Hello, I'd like to share a recent blog post of mine with the community entitled Customer Service Should Have Soul. I'm very passionate about this topic and would love to get some feedback from the community.

After two weeks away in the UK, I've returned to the US having been reminded, rather harshly, of how terrible customer service is these days - it's EVERYWHERE. The quality of customer service has become so bad that when given reasonable service (not great service) it stands out. Let me repeat this in another way - customer service that's mediocre is bringing attention to itself because it's better than bad!!!!

While returning to the US on a major US carrier (with the letters U & S in the company title) I was amazed by the appalling customer service I received! We've all seen it because traveling has become less than enjoyable. Let me set the stage. Remember the glory days when flight attendants were beautiful, young, vivacious and served you a coffee with a smile? Now let's think in complete opposite of those terms and you have today's typical flight attendant. The young have aged, become stressed, tired and less than thrilled about the coffee service....more like coffee with a growl.

I won't ramble in great detail about my experience because it's not unique. Between a canceled flight, disinterested agents unwilling to extend themselves, cramped seating, flight attendants forgetting orders and seemingly frustrated to be asked anything at all .....you get the picture because you've experienced it yourself. The biggest tragedy of the whole thing is that as consumers we're paying premium pricing for a lousy service.

Remember the Southwest Airlines flight attendant who rapped and the video went viral? How many of us who fly Southwest secretly hoped he'd be our flight attendant? It's not that he gave great service, it's that he stood out brightly from all the rest?........(please view my blog at zonemarketing.tumblr.com to read more).