Nancy J. Friedman | |
---|---|
Occupation | Customer service consultant |
Years active | 1982–present |
Organization | Telephone Doctor |
Known for | Telephone skills training |
Spouse | Dick Friedman |
Children | David, Linda |
Nancy J. Friedman (born 1939/1940) [1] is an American customer service and telephone skills consultant. [2] She is also known as her business persona the "Telephone Doctor" [2]
Nancy Friedman is founder and president of Telephone Doctor, a customer-service training company based in St. Louis, Missouri. [3] [4] She also appears as spokesperson in the company's video training programs. [5] Friedman controls the registered trademark and dotcom domain for "Telephone Doctor". [5]
Friedman and her husband, Dick Friedman, were originally from Chicago. [6] Friedman has one year of college from the University of Miami. [1] Friedman worked as an actress in San Diego in the 1960s. [7] In 1964, she and her husband bought a radio station and then in 1967, they bought another radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. [1] In 1967, she and her husband moved to St. Louis. [7] In St. Louis, she did promotions for a weather-forecast service, Weatherline, which she started up with her husband in 1968. [1] [6] She also continued to act, doing several shows a year and winning the Golden Globe Atlas Award for "best comedy actress." [6] [8]
In 1982, after being treated rudely in a routine call to her insurance agent, [7] Friedman both canceled her policies and started the "desk drawer" one-woman business Telephone Doctor to train employees in telephone etiquette. [9] [10] The insurer company asked "how it should be done" and invited Friedman to demonstrate polite customer service to its representatives, leading to Friedman providing customer-service seminars to other corporations and associations. [11] [12] Friedman's first seminar earned 38 cents in profit. [9] [10] "Telephone Doctor" was named by Friedman's second client, a Davenport, Iowa newspaper editor. [11] [13] [14]
The company, Telephone Doctor, was founded by Friedman in 1983. [1] By 1986, her business, co-owned with her husband, Dick Friedman and her son, David, was a subsidiary of Weatherline and Sportsline. [7] By 1987, she was doing three to four seminars a week. [15] She and her husband began creating training videos because she didn't have enough time to do all the seminars people were asking for. [9] By 1994, Telephone Doctor employed 23 staff members and had annual worldwide sales of $2 million. [9] [10] The company moved to a new building with a theater that same year. [9] Also in 1994, the company acquired World Telecom Associates. [16]
The company also did surveys to find out what phrases frustrated callers the most. [17] Friedman tried going on television to increase her business's exposure, but later found that creating close relationships with clients worked better for her type of business. [18] In 2007, the company made $3 million. [1]
Friedman's desire to teach businesses how to make better use of the telephone rather than to take it for granted [19] has been called a "crusade" and a "quest to stamp out phone rudeness". [20] She explains that bad customer service translates into lower sales and lost business of hundreds of millions of dollars. [4] [9] Friedman is a speaker at corporate seminars in the U.S, [5] [19] [20] She has been a keynote speaker at Fortune 500 and other corporate and association meetings. [5] [11] Her practices were recommended by Bear Stearns chairman Alan C. Greenberg for implementation by all employees. [20]
Nancy J. Friedman | |
---|---|
Occupation | Customer service consultant |
Years active | 1982–present |
Organization | Telephone Doctor |
Known for | Telephone skills training |
Spouse | Dick Friedman |
Children | David, Linda |
Nancy J. Friedman (born 1939/1940) [1] is an American customer service and telephone skills consultant. [2] She is also known as her business persona the "Telephone Doctor" [2]
Nancy Friedman is founder and president of Telephone Doctor, a customer-service training company based in St. Louis, Missouri. [3] [4] She also appears as spokesperson in the company's video training programs. [5] Friedman controls the registered trademark and dotcom domain for "Telephone Doctor". [5]
Friedman and her husband, Dick Friedman, were originally from Chicago. [6] Friedman has one year of college from the University of Miami. [1] Friedman worked as an actress in San Diego in the 1960s. [7] In 1964, she and her husband bought a radio station and then in 1967, they bought another radio station in St. Louis, Missouri. [1] In 1967, she and her husband moved to St. Louis. [7] In St. Louis, she did promotions for a weather-forecast service, Weatherline, which she started up with her husband in 1968. [1] [6] She also continued to act, doing several shows a year and winning the Golden Globe Atlas Award for "best comedy actress." [6] [8]
In 1982, after being treated rudely in a routine call to her insurance agent, [7] Friedman both canceled her policies and started the "desk drawer" one-woman business Telephone Doctor to train employees in telephone etiquette. [9] [10] The insurer company asked "how it should be done" and invited Friedman to demonstrate polite customer service to its representatives, leading to Friedman providing customer-service seminars to other corporations and associations. [11] [12] Friedman's first seminar earned 38 cents in profit. [9] [10] "Telephone Doctor" was named by Friedman's second client, a Davenport, Iowa newspaper editor. [11] [13] [14]
The company, Telephone Doctor, was founded by Friedman in 1983. [1] By 1986, her business, co-owned with her husband, Dick Friedman and her son, David, was a subsidiary of Weatherline and Sportsline. [7] By 1987, she was doing three to four seminars a week. [15] She and her husband began creating training videos because she didn't have enough time to do all the seminars people were asking for. [9] By 1994, Telephone Doctor employed 23 staff members and had annual worldwide sales of $2 million. [9] [10] The company moved to a new building with a theater that same year. [9] Also in 1994, the company acquired World Telecom Associates. [16]
The company also did surveys to find out what phrases frustrated callers the most. [17] Friedman tried going on television to increase her business's exposure, but later found that creating close relationships with clients worked better for her type of business. [18] In 2007, the company made $3 million. [1]
Friedman's desire to teach businesses how to make better use of the telephone rather than to take it for granted [19] has been called a "crusade" and a "quest to stamp out phone rudeness". [20] She explains that bad customer service translates into lower sales and lost business of hundreds of millions of dollars. [4] [9] Friedman is a speaker at corporate seminars in the U.S, [5] [19] [20] She has been a keynote speaker at Fortune 500 and other corporate and association meetings. [5] [11] Her practices were recommended by Bear Stearns chairman Alan C. Greenberg for implementation by all employees. [20]