Nostalgia

I’m a big fan of music. Music of all types, country, pop, classical, oldies and so on. The other day I came across an anthology of hits from the 1950’s. It included such hits as “High Noon” by Frankie Lane, “How Much is that Doggie in the Window” a classic by Patti Page, and of course “Love is a Many Splendored Thing.” Each song brought back a special memory for me.

Now, depending on your age or interest in older music you may or may not have ever heard of any of these songs. That’s all right; maybe your parents remember them. The point of all this rambling is that at some time in most people’s lives they find themselves reminiscing, or as some may call it becoming nostalgic. Yes, we all delude ourselves into thinking of those earlier times as “the good old days.”

I sometimes wonder what the younger generations of today will be nostalgic over. The first iPod, the magic of cell phones, texting, Facebook? Perhaps! Let me offer one off-the-wall suggestion: the impact of live chat on customer service. Yes, I told you it was off-the-wall, but think about it. Up until the late 1990’s or was it the early 2000’s, anyway until then customer service was offered the same way it had been for at least a couple of centuries.

Then came the popularity of the Internet. Online businesses sprung up everywhere. With it came a whole new way of conducting customer service; email. A bit more impersonal than the old fashioned way, but it was the best that could be offered at the time. Being that this was also the dawning of the digital age more and more technological advancements were made with even more yet to come.

Among the advancements was something called live chat. Live chat forever changed how customer service was delivered. No more standing in line to complain to a store representative. What a change, rude treatment – gone; product information – available. Indeed, live chat deserves to be right up there with the likes of Lady GaGa, Prince William and Duchess Kate, Bluetooth, and the great recession.

My fear is that people will forget the importance of live chat. Most likely, some glitzy item will overshadow its place in history. Now is the time for action. If enough of us care, really care about the importance of live chat in our collective lives we will make sure no one forgets. We are the only ones that can do this.

Remember that’s live chat. Do your part to get the word out.