Change Career, With Purpose, News

Wow! We just arrived home from our vacation. It is so good to be home but we did enjoy the trip! First, we accomplished our purpose, which was to pack up Heather, our daughter, for her 30 something career change move. Truth is, that is exactly her age, 30. Several aspects of her change career decision were clarified as we traveled. I can see these becoming a web page of their own, perhaps entitled something like "Principles Leading To A Career Change Decision" or "Principles For Timing Your Career Change". But for right now, I will just ramble a bit just to get my first Career Change With Purpose blog of August written.

1. First, the decision to change careers has been a process, not a spur of the moment decision to change careers. Let me add that I do believe it is possible to make a decision to change careers quickly, such as when a job offer comes that requires an immediate career changing decision. (Some of the greatest career change decisions also came as result to getting fired!) But in our daughter's case, she made a decision to change her ministry career even though her church begged her to stay. Her editing skills, her writing ability, and her musical talents had earned her a solid position a Springs First Church of the Nazarene. For Heather, when I asked her to define the timing of her career change decision, said it began a year ago. Part of the process involved feeling overworked and underpaid but there was also the curiosity of wondering if it was time to make a career change decision.
2. Second, the decision to change her career came from wanting to be closer to family. Through her twenties, she felt being away from family helped her define her own journey and be her own person. Now, at age 30, there seemed to be a compulsion to be closer to family, not only parents, but her cousins, her uncle and aunt, her grandparents. I think that to make a career decision based on relationships is a part of maturing. While we all desire space and want to be independent, there come that time when it is OK to lean on those who love you most, to allow them to help
   • in moving,
   • in buying a car,
   • in living with loved ones while you establish yourself in a new community,
   all the while being your own person.
3. Thirdly, this has been a purpose driven career change, a decision based on a desire to fulfill God's purpose in life and career. In other words, a career change decision is, at its best, a spiritual decision to please God and to serve people.

That was evident even in her decision to become a Mary Kay Cosmetic Consultant a few months ago. (Becoming a Mary Kay Beauty Consultant gave her the confidence to make her change career decision, which I wrote about in a previous blog.) Even on the trip from Colorado Springs to San Diego, she was able to sell some Mary Kay beauty products to relatives. The report was that she was quite professional in her beauty products presentation, just what you would expect of Mary Kay Cosmetic Consultant. No matter what other job she will get in pursuing a writing career, she will continue to develop her Mary Kay Cosmetic Products career. But there is also a spiritual aspect to her skin products career in that she desires to help others feel good about themselves in how they look. Again, check out her website as a Mary Kay Cosmetic Consultant. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater Click below to check out how to have a website for your home based career: Purposeful Website For A Home Based Business Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA.

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09-08-2005 - Laughter Therapy

I just left a message on our company report line that focused on laughter. I believe laughter is a special gift from God. The capacity to laugh and the ability to make people laugh is like all of creation -- it has a good side and an evil side. At its best humor is therapeutic, refreshes the soul, builds relationships, and honors others. At its worst, humor is destructive, makes light of that which should be honored, may be biting and destructive in relationships, and often cheapens the sacred. You don't need a company psychologist to prescribe the therapy of humor. Good, clean humor often meets our need to laugh, even in tough times and in difficult situations. Let me suggest that you apply humor therapy to your employment search efforts. I have always loved to laugh. Especially in my career as a hospice chaplain, I see how important laughter is in living life and facing death. I often suggest that families retell the jokes they remember their loved one telling when they were at their best. Yes, it is heartbreaking to see your loved one suffering from dimentia or Alzheimers, but could there be some laughter still left within them. The Bible even describes laughter as good medicine. The therapy of humor brings healing through laughter as you change your career with purpose. Sometimes humor is just what the doctor ordered in our need to laugh. I noticed how much my family laughs when we are together. Thank God for creating us with the capacity to laugh! Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater ------------------ Click below to check out how to launch your own Purposeful Internet Ministry/Business Website ------------------- --------------------

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12-08-2005 - Revisiting "Pastors Leaving Ministry"

