Today has been trying. I won't go into all of the details but at the end of the day I told my sister to apologize to her husband because I acted like many who caused him to leave his previous career. He mentioned once that he never minded the work he had to do, he just hated the customers. I also seem to remember him saying that "customers were dumb." I won't disagree with him. There are many people who don't know what they want / need and when problems arise because of it they tend to blame the person trying to help them. I just didn't think I was one of them. Today I was a dumb customer. If it hadn't been for a service provider that was mindful and skilled I would have ended up spending over three times what I did in the end. They were patient with me, explained things, and made sure that I was taken care of in the best way, not the way that I thought. My experience reminded me of a page I read from Ctrl+Alt+Del, a web comic enjoying, making fun of, and exploiting ideas from all things video games. The page in question is here, and really is true in many cases. While I do enjoy reading Crtl+Alt+Del I do have to give a content warning for strong language. It is not omnipresent but can appear in excess in different strips.
As I thought back on my lapse into "Dumb Customer" mode I tried to look at what my problem was. I think that the biggest thing was my knowledge level. I knew enough to be dangerous. I figured that the problem I was facing was one that I could overcome because I knew how to do X. The problem was that I was discounting Y and Z because I didn't know how to do them. The problem couldn't possibly be something that I didn't know how to fix. I think the other thing was that I was stressed out. It had been a long day and I had already spent a lot of money that I hadn't intended to. This interfered with my reasoning - blinding me even more. I just wanted something done and wanted it done in a timely manner. Now, before you think too badly of me, I was not disruptive or belligerent, I was just being dumb. I may have been a bit tiresome, but my wife, family, and most of the people that know me will say that I tend to talk to much and think I'm funnier than I am. My sin was one of thinking that I knew what I was talking about and not thinking all the way through the situation. I am grateful the professionals did and approached me about it.
I'll have to remember this experience and that we all are "dumb customers" at some point or another. We all are the reason that service providers, retailers, and just about everybody else has training in customer service. When you think about it, customer service is helping the person in the best way possible. Because you have more experience in your field you often understand why the customer may not benefit from what they want. The situation is kind of like my five year old daughter. I don't really think I'm much smarter than her, I've just had more practice at it. Remember, as you utilize services and products that the personnel that you're dealing with have more practice than you do. If they don't, make sure you find somebody who does.
As I thought back on my lapse into "Dumb Customer" mode I tried to look at what my problem was. I think that the biggest thing was my knowledge level. I knew enough to be dangerous. I figured that the problem I was facing was one that I could overcome because I knew how to do X. The problem was that I was discounting Y and Z because I didn't know how to do them. The problem couldn't possibly be something that I didn't know how to fix. I think the other thing was that I was stressed out. It had been a long day and I had already spent a lot of money that I hadn't intended to. This interfered with my reasoning - blinding me even more. I just wanted something done and wanted it done in a timely manner. Now, before you think too badly of me, I was not disruptive or belligerent, I was just being dumb. I may have been a bit tiresome, but my wife, family, and most of the people that know me will say that I tend to talk to much and think I'm funnier than I am. My sin was one of thinking that I knew what I was talking about and not thinking all the way through the situation. I am grateful the professionals did and approached me about it.
I'll have to remember this experience and that we all are "dumb customers" at some point or another. We all are the reason that service providers, retailers, and just about everybody else has training in customer service. When you think about it, customer service is helping the person in the best way possible. Because you have more experience in your field you often understand why the customer may not benefit from what they want. The situation is kind of like my five year old daughter. I don't really think I'm much smarter than her, I've just had more practice at it. Remember, as you utilize services and products that the personnel that you're dealing with have more practice than you do. If they don't, make sure you find somebody who does.
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