Blog # 7

As I was searching and scoping out the well-known, popular website Yelp.com, I looked at various restaurants, supply-chains, coffee places, etc. to see the criteria that people use to evaluate their food and their experience with it in certain environments. People are extremely critical about their cuisine, so I figured that examining eateries would be a good starting point to find truthful, meticulous criticism for both a product as well as the surroundings that people relate to their experience (like I learned from Vanclay in Writing Project 1!). For Writing Project 2, I want to map out “good” [positive, comfortable] places to work on campus and as I rummaged about Yelp.com, I noticed that one of the most mentioned, and seemingly one of the most important pieces of one’s experience at either a restaurant, a coffee shop early in the morning, or even and a take-out place, was the customer service they received based on the friendliness of the staff. For example, I read stories about how generously a Starbucks employee made one woman’s hectic morning easier simply by ensuring her drinks would make it safely to her destination. The woman wrote: “Loved the employees of this store.  I told them I need to get 2 drinks with the hospital, with food, and 2 bags, so they put my drinks in to a carrier and sealed my hot drink with green plug so it does not spill.  SWEET!!!”.  As I read these types of stories, as well as stories containing negative feedback, I noticed that the customer service really determined whether or not one would come back to visit the space. What made me solidify that statement were the few reviews which stated things like “The food was awful, completely opposite of what I had expected. However, the customer service was really great. The waitress was so nice, the manager was genuine, and they gave us such a discount it was like we only paid for our drinks! Maybe the cook was just having a bad day. We will probably give it one more try”. It was interesting to me that customer service had such an impact on a customer’s appreciation or evaluation of a place and its purpose. I think this will be very valuable to support my idea to spend time researching about what the criteria is for a good, positive work place, as the employees are a major reflection of the workplace: happy, friendly employees relay that idea that they are comfortable and satisfied, at least, with their workplace.