Since I seem to be having writers block this week, let me share once again the reason I started this website was in response to hearing of all the pastors who are said to have "left the ministry". Here is a bold statement: I think it nearly impossible for a faithful servant of God to leave the ministry! It is interesting to me that the search engine keywords most consistently used bringing visitors to "Change-Career-With-Purpose.com" are "pastoral burnout" and "leaving the ministry". This seems incongruous with the fact that the number one search engine entry is "pastor appreciation poems"! I am still trying to figure out exactly what this means, but my initial take on it is that those wanting to express appreciation to their pastor do not have a clue that he or she is ready to throw in the towel. My guess is that it will take a heap of poetry expressing appreciation to the pastor to alleviate feelings to the contrary. Ken Sande of Peacemaker Ministries in an article entitled article, "Strike the Shepherd", reports that every month, 1,500 U.S. pastors leave their assignments because of conflict, burnout or moral failure. Sande states that one study showed that the average seminary graduate spends only 14 years pastoring before changing careers. Now, while it is a tragedy when pastors leave ministry because of moral failure, I do question the entire concept of "leaving the ministry" as always being negative. In fact, just as some of the greatest companies and corporations came about in response to a pink slip, I honestly feel that some of the greatest ministry will be initiated following pastoral burnout or being forced out. For example, The great Christian humanitarian ministry "World Vision" came about because the founder was rejected as a missionary candidate for his denomination. The truth is that most of us in ministry serve an organization that had its beginnings in someone being rejected or forced out somewhere along the line. The Apostle Paul often decided to go to the next town in his missionary journeys described in the Book of Acts in the New Testament because he was "forced out". His concept of the leadership of God was that he would wake up lying on the ground, there were stones all around him, and his body hurt like crazy! It was at that moment he decided to go to the next ministry assignment. I call for a whole new framework for understanding ministry, suggesting we reframe "leaving the ministry" to "expanding the ministry". Of course, if it is the ministry of the Apostle Paul that sets the pattern for understanding ministry, that would be a whole "old" framework! No one likes to be hurt or forced out, but maybe we need to be more like the Apostle Paul when being run out of town. It was probably the only way God could get his attention to move on to his next ministry assignment. That has been true for me as well. So don't be surprised if it is in a whole new career setting but ministry just the same. To see ministry in this light is the ultimate "change career with purpose" strategy. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater Click below to check out your own home based career: Purposeful Internet Ministry/Business Opportunity Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA. -------------------------------

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13-08-2005 - My Career As An Internet Chaplain

After 30 years as a pastor, my career change journey led me to the healthcare field, where I now work as a healthcare chaplain in San Diego, CA. And now through my website Change Career With Purpose located at www.change-career-with-purpose.com , my ministry has expanded even wider to a new career as an internet chaplain! My Change Career Journey has been very fulfilling and rewarding.

• As a healthcare chaplain I offer encouragement to medical personnel as well as providing a spiritual presence at the end-of-life for their dying patients. I help patients and their families draw upon their own spiritual resources as they go through the grieving process. I am also available for their pastoral care and bereavement needs.
• As an Internet Chaplain I am a career change coach, using the internet to help people be all they can be, through the grace of God.
• As an entrepreneur, I help those in ministry define ways to fund their ministry, helping them see that the internet can be a tremendous tool for ministry as well as business, especially as a resource for funding ministry endeavors.

Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater For more information on the easiest way to build your own website, and perhaps to have your own blog, "Click here see how you too can impact the world with your message and to discover a method to fund your ministry!"

Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA., Sure, use this article but make sure you point people to Change Career With Purposeat http://www.change-career-with-purpose.com

Click to see a favorite product or featured website:

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15-08-2005 - A Mobile Repair Business As A Potential Change Career Option

Today, at a men's breakfast meeting, I met Mark. We were talking about a ministry funding concept that is more than theory for him, it is reality. He said that he has been in a home based car repair career that has funded his ministry for nearly 20 years. His Christian home based business is providing Mobile Mechanic Services. I was intrigued by his concept of ministry and business, whereby he meets the car repair needs of people, but does so by going to them, thus the mobile mechanic designation. What a great purpose driven career, truly a career with purpose! He shared just enough information to make me want to pump him for more information concerning his home based mobile car repair business. Now there's a unique twist on pursuing a home based business opportunity -- being a mobile home based business. The truth is, I need his service for several reasons, such as:

1. My car needs what the dealer calls a 15,000 mile service. Could Mark's Mobile Mechanic business do that and still fulfill warrantee conditions for my car?
2. My daughter needs to buy a used car. Does he have access to good deals on used cars that are mechanically safe?
3. My information business needs ebook subjects for my ebook self publishing endeavor. Would he let me write his story and allow me to market a book, sharing the profits? I am especially interested in his ideas on how a business can fund ministry, seeing the potential for a title such as "Funding Ministry Through A Mobile Mechanic Business". Now that's an original title!
4. And finally, how does the ministry aspect of his home business work? I mean, how does repairing cars make for ministry? He shared some of what is happening in his ministry through mobile car repair and I was challenged by his car repair ministry story.

Onward with Purpose Chaplain Paul Slater Click the following to check out How To Share Your Ministry Funding Story Through A Website Of Your Own

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19-08-2005 - The Blessings of Having This Website

I have enjoyed my new venture of website building this year. A number of years ago I committed myself to learning a new skill each year of my life. Some I gave up on, such as ventriloquism -- my dummy always spoke with a lisp! Anyway back to the joy of building websites, I started adding up all the blessings I have received from my revialized website building career. (I first tried to help some churches by writing some church websites a few years ago when I worked as Director of Ministry and Technology for Reachone Internet. Website Blessing #1 has been fulfilling my own purpose by helping people be all they can be through the grace of God. I try to fulfill my God given purpose in every aspect of life, but doing so through Change Career With Purpose.com has been especially fulfilling for several reasons.

• My website has a worldwide impact, with readers each day coming from around the world. When I left a local church pastorate in 1999 after 30 years in pastoral ministry, I had no idea how extensive my ministry as a chaplain would be, never thinking my role as an internet chaplain would take me to places like Sweden (birthplace of my grandparents on my mother's side) or Chile, and even China. (Over 30 countries as listed as the country of origin for those who visit my website). Fulfilling the great commission of Christ through this website is a tremendous blessing to me. Of course, actually going to these countries would be even a greater blessing!
• My website endeavor has been helpful to those seeking help in their change career journey, especially pastors who are, in their minds, leaving ministry because of pastor burnout. Hopefully I have helped these pastors, frustrated in their pastoral career, to reframe their concept of leaving ministry into a concept of expanding ministry.
• But other professions have received help as well. For example, my San Diego Real Estate Agent Dave Diegelman, was so impressed with the amount of traffic my website receives, that when he called me to talk about about our house offer being accepted, only talked about building an effective real estate website. He forgot to tell me our offer on a house had been accepted.

Website Blessing #2 has been revitalizing my love for writing. I find myself writing all the time. To see what writing bug bit me and convinced me I could write, Click here.

• I write articles for my website, I write blog articles like this one as well as Careers With Purpose over on Blogger.Com.
• Of course my goal is to write my own ebook as I wade through one of the best books on ebook self publishing, the Instant Ebook Writing Kit. With all the potential authors who have talked to me about writing and publishing their own book, I want to launch my own self publishing company.
• I do intend to write my own ezine, which is just a fancy term for an internet newsletter. I'll let you know when and where you can subscribe to "A Career With Purpose" as soon as I launch it.

