Nancy J. Friedman
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Nancy J. Friedman (born 1939/1940) is an
American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...
and
telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
skills
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
. She is also known as her business persona the "Telephone Doctor" Nancy Friedman is founder and president of Telephone Doctor, a customer-service training company based in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. In She also appears as spokesperson in the company's video training programs. Friedman controls the registered trademark and dotcom domain for "Telephone Doctor".


Biography

Friedman and her husband, Dick Friedman, were originally from
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
. Friedman has one year of college from the
University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...
. Friedman worked as an actress in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
in the 1960s. In 1964, she and her husband bought a radio station and then in 1967, they bought another radio station in
St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...
. In 1967, she and her husband moved to St. Louis. In St. Louis, she did promotions for a weather-forecast service, Weatherline, which she started up with her husband in 1968. She also continued to act, doing several shows a year and winning the Golden Globe Atlas Award for "best comedy actress."


Career

In 1982, after being treated rudely in a routine call to her insurance agent, Friedman both canceled her policies and started the "desk drawer" one-woman business Telephone Doctor to train employees in telephone etiquette. 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. Friedman's first seminar earned 38 cents in profit. "Telephone Doctor" was named by Friedman's second client, a
Davenport, Iowa Davenport ( ) is a city in Scott County, Iowa, United States, and its county seat. It is situated along the Mississippi River on the eastern border of the state. Davenport had a population of 101,724 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 cen ...
newspaper editor. The company, Telephone Doctor, was founded by Friedman in 1983. By 1986, her business, co-owned with her husband, Dick Friedman and her son, David, was a
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
of Weatherline and Sportsline. By 1987, she was doing three to four seminars a week. She and her husband began creating training videos because she didn't have enough time to do all the seminars people were asking for. By 1994, Telephone Doctor employed 23 staff members and had annual worldwide sales of $2 million. The company moved to a new building with a theater that same year. Also in 1994, the company acquired World Telecom Associates. The company also did surveys to find out what phrases frustrated callers the most. 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. In 2007, the company made $3 million. Friedman's desire to teach businesses how to make better use of the telephone rather than to take it for granted has been called a "crusade" and a "quest to stamp out phone rudeness". In She explains that bad customer service translates into lower sales and lost business of hundreds of millions of dollars. Friedman is a speaker at corporate seminars in the U.S, She has been a keynote speaker at
Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...
and other corporate and association meetings. Her practices were recommended by
Bear Stearns The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. was an American investment bank, securities trading, and brokerage firm that failed in 2008 during the 2008 financial crisis and the Great Recession. After its closure it was subsequently sold to JPMorgan Chas ...
chairman Alan C. Greenberg for implementation by all employees.


Books

*''Customer Service Nightmares: 100 Tales of the Worst Experiences Possible, and how They Could Have Been Fixed'' (1998) *''Telephone Skills from A to Z: The Telephone Doctor Phone Book'' (2000) * *''Excuses, Excuses, Excuses ...'' (2001) * * *


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Friedman, Nancy Living people American women chief executives Businesspeople from Chicago Actresses from Chicago Businesspeople from St. Louis Actresses from St. Louis Actresses from San Diego Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women