Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I work in a customer service position, and I find that I treat people disparately.
If somebody comes in to our workplace who is very haughty, I am more rushed than somebody who is welcoming. Is this normal?
Yes, I think it is normal. There are people out there who get a kick out of being in control of a situation and making the CSR nervous. When someone comes in like this, I actually CONSCIOUSLY slow down a little, and smile a lot. I try to joke around with them as if to say.... "You aren't in control of this situation". Obviously, if you are on the phone you can't smile a lot, but you can keep your voice very consistent and not speed up. Don't let people freak you out. Just picture them naked. LOL It works for me. And keep your sense of humor.
customers are not some great mystical greek group. they are people, some of whom can be very stupid, ignorant, jerkish, and dumb, and ESPECIALLY annoying.
To customers- No one wants to hear your damn life story, or what your opinion is of our product/service or of the country political issues or anything else. Just b.c you don't have anyone else to talk to, doesn't mean it's your right to spout your mind just b.c you know the employee has to be nice to you if they want to put food on the table for themselves.
To Old customers- sure you might of worked hard back in your day, but you have ruined the pride of the younger generation by ruining self empowerment with your "systems" your generations created. And the pay you worked for might of been less in dollar and cents than what our paycheck says today, but your money did go tenfold farther than ours.
You are a human first, then a customer server. The same applies with the customer. They are a human first, than a customer. So you'll always get and be all the good and bad that comes with being human.
Unless told to my superiors, you're supposed to serve all who come in. You don't own the store, you don't determine its policies/procedures.
I stated I treat beautiful women BETTER. I did not state that I do not assist other people. If I only helped good looking women, I would have a very boring day, as most customers are not pretty women.
I treat everyone equally BUT, as soon as you cross the line, that's it! I had a customer give me two coupons that were expired I said, "I'm sorry but these are expired". Following standard procedure, I asked him if he had a MaxPerks card and he said, "NO, NOW I'M REALLY MAD!"
I don't understand why people have such a bad attitude. Am I to blame because you were too stupid to read the expiration date on your coupon? I also had a lady complain about our 30-day return policy. She wanted to return a binder that she had clearly used and was over 30 days so I had to put the amount on a gift card.
She went ape$hit on me. Really, I'm just a lowly paid cashier, why are you taking your anger out on me? She proceeded to say that no other place she shopped has a policy like we do. In my head I was thinking, "Everyone does, you go to Staples, Office Depot, Wal Mart, etc etc they have the same policy."
This has to be the only job I've had that, when I went home, I was seriously depressed and unable to think straight due to the customers and the foul language they used against us, the employees.
To top it off, I have to hear it from my manager because she thinks I'm the one to blame and that I was the reason the customer was upset.
Once a customer reacts to me like that, I will never go out of my way to help him/her. People need to realize that your behavior determines what kind of service you get and if you are patient and respectful, I will go out of my way to get you what you want.
It's important to learn how to work with all types of people. In other industries, your coworkers are your customers. Coworkers have meltdowns. And you'll have to work with them every single day, not just 5 minutes in a check out line. As a result, it's good experience to learn how to not take things personally. You'll need something from your coworker one day. And your coworker will remember how you reacted to a meltdown.
I once had a coworker freak out on me because he was totally stressed. Our president liked head games and played musical offices every single month. Talk about a stressful environment. It was the last straw when my coworker was relegated to a small office without windows. We were standing in his office and I said, "Calm down X. I know this is hard but we have to get through this." He took a deep breath and calmed down. If I had responded to him like sh#t or just abandoned him, we wouldn't have had a good working relationship going foward.
I also had a boss who swiped every single thing off his desk with a swing of his arm and then climbed up on top of his desk yelling at the top of his lungs.
I've got MANY stories that would blow your minds. The few brief moments you spend with an angry customers doesn't compare. That should be easy. You really have to learn how to separate yourself from the situations and not take it personally.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