Well, time to go to work in my career as a healthcare chaplain so I guess I will have to share Blessing #3 and Blessing #4 in my next blog. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA., All Rights Reserved ----------------------------------

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22-08-2005 - An E-mail Anti-virus program challenge for even the most effective antivirus software program

My sister-in-law tries to keep up to date on humorous quotes and funny articles. Every family ought to have a court jester. Here's something that she sent my way last week Warning of a dangerous antivirus threat attacking older adults I thought you would want to know about this e-mail virus. Even the most advanced anti-virus programs cannot take care of this one. It appears to affect those who were born prior to 1960. Symptoms: 1. Causes you to send the same e-mail twice. 2. Causes you to send a blank e-mail. 3. Causes you to send e-mail to the wrong person. 4. Causes you to send it back to the person who sent it to you. 5. Causes you to forget to attach the attachment. 6. Causes you to hit "SEND" before you've finished. 7. Causes you to hit "DELETE" instead of "SEND." 8. Causes you to hit "SEND" when you should "DELETE." IT IS CALLED THE "C-NILE VIRUS!" OK, very funny Erna! But on the serious side regarding email virus protection, Click here If you have a serious need for anti-virus software Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater More more information on the easiest way to build your own website, and even to have your own blog, check out "Click here to check out how you too can impact the world with your message!" -------------------------------- Click to see a favorite product or featured website:

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23-08-2005 - A Resource for Peace In Your Personal Life On Your Change Career, With Purpose, Journey

As I made my pastoral care visits in my role as a hospice chaplain, one of my patients wanted to pray for me. Now one of the commitments I have made throughout my pastoral ministry career is to allow people to pray for me by name whenever they offer to do so. Although he admittedly has diminished memory, this man of peaceful purpose was able to pray every single word in this powerful prayer. Peace Prayer of Saint Francis of Assisi Lord, make me an instrument of your peace; where there is hatred, let me sow love; when there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. Grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood, as to understand, to be loved as to love; for it is in giving that we receive, it is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Let me refer you once again to a great resource for becoming a peacemaker in relationships, especially this article that is an eye opener regarding pastor burnout and pastors leaving ministry. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater Share your message, your passion, your hobby, or your ministry by clicking Impacting Your World Through An Internet Ministry/Business Website --------------- Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA., All Rights Shared --------------

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23-08-2005 - Building Websites That Attract Web Visitors Through Quality Content

What Does It Take To Be A Quality Church Website

Like any website, an effective church website offers what people are looking for. People want information and when a website is built, it should offer the information people are looking for. The truth is very few people enter into their search bars what churches have on their websites. For example, as important it may be to a pastor, "will of God" is not what most people are searching for. But, perhaps unfortunately, there is a moderate demand for the concept "pastoral burnout", so I have built a page loaded with keywords on that very topic. I do so because I can have a high ranking building a page on that particular phrase without much competition.

What Should Church Websites Do To Attract Visitors

I made some assumptions that are now becoming clear to me regarding the internet and how churches use it. 1. Use Keywords People Search For To Make Spiritual Impact I've noticed that when it comes to the internet, church web developers fail to view websites as a tool to share their message in terms non religious people would click on. I use a church website building program that, while not written from a spiritual perspective, is a tool that can teach the power of words. 2. Create Websites That Endure Over Time In using church site software, church Webmasters are usually here today and gone tomorrow. Even the church my daughter use to work for, with attendance over 1000 each Sunday, could not get into their own church website to make changes. The reason? The person who built it has moved on! I recommend Site Build It because anyone can learn to use it -- the overworked pastor or an even more overworked church secretary or administrative assistant. 3. Understand The Business Side of Ministry Churches often fail to see the internet as a business internet opportunity. I've heard church leaders say it is wrong to view the church as a business enterprise. But then the same enterprising church leaders buy property, often promote and sell books, charge for attending concerts and retreats, and even purchase the very offering plates used for the collection. Let's be honest about the business side of ministry --buying and selling is what businesses do, and so do churches! So let's own up to the business side of ministry. Why not have a website that promotes the businesses of your church attendees? Or use your website to promote services your people offer? You will take an offering, won't you? 4. Churches Do Like to Count Sheep So many churches have websites that no one visits! Some are pretty, even beautiful websites full of wonderful graphics, but are ineffective websites when it comes to the one thing we like to do -- count people! Don't just have a website. Have a church website with traffic that declares your message to thousands, even when the doors of your church building are closed. With a highly trafficked website, your church facility is always open, declaring your message of faith! Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater For more information on the easiest way to build your own website, and perhaps to have your own blog, "Click here see how you too can impact the world with your message and to discover a method to fund your ministry!" Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA., All Rights Reserved

