldn’t do that and that we would need to come back into the location on the billing cycle and pay the balance before we could close the account. Well all things considered we have the money now we are in their location and don’t want to have an account. So the bank manager gets involved and says that there should be an easier way but if we don’t want to come back we have to pay what is due now then when the bill cycle changes they take the left over funds and issue a check. So they found another way to drag out this process, and yea they found a solution, but it’s a shitty solution to the issue at hand. So after a few more phone calls and more telling us they can’t meet our requests. I come up with the solution, and that is to pay all but $50 of the balance on the account then when the bill cycle happens to transfer the $50 in the savings to pay the last balance on the credit card then close the account. This would alleviate the need to send a check, and we walk away without ever having to set foot in that piece of shit bank ever again (that’s right I called it a bank, the way I see it is if they’re going to act like a bank I’m going to call them one). Throughout the entire experience not once did any employee if Bank of America’s credit union ever care to ask why we were closing our account. These are the basics, if your customer wants to leave find out why, this enables you to either resolve the issue their leaving over, or to make changes so that other people don’t follow suit! If my agents take calls this way continually they become unemployed

So rule number 2

Always look outside the box, and focus on what you can do for the customer, just because its not exactly what their looking for doesn’t mean it’s not satisfactory for your consumer.

Rule number 3

Never let a customer quit your business without finding out why. This gives you the opportunity to find unique ways to save their business instead of just giving it to your competitor.

So in the end these are just the main things that drive me fucking crazy in the world of customer service. So follow these three simple rules for better success in your customer transactions

I recently went to one of my favorite local restaurants, and had quite possibly the worst dining experience of my life. Now they were defiantly busy and the service there is usually much, much better. This time though it was just bad. All was well until we had the food in front of us. I asked for catsup and refills on the drinks, the drinks came rather quickly but to get the catsup I had to ask two more times and had finished my burger before she made it back. Now I can understand that a busy restaurant can be a crazy place, but blaming the kitchen for not getting drink refills and condiments to a table is just unacceptable, I mean who the hell is going to believe that the waitress is waiting for the kitchen to fill a cup with ranch and catsup. Well anyway, we ordered desert a nice piece of Red Velvet Cake, after waiting about 10 min for that to come out, we just ordered it to go. By this point we had been in the restaurant for about an hour, and then it was time for the bill, because we were in a hurry we handed off the debt card and when she came back we were charged for someone else’s dinner. So we waited for her to come back, even tried to flag her down a couple times, and we still hadn’t got our cake yet. So finally, when she came back we informed her that we had not even ordered anything that we were charged for, to which he said she could reverse the charges and finally brought our cake after delivering the correct check. Therefore, that brings me to the question to tip or not to tip.

Understanding that most servers make their money off tips most people will say that I should give this inept server a tip. I disagree, since I work in a call center, the representatives that work for me are compensated based on their performance, and if they are performing badly they make minimum wage.
Why can this not be the same for people who serve food? I mean think about it if no one gives this server a tip eventually she is going to realize that she sucks at her job and it’s time to move on. Then there will be a job open for someone else to not suck at bringing food and drinks. Hence more satisfied customers. If I were to give her a tip that would be implying that she did a good enough job to receive a gift. This is just not the case.

Therefore, as consumers we need to band together and not allow ourselves to give our money away for terrible service. If the job is not done to our satisfaction, why are we going to reward someone for doing it? The survival of the fittest, if we reward the people who do the job well we will and “stiff” the people who don’t we will likely see bad waitresses quitting their jobs or bitching that they don’t get tips and moving on to jobs that better fit their skill set. In reality, what is going to happen is that the public is going to feel guilty that they do not tip the poor worthless server and they will not realize they are terrible and continue to provide sub-par service to their customers. So I leave you with this, the next time you are in a restaurant preparing the pay the bill ask yourself does this person deserve your hard earned money or are you just gifting it because it’s the socially acceptable thing to do.

Ufc 141 aftermath and looking forward

Well UFC 141 was a great even with Fight of the Night bonus going to Cerrone and Diaz and Knock Out of the Night going to Hendricks. Here is the break down and answers where do they go from here.

