3 Steps to Be a Better Customer
©Depositphotos.com/kyolshin
As my wife and I boarded a recent flight back to Milwaukee, I couldn’t help but look forward to getting home. The grass hadn’t been cut in almost a week and I knew that my mom had dropped off some food, so my afternoon was really looking promising. My vision of turkey sandwiches, lawn care, and naps was interrupted by an announcement over the loud speakers:
“I am sorry for the inconvenience, but technicians are working on the air conditioning unit and estimate a delay of approximately 25 minutes. Again, we apologize for the delay.”
We laughed it off and went back to dominating the world of Angry Birds. Within 20 minutes we heard another announcement:
“Folks, this is your captain speaking. We realize the temperature on the plane is getting a bit high, so please close your windows as our delay has been extended to 45 minutes. Thank you for your patience.”
This is when the mood of the passengers all around us began to change. As the delay increased, so did the temperature. People began shouting out things like,
“I sure am glad we are stuck on the plane and not in the comfort of the airport!”
“We better get some free drinks or flight vouchers for this!”
“I don’t know why I choose Delta! You are terrible!”
I sat back and took note of the different ways people were handling this stress. Some were shouting. Others were tossing angry glares at the flight staff. A few people were calling co-workers or loved ones and voicing their anger for everyone to hear. It was quite the sociological experiment developing in front of me.
Back in Reman U #42, Captain Reman wrote about a similar airline experience and how to provide awesome customer service in your own business when things go wrong. (If you missed it, read/watch that article here.) And after sitting on a hot plane and watching adult meltdowns all around us, it became clear to me that customer behavior is just as important.
You see, we’re all customers ourselves, and there are 3 things I encourage you to keep in mind when the $%!& hits the fan:
- Don’t Shoot the Messenger: As a business owner/manager, we’ve all delivered bad news. Most times it wasn’t by any fault of our own but nonetheless, we had to deal with the angry customer. Remember how it feels to be on that side of the counter.
- Smile! Everyone around you is on edge and ready to explode. Do your part to keep order and lighten the mood. We as customers have more power than we think to impact a negative situation.
- Great Social Media = Great Responsibility: It is easy to jump on Twitter/Facebook/etc. and start beating up a company for a bad experience. Whether you manage your business’s social media footprint or not, the right tweet at the wrong time can devastate a company. Make sure you’re thinking clearly before you post your thoughts.
My point is that as managers, owners, and employees we have all dealt with angry customers in heated situations. After hooting and hollering for 20 minutes, what did you think of them as they were walking out or hung up the phone? My guess is that if you ever ran into them outside of your business – or better yet, in their own business, you’d steer clear. The next time that you’re a customer when things don’t go as planned, don’t take the easy, emotional way out.
A flight on any airline these days usually means great examples of customer service – good and bad. In Stan the Trans Man’s case, they also mean a good ol’ lesson in customer behavior. How do you behave as a customer when it hits the fan? Do you think it affects your own future business? Comment below or email Anthony directly!
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