Comments on: Customers, Service Providers, or People? http://funanymore.com/2007/09/26/customers-service-providers-or-people/ The life, dystopian times and odd explorations of Evo Terra Wed, 07 Jan 2009 00:03:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2 By: Steve Eley http://funanymore.com/2007/09/26/customers-service-providers-or-people/#comment-1930 Steve Eley Thu, 27 Sep 2007 05:26:47 +0000 http://funanymore.com/2007/09/26/customers-service-providers-or-people/#comment-1930 The thing is, it's not an equal relationship. It's a relationship involving power. The customer has the money, and the service provider <i>wants</i> that money, so the customer has power. Yelling and screaming at people with power is counterproductive. Also, unless it's a very small business, the people directly responsible for customer interaction aren't the people empowered to decide it's worth it to break a customer relationship. (I.e., they're not going to gain or lose the money themselves.) So their managers directly enforce a policy of politeness, to reduce the risk to the company as a whole. Besides. If your goal really is to piss someone off, keeping your cool when they're losing theirs is actually very effective. The thing is, it’s not an equal relationship. It’s a relationship involving power. The customer has the money, and the service provider wants that money, so the customer has power. Yelling and screaming at people with power is counterproductive. Also, unless it’s a very small business, the people directly responsible for customer interaction aren’t the people empowered to decide it’s worth it to break a customer relationship. (I.e., they’re not going to gain or lose the money themselves.) So their managers directly enforce a policy of politeness, to reduce the risk to the company as a whole.

Besides. If your goal really is to piss someone off, keeping your cool when they’re losing theirs is actually very effective.

]]> By: Thomas http://funanymore.com/2007/09/26/customers-service-providers-or-people/#comment-1926 Thomas Thu, 27 Sep 2007 02:48:50 +0000 http://funanymore.com/2007/09/26/customers-service-providers-or-people/#comment-1926 One service job I worked the managers told us as we did training, the customer always deserves to be treated fair and with respect. Sometimes the customers are wrong. People do overreact, but losing your cool when it's not life or death is silly and generally not worth the waste of energy, but that's just me. One service job I worked the managers told us as we did training, the customer always deserves to be treated fair and with respect. Sometimes the customers are wrong. People do overreact, but losing your cool when it’s not life or death is silly and generally not worth the waste of energy, but that’s just me.

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