Lensar Vs Overeem

Lesnar came out and looked a bit timid, and really did not show up with his “A” game. He really didn’t want to get in striking distance of Overeem and after the first couple knees didn’t want to shoot in for the take down. Overeem looked great closing the distance and delivering punishment to the body and finally ending it with a liver kick that crumpled Lensar and put him into retirement.

What’s next for Overeem,

Looks like a match up with Junior Dos Santos, This is going to be a totally different test for the Dutchmen but with his devastating stand up and drive to finish fights I think this will be test that he can pass with flying colors. In my option, he is the Number 1 heavyweight on he planet.

What’s next for Lesnar,

Just some speculation from Josh from Josh’s vlog, there has been talk of someone making their return to WWE at wrestle mania and with Brocks lack luster performance last night it just might be him. Im not one to call bullshit often, but with the paycheck that Vince McMahon can offer and the fact that Lesnar’s payout was the same win or lose, I think there is a good change that he really didn’t want to win that fight. Regardless we are not going to see Lesnar in the octagon any time soon

Diaz Vs Cerrone

This was a great fight that went the distance, Diaz put on a striking clinic almost landing every punch he threw, and heavily damaging Cerrone in the first round. Cerrone didn’t look like himself and defiantly took a beating because of it. In a post fight interview he stated that he was head butted by his horse and that caused his mouth to hang open for the majority of the fight. But in the end the judges scored it (30-27) (30-37) and (29-38) and Cashgrinder.net judges scored as follows

Cash (30-26) Diaz

Josh (29-28) Diaz

1slandguy (29-28) Diaz

What’s next for Diaz

Sounds like Diaz is going to make a run at the title, and it could all start with Guida, Pettis, or maybe Jim Miller; this could get him in line to possibly fight the loser of Henderson Vs Edgar, then a shot at the title.

What’s next for Cerrone,

Well its back to the drawing board, I think he needs a tune up match to start climbing the Lightweight ranks. He could get a fight with the winner of Lauzon Vs Guillard, followed by maybe loser of Guida Vs Pettis.

Fitch Vs Hendricks

This was a quick one where we say Hendricks put an end to Fitch’s six fight winning streak. This is the one fight of the night that I was glad I was wrong about. It all ended with one left hand right on the chin of Fitch just twelve seconds into the contest.

What’s next for Hendricks,

Well after knocking out the number two welterweight in the world, we could see him challenging for the title sooner rather than later. He should get one more fight to keep in shape instead of putting himself on the shelf to challenge the winner of Diaz Vs Condit. He could take a quality competitor like Jake Shields or Jake Ellenberger.

What’s Next for Fitch,

After taking a beating like that from Hendricks and the constant ridicule from fans, I think it’s time he makes a move to improve his punching power and finishing skills. With 56% of his wins ending by decision, the UFC is going to be reluctant to put him as a headliner, or give him a chance to lay and pray the title. He needs to start winning fights in more impressive fashion and impress the UFC brass. I would like to see him take some time off and start training to finish then come back for another run at the title

Overall this was a great card with dramatic finishes and hard fought decisions. My picks did not fly so well netting me a total of 21 points on MMAplayground.com and picking three of the ten fights correctly. I invite you all to join my fight club on MMAplayground.com called Cashgrinder.net and don’t forget to check out Josh’s Vlog and 1slandguy on youtube.com. Ill be back next week with fighter profiles for Jose Aldo and Chad Mendez

Alsitair Overeem Vs Brock Lesnar

This is going to be a great fight between 2 of the biggest heavyweights in MMA. On one hand, we have Brock Lesnar. A world-class wrestler with explosive takedowns and brutal ground and pound. On the other, we have Alistair Overeem. A K-1 kickboxing champion and decorated mixed martial artist who has more submission wins in his MMA career than knockouts.  This fight is going to come down to one factor, can Alistair Overeem stop the take downs of Brock Lesnar, if the answer is yes it is going to be short night for the wrestler.

Diaz Vs Cerrone

This will likely be the fight of the night, these two are scrappy, and they will be all over the place. Really, this fight could go either way. Im thinking Cerrone is going to take it and the way that these two throw down, anything could happen. This one is going to come down to who is more dominate, who ever can set the pace of the fight is going to win.

