This week I am honored to be a part of the annual Bathroom Blogfest, which I have participated in every year since it started in 2006.  For the past month I've been prepping for this Blogfest - taking pictures of bathrooms that have inspired - and appalled me. 

This year's theme is "Stuck in the 60's".  Incidentally, I came across this restroom before I even knew about the 60's theme...






This is the restroom in a restaurant called Antique Row Cafe in Lemon Grove, California (a suburb of San Diego). The whole restaurant has a vintage theme, so I guess this type of decoration would be ok considering...

However, take note of the antique sewing machine. Since when did people sew in the bathroom? Is that something I missed during American History class?  I was grateful that this restroom was spacious, though.  Otherwise, the floral wallpaper (actually, it was fabric stapled to the wall) would have made me go cross-eyed.

The sewing machine is a great example, though, of how companies sometimes include things in the experience that are irrelevant to the customer. Sure, the sewing machine is cute, but I would have much preferred a hook so that I could hang my purse while I used the restroom.

Weird as it may seem, the restroom experience can be a deal breaker for me. It could be a great establishment with everything I need, but if the restroom is sub-par, then they lose big points.

So stay tuned this week for more posts about the restroom/bathroom experience!  In the meantime, visit the Bathroom Blogfest homepage or search for #BathroomEXP on Twitter.

Check out other participants of this year's blogfest below:

Blogger	Blog Name	Blog URL
Susan Abbott	Customer Experience Crossroads	http://www.customercrossroads.com/customercrossroads/
Paul Anater	Kitchen and Residential Design	http://www.KitchenAndResidentialDesign.com
Shannon Bilby	Big Bob's Outlet	http://blog.bigbobsoutlet.com/
Shannon Bilby	Carpets N More Blog	http://blog.carpetsnmore.com/
Shannon Bilby	Dolphin Carpet Blog	http://blog.dolphincarpet.com/
Shannon Bilby	From The Floors Up	http://fromthefloorsup.com/
Shannon Bilby	My Big Bob's Blog	http://blog.mybigbobs.com/
Toby Bloomberg	Diva Marketing	http://bloombergmarketing.blogs.com/bloomberg_marketing/
Laurence Borel	Blog Till You Drop	http://www.laurenceborel.com/
Bill Buyok	Avente Tile Talk Blog	http://tiletalk.blogspot.com/
Jeanne Byington	The Importance of Earnest Service	http://blog.jmbyington.com/
Becky Carroll	Customers Rock!	http://customersrock.net/
Marianna Chapman	Results Revolution	http://www.resultsrevolution.com
Katie Clark	Practial Katie	http://practicalkatie.blogspot.com/
Nora DePalma	American Standard's Professor Toilet	http://www.professortoilet.com/
Leigh Durst	LivePath Experience Architect Weblog	http://livepath.blogspot.com/
Valerie Fritz	The AwarepointBlog	http://www.awarepointblog.com/
Iris Garrott	Checking In and Checking Out	http://circulating.wordpress.com/
Tish Grier	The Constant Observer	http://spap-oop.blogspot.com
Renee LeCroy	Your Fifth Wall	http://yourfifthwall.com/
Joseph Michelli	Dr. Joseph Michelli's Blog	www.josephmichelli.com/blog
Veronika Miller	Modenus Blog	http://www.modenus.com/blog
Arpi Nalbandian	TILE Magazine Editor Blog	http://www.tilemagonline.com/Articles/Blog_Nalbandian
Reshma Bachwani Paritosh	The Qualitative Research Blog	http://www.onqualitativeresearch.blogspot.com/
David Polinchock	Polinchock's Ponderings	http://blog.polinchock.com/
Victoria Redshaw & Shelley Pond	Scarlet Opus Trends Blog	http://trendsblog.co.uk/
David Reich	My 2 Cents	http://reichcomm.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Sandy Renshaw	Around Des Moines	http://www.arounddesmoines.com/
Sandy Renshaw	Purple Wren	http://www.purplewren.com/
Bethany Richmond	Carpet and Rug Institute Blog	http://www.carpet-and-rug-institute-blog.com/
Bruce Sanders	RIMtailing Blog	http://rimtailing.blogspot.com/
Steve Tokar	Please Be Seated	http://stevetokar.wordpress.com/
Carolyn Townes	Becoming a Woman of Purpose	http://spiritwomen.blogspot.com/
Stephanie Weaver	Experienceology	http://experienceology.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore	Flooring The Consumer	http://flooringtheconsumer.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore	Simple Marketing Blog	http://www.simplemarketingblog.com/
Christine & Ted Whittemore	Smoke Rise & Kinnelon Blog	http://smokerise-nj.blogspot.com/
Christine B. Whittemore	The Carpetology Blog	http://carpetology.blogspot.com/
Linda Wright	LindaLoo Build Business With Better Bathrooms	http://lindaloo.com/