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24-08-2005 - In Response To An Interested Church Webmaster On Writing An Effective Church Website

Yesterday my Change Career Blog was giving me fits. The truth is that I had tweaked it but failed to enter one line in the blogging software I use to produce my ministry related blog. Only it was also on the day a frustrated church webmaster was looking at my site to determine how I have so much traffic visiting my site. This morning I responded to his inquiry. Dear Interested Church Webmaster: I am glad you used the contact form to make contact. I purposely keep my email address off the internet because of spammers using email address harvesting programs to generate potential spam victims. I do advocate using SiteSell for several reasons. The truth is that I have not checked to see how many sites use this great product, but for me it has been exactly what I have needed to create a website with traffic. The reasons for using SiteSell as a way of launching a church/ministry website are as follows: 1. Ease of use. If you know HTML and can use website building software, great. You can do so with SiteSell. But for the common person, it is beyond most of us. I like the fact that I can create my website pages with SiteBuildIt just by typing on my keyboard as if in a word processor or text editor. 2. SiteBuildIt understands the whole concept of using keyword optimization to attract traffic to a website. The whole concept of content sites being the sites search engines love best is exactly what SiteSell does best. 3. SiteSell can be a great tool for evangelism, and the ideas for pre selling you find in SiteSell could just as easily be defined as pre evangelism. 4. I believe that there are some churches and ministries using it in the hundreds of sites you will find listed by clicking on "examples of websites using SiteSell." Hope this helps and I will do some research on particular church websites on this too. But let me say that one great reason for using SiteSell is that you are on the growing edge of an exciting use for this product. The fact that I cannot give specific examples other than my own site means that someone like you could be at the forefront of helping churches make the best use of the internet and a website people actually come to. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater ------------------ PS: I wish now I would have mentioned this bit of information in my letter: The best $10 you will ever spend! Better said, the best $10 you will ever invest! ------------------- Click to see a favorite product or featured website:

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25-08-2005 - Writing The Purpose Driven Life Article From A Career Change Perspective

I am sure that when Rick Warren wrote the book entitle Purpose Drive Life, he had no concept how much of a impact would be made throughout the world.

Trying to Survive Financially As A Parish Pastor

I had first read his book The Purpose Driven Church when I was trying to survive financially as a parish pastor in Bellingham, WA. The fact that this life changing, ministry challenging book was dedicated by Pastor Warren to mission church pastors was a great encouragement to me.

The Purpose Driven Theme Changed The Direction Of My Life

Reading both of those books with the purpose driven theme changed the direction of my life because it changed the direction of my career. My research on the purpose driven life has culminated in this website, with it's focus on "Careers With Purpose", especially the "Change Career With Purpose" theme. I intend on pursuing my purpose, which is to enable people to be all they can be, through the grace of God, in a number of ways.

The Purpose Driven Life Article Project

First is in writing, such as in what I am doing now in authoring the purpose driven life article you are now reading. But as I think of the areas God has lead me in recent years, such as chaplain to abused and molested children when I was pursuing my professional chaplain certification a few years ago, I was impressed by how little direction these precious children had, especially from within their own hearts and minds.

The Purpose Driven Life Child Focused

On the back burner of my mind (anyone smell smoke?) I have several concepts regarding the purpose driven life for children. While my chaplaincy career has taken another direction, I have always envisioned a purpose driven children's ministry somewhere along the line. Perhaps my role is not to actually do the things I am thinking about as I continue research on the purpose driven life, but as I see my purpose, to help others launch various ministries with purpose.