Fitch Vs Hendricks

This is going to be the classic Jon Fitch 3 round snooze fest. They are going to come out Jon is going to secure the take down then pretend that Hendricks is stuck on Antarctica and he is the only blanket within 3000 miles. I really do hope im wrong on this one but he has a higher percentage of decision wins than Decision Dan Henderson, but at least Dan in entertaining doing it.

And here are my official picks for UFC 141, we will be watching the fights at O’Blarney’s this Friday everyone is welcome to join, and we will have official scores from the cashgrinder.net judges, Josh from Josh’s vlog, 1landguy, and myself.

Height: 6’5”

Weight: 256

Striking: 10/10

Grappling: 8/10

Wrestling: 8/10

Submissions: 8/10

Submission Defense: 8/10

Cardio: 10/10

Since moving up from LHW Overeem has transformed himself into Ubereem. He has dominated opponents with his superior striking. Since the move, we really have not seen a single hole in his game, and he has rounded out his MMA game. He has gone undefeated since 2007 in 11 MMA fights and has had 8 wins in 10 fights under K-1 rules .

The main thing that leaves questions on the level of Alistair Overeem is the fact that he has not been fighting world-class opponents. His current 10-fight win streak is full of UFC rejects, and leftovers from the pride days. He has shown that he is a talented striker, but when he won the 2010 Grand Prix there were some key players missing like Remy Bonjasky and Badr Hari, both he has unavenged losses to. In addition, early in his career when he was fighting at light heavyweight he was plagued with losses due to weak cardio from the huge weight cuts he had to make.

The key for Overeem to cement himself as the number one heavyweight in MMA is simply to fight the best fighters in the world and beat them decisively.

Height: 6’3”

Weight: 265

Striking: 4/10

Grappling: 10/10

Wrestling: 10/10

Submissions: 6/10

Submission Defense: 6/10

Cardio: 8/10

Brock is a behemoth cutting down to 265 and standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall. He is extremely athletic and explosive. Over his last fights, we have been seeing his ever-evolving striking game, but have not had a chance to see if he has gotten better at avoiding submissions. Right now, I would say that his keys to success in the cage are to take his opponents to the mat and pummel them. This has been the major keys to his success in the past and will be until he can get his striking up to a professional level.

Brock should be working his striking; we have all seen what happens when he cannot take his opponent down at will. In the first round of his fight with Shane Carwin we saw Brock fail at getting the take downs and he got punished for it and almost lost the fight. If it were not for Carwin punching himself out in the first round going for the stoppage, he would not have been the unified champion. In his battle against Cain Velasquez, we saw Him put Cain on his back but was unable to hold him there. As we can see when Brock is unable to hold his opponent on the ground, he loses fights.

So, overall what we needs to see from Brock in the future is improved stand up. If he can put together some solid striking, he could be the best of the best but until then anyone with great takedown defense and an ability to get off his back is going to hand full for Lesnar.

UFC 140 ended up being a great card, and not all the fights ended the way I thought they would. The highlight of the night for me came from the Korean Zombie with the 7 second Knock Out. The main card was full of finishes we saw two submissions and a TKO.

Jonny Bones Jones Vs Lyoto The Dragon Machida

This fight started the way I thought it would with long feeling out process and bit of offence mounted by Machida. I would say that Machida got the better of the exchanges and both Josh and I had the bout scored 10-9 Machida. In the second round Bones started to liven up. I am surprised that he did not attack the body and the legs as he was getting frustrated trying to land shots in the first. Giving up the take down was the beginning of the end for Machida, though he was able to get up he suffered a gash above his left eye. From there is was all Jones the clinch and Machida eventually went out via guillotine choke with only a few second left in the round.

From here I think we are going to see Jones carry the title for quite some time. At this point he has taken out most of the big contenders for the LHW crown. With wins over Rampage, Machida, Shogun , Ortiz and Bader. He has one more big test in Rashad Evans before he will have cemented himself as the best of the best in the LHW division. Machida looked impressive in the first round. Finding the mark when he needed to and avoided taking damage. He needs to continue practicing what has been successful, tonight the only thing that would have saved him the defeat is avoiding the take down. I think its time for him to have a couple more fights against guys a bit lower on the food chain to get some confidence back as he went  from winning 16 straight to losing 3 of his last 4 fights.