After a long hiatus, the Customer Service Carnivale is back in action! I've been going back and forth - trying to decide whether or not to continue with this bimonthly carnivale. I've had other projects (and a pregnancy!) take priority these past couple months, but now that I have my energy back, I'm ready to continue with my mission. Thank you for your patience!

So take some time out today to improve your knowledge about customer service! Thanks to everyone who contributed their tips, stories, and expertise.

Customer Service Tips

Do you blame your customers when something goes wrong? If so, you may want to read The Importance of Managing Your Customers' Expectations.

Yes, you only have one chance to make a first impression. Kathy of The Thriving Small Business offers 6 Customer First Impressions. Kathy also shares a few great examples of customer service guarantees.

Charles Chua C K of All About Living of Life shares tips on how to Be F.I.R.S.T. in Customer Care.

I'm convinced that a leader affects the quality of customer service a company offers. Find out How to Caffeinate Your Leadership Repertoire.

Steve C. of My Wife Quit Her Job offers some great tips in How We Handle Angry Customers and Potential Customer Disasters

Customer Service Stories

Airline customer service is one of my favorite topics, and John Hunter lets us know that Southwest Not Delta or United offers the best service. I agree!

Think that all DMV employees are the same when it comes to customer service? Think again. Sig shares an interesting story in The DMV, Part Deux - Logic's Revenge.

Customer Service Tools

Does your company record calls for quality assurance? Make sure you're in compliance with state and federal laws. Read Call Recording: A Great Tool As Long As You Know the Law.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of customer service carnivale using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

Last month I wrote about loving your job and how important it is to have passion for the work that you do. When you enjoy your work, it’s easier to provide great service to your customers. In fact, you don’t even feel like you’re “working” because you’re doing what you love to do.

So, maybe you don’t enjoy your job. Are you actively doing anything about it today? Why not? Why not begin a journey to a new career or a new passion? Don’t make any excuses. You can take just one small step today. I urge you!

If you’re in the Bristol, Pennsylvania or Blackwood, New Jersey area, there is a school called Pennco Tech that offers associate degrees in the health care and technology fields. A school like Pennco Tech is a good place to take classes if you want to focus on a particular line of work. I attended a four-year university, but if I could do it over again, I would have probably gone to a technical school for computer science.

If there’s one industry that is going to need more people in the next few years, it’s going to be the health care industry. With the passing of the new health care bill, there will be an influx of people seeking medical attention. If you have a passion for health care and have a genuine, caring attitude, then this is a field you may want to look into. Heaven only knows that we need people in the health care industry who really want to help others be more healthy. My friend is a nurse and she tells me stories of coworkers who, in essence, are just there for a paycheck.

Think about it. Aren’t you doing a disservice to other people by continuing to do work that you don’t enjoy - especially in the health care field where people’s lives are at stake? Take it from me, when you love what you do, people will flock to you for help or if they need your product or service.

Founded in 1850, American Express is a company that has survived recessions, The Great Depression, and every kind of financial disaster known to modern society. BusinessWeek and Interbrand ranked American Express as the 22nd most valuable brand in the world, estimating the brand to be worth US$14.97 billion.

So, what's the secret to the company's success?

I'm not an American Express member, so I can't personally speak on their customer service, but I will say that they must be doing something right to be able to stay in business so long. A quick Google search for "American Express Customer Service" revealed that the company was ranked #1 in the 2010 Credit Card Satisfaction Study conducted by J.D. Power and Associates.

I do like that whoever is in charge of their Twitter account (@AmericanExpress) is engaging and answers tweets.  They're not like other companies who simply use it as a message board to post sales or tell people how awesome their company is - not that there is actually anything wrong with that, but when it comes to social media, people love being acknowledged.  If I tweet about American Express and they answer back, it's like, Wow, they're listening and paying attention.

If you want to learn more in-depth about what American Express is doing to get that #1 spot, check out Service Untitled's interview with Doria Camaraza, the Senior Vice President and General Manager of Fort Lauderdale Service Center for American Express.

What has been your experience with American Express customer service?