Other Publishing With Purpose Concepts

I can envision self publishing aspects about the purpose driven life on ebook. Or perhaps this will be my purpose driven diamond -- providing purpose driven church software. As you can see, there is a theme that I have developed here, based on keyword optimization principles, which will eventually become part of my purpose driven life website about changing careers with purpose. Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater ----------------------------------------- Click below to check out how to explore having your own Ministry or Business Website With Purpose ------------------------------------------ Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA., All Rights Reserved ------------------------------------------ Click to see a favorite product or featured website:

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28-08-2005 - Reflections On Previous Employment Assignments that God Used In Formulating My Change Career With Purpose Ideas

One of the churches I served back when my children were in their early school grades was in John Day, Oregon. As someone said, "It's not the end of the world, but you can see it from there!" Today, August 28, 2005, they are celebrating the church's fiftieth anniversary. Here is a copy of the email I sent to them. Dear John Day Nazarene Friends: Congratulations on John Day Church of the Nazarene's 50th anniversary. As I look back on the few years of ministry in John Day, I praise God for the people we were privileged to serve and the impact those years had upon our family. Relationships established and lessons learned there have blessed our family in so many ways. Aleta's understanding of early childhood education was gained when we launched Sonshine Christian Preschool. Who would have imagined that her experiences and lessons learned would eventually be shared at one of our Nazarene Universities. She is at Point Loma Nazarene University, serving as director of the Early Childhood Learning Center, working with young children and university students in the university setting. What a perfect fit in that she loves teaching preschoolers and mentoring young adults. Our daughter Heather recently moved from Colorado Springs, where she served 5 years on staff at Springs First Nazarene. Continuing on in a church support staff career, she is now here in San Diego, recently hired as the Administrative Assistant to the Pastor at Mission Valley Church of the Nazarene. Again, each church we served impacted Heather as a child, and John Day is no exception. She looks back on those years, realizing that God must have been at work in her calling to serve the church even when she was a preschooler. She also has her own business as a May Kay Cosmetic Consultant. Darrell lives with us and is now improving in some physical challenges. He has had a difficult life, due to painful physical difficulties. One of the challenges he lives with is being disabled due to a spinal cord injury. While he played football during high school and at MidAmerican Nazarene University and had opportunity to suffer numerous injuries from doing so, his spinal chord injury was sustained as a care giver to mentally challenged adults in 2001. Of course we praise God for his dog Sadie, who serves as a therapy dog, a big yellow Lab who is helping him physically and emotionally. He is attending church with us, having a renewed interest in faith. As for me, I am enjoying my ministry as a hospice chaplain. I received my certification as a Board Certified Chaplain by the Association of Professional Chaplains this last April. I am Director of Spiritual Care for LightBridge Hospice, overseeing a staff of three other chaplains and developing a spiritual care ministry to dying patients and their families. One of the greatest joys is my new internet ministry "Careers With Purpose". I really enjoyed producing my website Change-Career-With-Purpose.com for several reasons:

• First is that it is a ministry to the 1500 pastors said to be quitting ministry each week in America's Evangelical Churches.
• Second, I needed a hobby and diversion after dealing with death and dying every work day.
• Third, I wanted to fulfill my own purpose and the internet has enabled me tominister throughout the world as I "help people be all they can be by the grace of God." Over 40 countires were listed as where my website visitors came from.

Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater, B.C.C. ----------------------- My website offering career change counsel: www.change-career-with-purpose.com

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30-08-2005 - Customer Service -- the Good, the Bad, the Ugly

Customer service is something you usually don't think about unless it is really bad customer service. Last week I had 2 very different experiences when it came to how I was treated as a customer.

The Setting of The Bad Customer Service Story

The first situation took place at a large remodeling supply store, a depot of sorts, close to our house. I bought the wrong size of tubing for installing an ice-maker -- too big as to the diameter. I had the receipt so went back to complete this very simple home remodeling job.

If You Are A Costomer Service Rep, Gain Perspective

Now let's put this in perspective -- the house we bought recently in San Diego cost us $540,000, yet in any other area we have lived it would go for probably $150,000. Now I plan to do various remodeling jobs on this basic 3 bedroom house, such as a garage conversion project to add living space, as well as finishing a basement remodeling project to add square footage, all of this extra living space is already within the four walls of the house. Another way to look at this is understand that in my last pastoral assignment, I was involved in real estate transactions totalling over $3 million. In 13 years in that pastoral assignment I remodeled 4 different homes, 2 church facilities, and helped on numerous other projects. The point I am making is that I have a history of doing home remodeling projects where a lot of money was spent. I will continue to remodel kitchens, update bathrooms, not only in our present home but in several others that could be in our future as well.

