Your Customers First package surprised me when Wal-Mart was listed in the "customers last" segment. I experienced the exact opposite. I'm not a Wal-Mart shopper, but my son, Wayne, managed a family business in Earlville, Illinois, and part of his routine included a weekly visit to Wal-Mart for supplies. He'd also visit the camera and personal-hygiene departments for himself. Wayne was diagnosed with a terminal illness in May, and at that time it was decided to help him adhere to his usual activities as closely as possible. This included a Tuesday drive to Wal-Mart in Ottawa or Plano, Illinois. Although he continued to became more haggard and emaciated and his ambulation and dexterity rapidly deteriorated, Wal-Mart employees always treated him with courtesy and assistance. The cashiers always waited patiently as he slowly removed bills from his wallet and counted out the exact change. I can't believe that Wayne was singled out for the first-rate service. I'm more inclined to accept it as the norm.
Marilyn C. Urso
Chicago, Illinois
Finally, Sprint PCS gets nailed in Customers Last. Their conscientiously persistent poor service has bedeviled me for two years. Perhaps they should rebrand the PCS to stand for poor customer service.
Steve Kayser
Cincinnati, Ohio
Thank you for Danielle Sacks's valuable and long overdue portrayal of the advertising paradigm set forth by Naked Communications, the brash Brits featured in "Is the Advertising Industry Ready to Go Naked?" (October). As an actor who has stumbled into the business world, I know immediately when I walk onto a stage if the script I'm working with serves an audience. Either people cough and fall asleep, or their engaged energy allows for the magical catharsis of souls united across the footlights. I know I have to be alive in the moment onstage and effectively communicate with my partners or I'm phoning in my performance and the scene falls flat. Here's hoping this call from across the pond rouses the advertising masses from their complacency and laurel resting and compels them to truly listen to their customers and end users to deliver honest messages with value-added content.
John C. Havens
Maplewood, New Jersey
"What Does Green Mean?" (October) makes a timely point to the design community, although the article could have benefited from including a comment from the U.S. Green Building Council, which is certainly aware that its environmental rating systems aren't a final definition or description of "green." The council's LEED checklist has raised awareness and gained traction because it offers measurable steps toward greener building, taking the eco-dialogue out of the purely theoretical and political realm and putting tools in the hands of architects, designers, and construction managers. At the same time, evaluation of what makes a project environmentally friendly must shift from exclusively materials-based measurements (reduction of construction waste, use of recycled materials) to include the full life cycle of the project. In the same way that the waste generated by a building doesn't end with the ribbon-cutting ceremony, it doesn't begin with groundbreaking, but with waste created by the design process.
Caleb Ludwick
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Dr. Sulkowicz ("The Corporate Shrink") gave bad advice to the passed-over executive in the October issue. The advice should have been: "As in tennis, hop the net, extend a hand, and welcome the new successor with genuine grace. If this person is good for the company, the company will grow and opportunities will abound. Everyone will remember the poise, grace, and generosity with which you kept the team spirit, and thus the company, together."
Cheryl Anne Woodward
Encino, California
Email
Digg
StumbleUpon
Facebook
Buzz Up!
LinkedIn
