Being of Service is Not Servitude.  There isn’t a grandparent in the world that can resist the gentle but insistent pleadings of their grandchild, especially the first grandchild. Saying no to a two- year-old who is reaching with outstretched arms toward a cellophane bag of sweets in a busy store is nearly impossible.

What is completely impossible is forbidding the child to open the bag and eat the contents before getting to the checkout line. These were the circumstances for Trish and her granddaughter Olivia on what was supposed to be a quick trip to their local Wal-Mart.

When Trish got to the checkout counter with her other purchases, Olivia had consumed more than half of her treat. Not wanting to take the bag from the child’s hands, Trish asked the checker to reach over the conveyor belt with her bar code reader wand and capture the information needed to record the transaction.

She said, no, that her wand couldn’t reach that far and it wasn’t working very well anyway. It was now necessary for Trish to take the almost empty bag from Olivia before they could leave. As the checker stood there with her hands on her hips, Olivia realized she may lose custody of her treats and gripped them so tightly as to crush the remaining contents. Trish, holding Olivia in her arms, looked back and forth between the checker and Olivia, Olivia and the checker, the checker and Olivia. She was caught in a cycle she could not get out of by herself.

The assistant manager of the store, sensing a problem by the growing crowd of onlookers, trotted over to the knot. Upon hearing the checker’s side of the story, he reached over the counter, grabbed the wand and stretched it over to read the price on the crumpled package in Olivia’s hands. He dropped the wand back in its holster next to the checker, and apologized to Trish for any inconvenience or anxiety created by the situation, suggesting it was more of a misunderstanding than anything else.

The expression on the assistant manager’s face changed as he turned from Trish to the checker. His scowl was harsh, even scary, when he said to the checker, “I have two words for you, Darlene. Customer-F@#king-Service.”

In our day-to-day jobs it is difficult to remember, no matter how good we are at what we do or how much we love what we do, that our customers, clients, patients and patrons expect a certain level of Customer-F@#king-Service to demonstrate that we understand why we do what we do and for whom.

Understanding the needs and responses of our client’s customers is an intrinsic part of our communication process. For each client, we develop a plan driven by a specific set of defined communication objectives designed to elicit an anticipated and desired result. While the ability to communicate creatively and succinctly is necessary, being of real and meaningful service to our clients is paramount.

The work of Essex Two has a history of delivering on its promises and exceeding the expectations of its clients. Our website presents case studies demonstrating that we understand the full meaning behind the “two words” from the assistant manager at Wal-Mart.

Worth your time: During the last week of September and the first few weeks of October, there are three scheduled presidential debates. They will be broadcast on television, radio and across the internet. Take the time to tune in and really listen to the candidates. You may have already decided who you want for president. Listen anyway, if for no other reason than to confirm your judgement, then vote. Vote even if you don’t think your vote will make a difference one way or another, because when you're voting for your candidate you are also voting for yourself.