Friday, May 9, 2014

Wait for me

In the 13 years of my professional life, I have been trained to provide great customer service. I believe that customers are the lifeblood of a company and the special attention I give to each one is a grand show of gratitude. However, I unconsciously developed a mean streak when it's my turn to be the customer.

When I'm the customer, I demand the same standard of customer service. If the waiter takes too much time with my order, I would call his/her attention. There were many times my husband would tell me "to shut up and wait" but I'd make sure to complain when the waiter would finally show up with my order. Any type of major inconvenience would make me angry thinking they are intentionally not prioritizing me. I'd also get very emotional when servers are impolite or if they'd argue with me.

Recently, I came across a nugget of wisdom on FB saying "If your friend is nice to you but rude to the waiter, then your friend is not nice." God also revealed many Bible verses about love, patience and kindness. It's quite shameful trying to recall all the times I've been a rude customer but what's important for me is to move on and change my mean ways.

I'm more conscious now and would pray for more patience if I need it. Just this morning, I went through a very challenging test of patience - banks. What took a bank only 5 minutes to do, took another bank more than 1 hour to accomplish. I thank God for my new found patience. Instead of getting angry, I asked the bank rep if they needed more time to process my request then offered to just go back to claim it once ready.

I still believe that customers should be treated well but for the sake of keeping the peace and showing respect and love for others, I will try to also be a pleasant customer.





9 comments:

  1. I had so much experienced in that, as a customer & as the salesman or the PR guy. I remember in my entire life as a customer, their were only 2 times, that I really argued with the waiter. 1st at Shakey's, when I was so hungry and really craving for pizza & chicken way back in 1990 at Araneta Center, Cubao. It took them forever to get my order & when they got it, another waiting happened, after almost an hour, finally got pissed of, ask for my bill, paid for it and left (without having the food, I ordered) I would assume the people in Shakey's had a feast. (I was alone & younger then and maybe they thought, I was an idiot).
    the 2nd was, in 1996 in a small restaurant along Shaw Blvd., Mandaluyong. This time, the server was acting really stupid and arguing with his fellow server in front of me & my former boss (TOPMARKSE/BATA-BATUTA Productions Co., Inc.) and slamming the glasses, fork, spoon, etc. on our desk. My boss was telling me to be cool and ignore it, but when, the water (he was serving) spilled on the table, I really reacted violently and shouted at him to "go home, he is so tired and should not be working at all".
    Almost got into a brawl with that server.
    There is a saying in the older days that, "the customer is always right. period.". But, people weather they are not college degree holder, should also learn how to act "professionally". Especially if they are in the foodservice business.
    Also, as a professional (salesman/foodservice executive dealing with other professionals in over two decades), I have noticed that, when you start giving-in to your customers, they tend to become abusive, sometimes even arrogant as if they own you already.
    When I was maturing in handling sales/customers (my last days/years in service before I retired after 10 years with a multinational company as a Manager, Export Sales), I stood to believe that the saying, "Customer is always right. period", changed, I came to realized that it is not true at all. You, as a professional, should also stand and explain (sometimes, people or my colleague, thinks I argue with customers) to your customer what your company, products, etc. is all about and correct them from the beginning, otherwise, they will control you and think they are always right. then you just lost another customer because of that incident. You (meaning me, as a sales professional) should also know when and what to argue.
    In years in this kind of environment (dealing with different kind of people) you should learn how to read & always respect a person, not just by talking to them but also, understanding their body language. In my opinion & years in this world of sales & servicing. I believe, I have handled myself properly and learned the loops in handling people. I learned when to defend myself, my products, my company and also, when to please people with my products and my company.
    Now, that I am trying to be a good businessman or entrepreneur. I am practicing all the things I have learned in my previous companies.
    I guess, as a Filipino, we really do need to understand and/or analyze the real meaning of being "satire". there is a blog about that and it answered, somehow, why are Filipinos always confused themselves and becoming a satire. which I believe we have inherited from the Spaniards/Spanish colonial time.

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  2. Thanks for your comment Sir and for sharing other useful info...

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  3. When I was in my early 20s and was working under customer service, I was like that, too. I demanded only the best. But then I realized I should not blame the person, but the circumstance. That their lack of knowledge on customer service was not their fault, but the company's. Proper training should have been done before they were placed in the 'battlefield.' :)

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  4. I used to have the same challenge but I got convicted myself. :) Thank you for your honesty.

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    1. I was just humbled by the realization that I was acting like a jerk. I'm not just embarrassing myself but people I'm with whenever I become a mean customer.

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  5. I totally agree with the quote "If your friend is nice to you but rude to the waiter, then your friend is not nice." If you are nice, then you are nice to EVERYBODY not just to a selected few. ;)

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  6. You've got a point there! Yes the customer is always right but we should not power trip the staffs but instead talk to them in a constructive manner so they won't get traumatized.

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