My quotes are actually from a calendar on my desk, one of those page-a-day things where you rip off a page each day. Each day has an Art of War quote on it, and I kinda just pull out the obviously applicable ones.

The way they handle this situation determines if we not only stay with them but also if we increase our business with them. Not to mention the friend of mine who told me they were at RSA said that how they handle this situation influences his decision to become a customer.

- At one point most of these guys were in the trenches as well, and I very rarely hear managers who don’t wish, one some level, that they were back in the “doer” role as opposed to supervising the doers. Some managers take chances they can get! Many are geeks and they’re all still human!

- Layers of management and employees tend to not be fully honest up the chain, and real problems can get glorified, hushed up, and otherwise buried on their way up the ladder. For them to get the real deal story is sometimes eye-opening, refreshing, and necessary.

- Hell, they want to help their customers as well. When you have more of an eye on the macroscopic landscape, you can sometimes realize that microscopic problems can cause maelstroms and other problems (if I may just barely glance off some chaos theory there).

=) Good news on your service troubles though! Hopefully they get things done or give you appropriate reasons otherwise, and not lots of BS and marketing fluff and sales shoulder rubs and martinis. Honesty and action, if you ask me. That helps lead to success.