The Computer Won't Let Me Do That

The next time a customer service rep says, "The computer won't let me do that" or "The system tells me what to do," remember this:

Behind every such phrase is a set of processes designed, or at least endorsed, not by computers but by human beings somewhere in the corporate hierarchy. The system may tell the reps what to do, but someone told the system what to do.

So poorly conceived technologies take decisions away from employees, disempowering them and turning them into script readers. Any chance of a dialogue vanishes. The real decision-makers — the people who designed or endorsed the system — are hidden away in the corporate labyrinth, invisible to both the customer and the agent and accountable to no one, invisible to both the customer and the agent.

The Blame Game

Too often, we blame bad service on the people who actually deliver the service.
Sometimes it’s not their fault at all, yet they get the blame!

Sadly, the complaints rarely make it as far as the (possibly overpaid, often overworked) executive who made the poor decision in the first place.

Three quick tips for organisation who cares about this:

1. Require decision to sign their work and take responsibility. Who decided to make it the way it is?

2. Run a customer service audit on the process. Walk step by step through the office, the software, the phone system or the customer contact points and list out what’s not right.

3. Make it easy for complaints (and compliments) about each decision to reach everyone, especially the boss who made the decision in the first place.

Many bosses train their staff to be mediocre!

Find out what the boss wants, and do that, just barely!

Figure out how to do exactly what they want, with the least amount of effort, and with the least amount of risk of failure and you are a 'great employee.'

This attitude is a matter of self-preservation.

Raise the bar, the thinking goes, and the boss will work you harder and harder. Take initiative and you might fail, leading to a potential reprimand or even termination. Your team is probably full of people smarter than you, why hold them back?

The opportunity of this age is for the boss to change from taskmaster or limiter. When you are seen as a coach, as a resource, as a supporter, as a cheerleader then you will be amazed at the outcomes.

Have you got the courage to change?

I am no longer an idiot!

I stumbled across this old "Customer Service" poem which has been updated for the 21st century, think you might get some useful tips here.

"I am your customer"

I am no longer an idiot. In fact, I never was, but now I will no longer be treated as one.

I demand to be told the truth, and even when you do, I will still assume that you are keeping something from me.

I am fully aware of the influence that my dollar has on your business, and I know of your competitors.

I will not run from conflict as I have seen my parents do. In fact, I will sometimes seek conflict - I have a right to express my importance.

Do not open your doors and assume I will be there. Others open their doors and offer me a reason to be there.

When I arrive at your premises, do not assume that I will purchase. Ask me to.

I am the single most important facet of my life. Therefore I am always the only ME to enter your business. Treat me as such.

Give me exactly what you claim to offer everyone else. If I do not receive it, I will also know that no-one else does.

I am expected to absorb millions of messages every single day. If yours is to be one of the few retained, make it different, make it exceptional, make it retainable.

If you annoy or upset me, it is my responsibility to inform my friends and for them to inform their friends.

My strongest attribute is my ability to purchase. It is all I have to offer and I cannot offer it to all of you.

I am a 21st Century Consumer. There are millions of us. Although we are unfamiliar to so many, when we are out to purchase, we are as one.

It is in our Worst Moments that we are Judged!

That's how people judge you and how they remember you, not how you handle the normal and easy days of our lives.

You are presumed to be showing us your real self when you are working to a major deadline, have a headache, are facing a customer service meltdown, haven't had a good night's sleep, are facing an ethical dilemma, are momentarily in power, are caught doing something when you thought no one else was looking, are irritable, have the opportunity to extract revenge, are losing a competition or are truly overwhelmed.

Remember, you may need to become a “different person” to become a more successful one. It's not just who you are, but what you do that people will judge you on.

What a great opportunity to demonstrate our emotional maturity.

Many people either ignore your organisation or they judge it, usually it's with too little information.

When they judge it, they judge it based on the actions of the loudest, meanest, rudest most selfish member of your team.

When a member of your Team is rude all of you can be seen as rude.

When a member of your Team is intolerant all of the organisation can be seen as intolerant.

When a member of your Team is flippant then all of your organisation can be seen as seen as flippant.

When a member of your Team shows no respect then all of the organisation can be seen the same.
When a member of your Team is so obviously damaging your reputation I wonder why the loyal and dedicated members hesitate to discuss, discipline, ostracise or expel the negative.

"You're hurting our reputation, this is wrong, we have standards and we expect you to meet them.

It is not just up to "the boss", surely each person partly bears responsibility for your reputation.

What do you stand for?

Something special or nothing?

8 Behaviours to determine.... Are YOU SMART?

Dr. Bill Lucas of the Talent Foundation understands what it means to be smart in today's complex world. He lists 8 key behaviours that "Make You Smart" however it is crucial to his notion that being smart is situational; behaviour that is effective in one situation could be decidedly ineffective in another. Nothing makes sense without an initial grasp on the circumstances that made up the situation. Being smart, just like leadership and management styles, is definitely situational. Do you demonstrate these behaviours?

1. Knowing how and when to use your intuition


2. Sensing other people's emotions and responding accordingly


3. Extracting meaning from experience


4. Applying expertise gained in one situation advantageously in another


5. Judging when taking risks is likely to be beneficial


6. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and playing to them


7. Recognising and channelling your emotions effectively


8. Bouncing back after a setback.

Focus on what you can do, not what you can't do!

Do you want to successfully lose weight, quit smoking, or put a lid on your bad temper? We all have some habits we would like to change, sounds easy but consider how often you have been successful? Rather than focusing only on the bad habits themselves the question we need to ask is how will you replace the poor habits with good ones? Research on thought suppression (eg "Don't think about white bears!") has shown that tyring to avoid a thought makes it even more active in your mind. The same holds true when it comes to behaviour - by trying not to engage in a bad habit, our habits get stregthened rather than broken. If you want to change your ways, ask yourself, what will I do instead?