Frank Mir Vs Big Nog

This fight started out the way I thought it would, Nog was just out striking Mir. The turning point in this one was when Nog rocked Mir but did not really follow-up strong enough to get the finish. This allowed Mir to get his head straight and start to roll and get the kimura. Nog did a great job trying to roll out of it and Mir did a great job rolling with him. I think that pride got the best of Nog in this one there was a point when it was time to tap out and he just couldn’t let himself do it till it was too late and the damage was done.

Looking ahead  from here I think Frank has got to get another win over a quality opponent to get offered a title shot. He has been doing the right things in working on his striking. I would like to  see him match up with the loser of the Lesnar Overeem and from there possibly get a title shot (this is obviously going to end up in the rubber match for him and Lesnar as Ubereem is unstoppable). As for big Nog Mir seems to be his kryptonite, First suffering his first knock out loss then his first submission loss. Nog has got to be frustrated with the evenings events, he comes out winning the striking game rocks his opponent then gets tapped out. What this all comes down to size. Nog weighing in at 239 he is pitted against fighters that are cutting down to the 265 weight limit. 5 years ago the heavyweight division only had a couple big names that were over 260, and the division was ruled by a 230 pound pudgy russian. You could weigh in well under the weight limit and be successuful as all the really big guys were unskilled and un coordinated, but these days with guys like Lesnar, Overeem, and Mir who weigh in over 260 and move extremely well, giving up a 20+ pound weight advantage is the beginning of the end. For Nog to be successful in todays heavyweight division he needs to hit the gym up his caloric intake and put on some muscle.

Tito Ortiz Vs Lil Nog

In this fight Ortiz came out and put the pressure to Nog for the first part of the round, and the fight was going back and forth for the first couple min. Then a big knee to the body crumpled Tito and his fate was sealed. Nog Just punished the mid section of Ortiz until the ref had to step in and end the fight. Next for Nog is a fight against he upper echelon of the LHW division maybe Rampage, Machida, or Shogun. A win against one of these would put Nog in a position to challenge for the title. As for Tito, He needs to continue to work on his striking game he looked much better than he has in the past, but still has a way to go. His take down attempts looked much better and were not as telegraphed as they were in the past. Tito has one fight left on his contract and if he wants to continue his career with the UFC he needs to get the W in impressive fashion. If he chooses to retire after this one I would like to see him go out with the W.

Over all tonight has a ton of exciting fights that finished impressive fashion. Most the fighters are getting back on track for a run at the title, and we can be sure that Jon Jones will the be the LHW champ for a long time.

Until next time keep your hands up and your opponent moving backwards

UFC 140 is going to be exciting featuring both Noguera brothers, and a LHW title match with Jones defending his title for the second time this time facing The Dragon.

Jon “Bones” Jones Vs Lyoto Machida

This fight is going to be pretty straight forward. Machida is going to be on auto pilot waiting for Bones to make a mistake and Bones is going to take a card out of Shogun’s playbook and destroy the legs and body. I see the first round being rather slow paced with about three mninutes of feeling out in which Machida will go for the offencive late. For the next couple of rounds Jones will mount offence to the body and legs of Machida slowing him down and making him easer to hit coming to a head in the 3rd. Im calling it Jones TKO late 3rd round or early 4th.

Frank Mir Vs Big Nog

This rematch is going to be rather entertaining. You have two guys looking to get back into the title picture. Measuring these guys up they are almost identical psychically both standing at 6’3″  and weighing 240 lbs. They also have similar fighting styles and are known for have superior grappling and submissions. I thing that Big Nog has a small advantage in the striking even though in their last fight he lost to Mir via tko. During that fight Nog came it with a severe staph infection that caused the brazilian to falter. This time both fighters are healthy and knowing their fighting style this will likely end in a 3rd submission this could go either way. I’m calling it 3rd round submission for Big Nog setting up the rubber match late 2012 early 2013

Tito Ortiz Vs Lil Nog

This should be an interesting match as Tito, well know for ground and pound and Lil Nog, known for submissions will be coming together in this showdown. Seven years ago I would say this fight ends up on the ground with Tito on top grind away and Nog on the bottom looking for submissions. At this point in time both fighters have greatly improved their stand up and likely we will see this fight take place standing. I think we will see Nog play possum a few times in hopes to pull Tito into his guard, and we will see Tito pull a few takedown attempts. Overall I think we are going to see and exciting back and forth battle, but in the end we are going to see back to back victories for the Noguera brothers but this one coming by unanimous decision from superior striking and superior striking.

