It's always interesting for customers when staff at a store seems to be having a bad day.
I just went to the oral surgeon for him to check out the status of the surgery results. He nodded and smiled and said that it all looked good; not so good that he's ready to pull sutures or let me wear the upper plate again. Maybe Thursday. Bummer. I was hoping to be freed from talking with a lisp, not to mention, soft food. But its not intolerable, and hey, I have lost weight.
But what got my attention was that the staff seemed on edge - whether due to some global reason or individual tiffs, I couldn't tell.
The thing about this place is that the surgeon is always pleasant and smiling. It took me a while to realize that he really doesn't mean it. He's not a particularly friendly guy, but if he acts that way, then patients are happier. At least, I assume thats why he does it. I could be wrong about the motivation -- but that he fakes it, I have absolutely no doubt.
The staff is a different story. They're all good, and efficient, but brisk -- except for a couple, you get the clear feeling that they want you to sit down, shut up, wait for the Doctor, and then get the hell out. They're not unfriendly, but they just don't care. As I say, I get the sense that the doctor himself is actually like that, but he hides it -- so maybe what they're doing is simply reflecting him as he actually is, how he actually wants the world to be. That's his empire, and that's how he wants things.
Whatever the cause, it can make visiting there an interesting experience.
4 comments:
Sounds like some bad hiring decisions if you ask me. People don't always take into account the culture, or environment, of a workplace when filling those crucial customer service positions. Just because someone is "qualified" to do the work, doesn't mean the'll be a good fit.
Sounds like people are seeing through the Corporate Game of "Good Customer Service." It's all about conformity. Corporations try so very hard to make everyone the same. It will never work because the human spirit instinctively fights chains - real or corporatized. What is interesting is the push for "Customer Service" and being super friendly (i.e. becoming a Stepford Employee) when the customers often need a bit of "tough love." The customer isn't "always right." In fact, they are usually wrong. I prefer a customer service rep to be human and not some canned corporate drone.
I don't think that the customer is always right, or has the right to expect perfection -- but I do think that working on the assumption that they're fair, but fallible, helps. I occasionally hear of stores with extraordinarily generous return policies, and I think 'What? Why?' The only thing I can think of is that the customer's effectively paid for it already, but most people don't take advantage of it, so its still cost effective to let the few do it.
I'm often intrigued by people who manage to maintain an incredible cheerfulness at the office - and then go out the door to burst into road rage on the way home. It's as if all their rants are sublimated during their CS time and then explode after their 9 to 5 is finished.
Plus, CS folks are frequently the toughest consumers for Any Other CS worker. Yipes.
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