Customer Service Involves A Lifetime of Potential Sales

I think employees who provide building supply customer service should be aware that how they treat a customer is not about nicles and dimes, it involves hundreds of thousands of remodeling project money. In other words, there is a lot to lose for their company if they provide lousy customer service. In this case, the 20 something customer service representative did not have a clue she was dealing with a customer who could possibly over his lifetime spend thousands of dollars for remodeling projects. Somehow she thought she was only responsible for 5 dollars of ice maker tubing. To make a long story much shorter, she said she had to measure it and did so. It was a foot short. She says "Someone has cut off a foot of tubing. I need to talk to my manager."

The Mystery Of The Missing Foot Of Icemaker Tubing

Now I would expect a new employee to be clueless as to what was at stake, but the 40 something manager got caught up in the mystery of the missing foot of icemaker tubing. Their tone of voice was very accusatory that I had cut off a foot of material and was cheating their company of what amounted to probably 50 cents of tubing. That's when I lost it, in a sanctified sort of way, and so I told her . . . (I will have to finish this article later. It is getting way too long, so stay tuned for the rest of the story in tomorrow's blog.) Onward with purpose, Chaplain Paul Slater Click below to check out your own home based career: Purposeful Internet Ministry/Business Opportunity Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA. --------------------------------------

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30-08-2005 - The Mystery Of The Missing Foot Of Icemaker Tubing

And Now, The Concluding Episode

. . .of "The Mystery Of The Missing Foot Of Icemaker Tubing". The setting -- big warehouse store, a building products depot of sorts, that sells home remodeling hardware and supplies, where I was returning the wrong size of ice maker tubing. Remember, the clerk demonstrated extremely bad customer service by measuring the tubing. I had ended my previous blog by saying: "Somehow she thought she was only responsible for 5 dollars of ice maker tubing. She said she had to measure it and did so. It was a foot short. She said 'Someone has cut off a foot of tubing. I need to talk to my manager.' I also quipped "Now I would expect a new employee to be clueless as to what was at stake, but the 40 something manager got caught up in the mystery of the missing foot of icemaker tubing. Their tone of voice was very accusatory that I had cut off a foot of material and was cheating their company of what amounted to probably 50 cents of tubing." I concluded my blog with this: "That's when I lost it, in a sanctified sort of way, and so I told her . . . " So, as Paul Harvey would say . . .

"And Now, The Rest Of The Story"

When the manager told me the customer service clerk was doing the right thing, I told her that if the 10 foot piece of tubing was only 9 feet long, the real crime, if anyone had a complaint, was me, the customer, because I had bought a piece of tubing advertised to be 10 feet but was, if their measurement was correct,only 9 feet long. "To me that is fraud and false advertising. I should be complaining to some authority that it is your store that is cheating customers, rather than customers cutting off a foot of tubing that really has no applicable use!" That I am even writing about this shows how important good customer service really is. I even told another employee, who asked if I needed help, what had happened and got a "tough break" kind of answer. He told me I should have complained to a manager. I told him that she was a manager. Will I continue to shop there? Sure, it's a fairly good store and has lots of good employees. But I will always remember the accusatory tone of voice suggesting that I am a thief every time I see that big orange sign. I may even go to the store with the blue sign more than I would have.

Oh yes, the second customer service incident I mentioned previously

Meanwhile, my website host, had a minor problem and several entries on my website were corrupted, as were a few hundred other websites they host.

• They contacted me about the problem.
• They fixed the problem over the next few days and then notified me exactly where on my site I needed to restore a few sentences.
• And then, on top of good communication, they gave me an extra month on my contract.

Even though they caused the problem, and it did impact my site, they communicated, corrected, and compensated me, the customer. Now that is what I call good customer service. I wonder what I need to learn about good customer service from these 2 incidences? Onward with good customer service, Chaplain Paul Slater Click below to check out how to have your own website hosted by: The Webhost With Good Customer Service Copyright © 2005, Chaplain Paul L. Slater, San Diego, CA. --------------------------------------

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