Overall this is going to be a great card to watch, and I look forward to seeing how all this plays out on December 10. Ill be back with with a breakdown of what happens on the main card after the fights until then.

Keep your hands up and your oponent moving backwards

Well to get things started this is my first post. Here im going to drop a ton of my opinions on the current MMA events, promotions, fighters as well as a bit of k1. Just so there is no confusion the main focus will be on weight classes 170 and above. Most of the great knockouts are at 155 or above just because of the anatomy of human body. Dont get me wrong the smaller guys are amazing athletes as well but right now its just not for me. So for the most part most of the fights that I will be breaking down will be in the upper weight classes and most the events that I will be talking about are going to be there as well.

I am also a bit impartial to most of the guys that have come over from Japan and pride fighting, even though for the most part they have not seen the success in the cage that they saw in the ring. So quick break down of my favorite fighters in each weight class (lightweight and up)

heavyweight Alistair Overeem, Bigfoot Silva, Junior Dos Santos, Mirko Cro-Cop, Bas Rutten (P4P best commentator)

Light heavyweight Shogun Rua, Rampage Jackson, Gegard Mousasi, Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko

middleweight Vitor Belfort, Ninja Rua (I don’t care that he’s retired), Anderson Silva

welterweight Thiago Alves, Matt Serra, Frank Trigg(P4P Number to commentator)

lightweight BJ Penn, Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard

A couple of things that you may notice, Fedor is in the LHW category and Penn is in the lightweights. They are there on purpose I believe that they belong in those weight classes as they are both too small for were they are fighting currently, more so Fedor for heavyweight as the “new breed” of heavy weights are all cutting down to the 265 cap and as we saw in the Bigfoot Silva fight Fedor got man handled by the bigger fighter. These new heavyweights are not the freak show fights with Zhulu Choi that happened in Japan, these are 265 pound world-class wrecking machines. Any way that’s enough for now ill give my bias opinion on UFC 140 before too long

until next time keep your hands up and your opponent moving backwards

with the Zuffa’s recemt aquisition of Strikeforce there are some great things that could happen for the fans, but could mean that there are some big names that are getting pushed out of MMA in the united states.

When we look at fighters like Josh Barnett, Nick DIaz, and Paul Daily this merger could definatly have some negitive effects. these fighters have had a checkered past with the UFC and Dana White. What could this mean to the line up of the heavy wheight tourny that is happening in Strikeforce. are we going to see Josh Barnett replaces and one of the alternates put in his place, is Paul Daily going to finish his contract with Strikeforce and and be released into obsurity in the states and be forces only to fight in small promotion shows and the big promotions in Japan. I certanly hope that Dana is telling the truth when he says that Scott Coker is going to managing the day to day business and let him run it with resources that the UFC has to offer.

As for the fans we could see some of the fights that we have all been waiting for, Alistair Overeem vs Brock, Cain, JDS, basicly anyone that matters in the UFC heavyweight devision, and after all this time we could see Randy vs. Fedor, Melendez vs. Edgar or Maynord. and we could see what Mousassi could do in the Middleweight division.

As for the fighters in general, Zuffa basicly has a monoply if a figher wants to make decent money and wants to make a name for themselves they are going to have to sign the contracts, and the bigger share of the MMA world Zuffa can get their hands on the less they are going to have to pay the fighers. Really at this point it is starting to make sense for the fighters to create a union and use the power of the many to ensure that they are paid fairly, becuase at this point Zuffa can just pay the fighters a few thousand more than what they can get at a local promotion and for the sake of the poket books of the fighters they are going to have to sign.

So overall in the aquision of Strikeforce is looking good for everyone but the fighters, hopefully Zuffa will be honarable and pay the fighers what they deserve