My idea of common courtesy in business and life
“Treat others like you would like them to treat you“
I have been reading an article today and one of the points this person made was always accept a persons business card even if they don’t slot into one of your categories or labels right now. Who knows, this person may be the next Donald Trump.
A couple of months ago I attended a networking event where a professional business person approached a group of us whom were chatting and it became obvious from the outset that this person was only looking to sell something. He chatted away for a few minutes asking everyone what they did and handing out his business card etc and you could almost see him slotting each one of us into little categories of importance in his mind. Once he had established what profession each of us was in, he literally pushed those who didn’t “fit“ into his sales pitch or level of importance right out of his way. His body language said it all. I felt really a little upset at this at first but then decided to myself that this was his karma not mine so I put it to the back of my mind until now.
I suppose the point I’m trying to make is this – if you are in business you must at all times be courteous and friendly. I believe this is the key to being successful and not just mediocre in the eyes of your customer or clients. If you want to be heard you firstly have to listen only then can you successfully meet the expectations of your customer.
Take the time to listen to your customers today!
Have you experienced good or bad customer service lately?
Great blog Grainne. People can be too focussed on getting the sale these days and forget to be polite and courteous, and as you say listen. Much more likely to “buy” off a nice person than the one you mentioned above.
By: Sian Phillips on March 19, 2010
at 7:05 pm
I am sad to say have had bad service in Dunnes Stores on more than one occassion. The staff are rude and pricing has been wrong more than once. They certainly need to have Customer Care Training. What makes it worse was I used to train staff in all areas of Customer Care
By: Sheila on March 19, 2010
at 11:34 pm
Customer service is not where it needs to be and you are right, people are very wrong to make assumptions about people.Service is not anywhere near the international standards.We lag behind for some reason.The article is well written and interesting.Well done.JT
By: johntwohig on March 20, 2010
at 1:22 pm
Great post Grainne.
Good communication and customer service is something that has to be practiced daily, one has to be able to listen to what the customer wants, to understand that customers may be angry or frustrated (can be anything from waiting for 15 minutes for service in a restaurant to trying to obtain information on a delayed flight), and forgive angry customers for their inability to consciously think through their frustration. They help the customer articulate wants and needs more directly, and assuming the wants or needs are valid and does what they can to help.
Those with good communication in this area know it’s not what you say, but how you say it and how it’s heard.
They eliminate “no,” “won’t,” “impossible,” and other negative tone and body language from the conversation. They approach the situation with a “This is what we can do” upbeat optimism that makes their customers feel taken care of. And when customers feel they have been respected and listened to, they come back.
On the other hand many of the service industry jobs (from waitressing to the help desk) are very often high stress jobs so remember, as the customer to say thank you and treat the person with respect also. They may also be having a stressful day.
By: Catherine Connors on March 22, 2010
at 5:31 pm