Remember why we are here

OK, you may want to sit down when you read this post; you just may not believe me.  My experience was almost unheard of these days and it surprised me.   So here it is:  I had a good customer service experience the other day.  Actually, I had 2 within a couple weeks. 

I know, right?  Whoa!  It's true though.  I swear!  Let me elaborate.  The experience I will share was in a cell phone store.  I bought a new cell phone online and needed to convert my SIM card to a mini-SIM.  I didn't want to physically go to the store to do this- I just wanted to get this over with the easiest way possible.  But I needed a cover too, so off I went.  

Not only did the clerk help me very swiftly and courteously (including porting all my data from one to the other without even asking), but his colleague handled a herd of other people while I waited who asked questions like:

"They gave me this smartphone and I don't know how to use it."

"Why would any want the history of your phone calls listed there?"

"Why is this hour-long video running so slow?"

Not only did he handle each question seriously, he wasn't condescending or short with them.  He was respectful, patient and gave time to each person.  I was very impressed and wondered if I was that patient.

This reminded me though of something important to all of us in Infosec:  why are we  doing what we do?  We are here to serve our customers.  They range from executive management to peers in IT to our own colleagues in Infosec to end users trying to do their jobs. 

We may not exactly delight our customers (most avoid us in the hallway at all costs); however, we need to remember that they are why we do what we do.  We need to let them know we received their request and that we'll get back to them.  We need to address them with respect no matter what the question they ask.  We need to provide thoughtful feedback and advice that will help steer them down the right path, but not tell them what to do.

Infosec professionals:  customer service is essential to building trust and providing value to your organization.  Work on this every day.  If you don't, you will be doing yourself a disservice, as well as one to your profession as a whole.