City of Ottawa – A+ for customer service

When you think of World-Class Customer Service,names likeFour Seasons, Zappos, Southwest Air come top of mind – probably not the municipal employeesof the city you live in. My home town, Kanata, however,may be an exception.
After havingbeen in the Kanata branch of the City of Ottawa municipal offices a half dozen times in the last few months, I would easily rank them in the top 1-2% of customer service providers I have seenin the world. Seriously. No exaggeration.
Great customer service best defined asAn experience that conveysto a customer that you genuinely care. It really isn’t any more complicated than that. World-Class Customer Service is when we do this with every customer, every time, no exceptions and no excuses. The office I have been dealing with falls into that category.
As we are moving through the process of building our new house, we are trying to navigate the City of Ottawa, and all of the permits required to get things done. It’s a little more complicated than most. Because we are building in a rural area, we will need approvals for a septic system, and because we’ll be building by the Ottawa River, we need the blessing of the local conservation authorities. We really don’t have a clue what we’re doing, and have spent a great deal of time in the municipal offices asking a ton of stupid questions (sometimes asking the same questionthree or four times). I’m actually beginning to annoy myself…
The employees I have encountered have without exception been cheerful, kind, amazingly helpful, and most importantly – patient. It’s been a tremendous experience, and they are truly a role model for municipal offices everywhere.
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