Living in a big city comes with certain built in social interactions.  One is the obligatory requests for spare cigarettes, spare change, and offers of window washing that come with filling up your car with gas.  It’s such a normal part of the routine that it fades into the background in short order.

Lately though these moments of social intercourse had changed for me in a way I could not define at first.  When the person wanting a smoke/change/to clean my windows came from the front of my car the interaction proceeded in the manner I was used to.  But, when the approach was from the rear of my car the tone was demonstrably different.  Stories about life, commentaries on the state of the world, personal grievances, philosophical insights, and confessions of guilt would come along with the normal requests for charity or compensation for a minute’s work. I could not explain what the difference was even while the phenomenon was slowly becoming more noticeable.

The other day the difference was made clear.  The older, rail thin gentleman came to ask for spare change, approaching from the rear of the vehicle.  He opened the conversation with, “You’re a priest, huh?”

Then it hit me.  My bumper sticker.

Duh.  I had forgotten that sticker was there.  Truth is I am a priest of Dudesim. I am also a minister of the Universal Life Church, a priest of Spiritual Humanism and a Pope (but that’s in Discordianism where everyone is a Pope, which causes the title to perform the non-dual-like paradoxical function of being both the most and least important title of the set.)

I’ve been meditating daily for a while now.  One thing that extended meditation process does is allow you to better witness your own internal mental process.  That is not to say that you can do anything about it, but you can note its unfolding. As the man began to have a lighthearted conversation with me about life, the universe and everything, I noted the impact it was having on me.  This was serious.  This man was trusting me in the role I had advertised.  I freely admit that my ordinations were done half tongue-in-cheek, but only half.  The other half was called forward with a strong demand by this man’s trust that I was what I had identified as.

I listened with interest and openness as the man spoke.  The conversation was deep, not long, funny and touching.  I agreed where I agreed, and said “interesting” where it was.  I did not offer any advice as he had asked for none (for which I am extremely grateful.) I realized that my whole “job” in this interaction was simply to hold open a wide space for this human being to say things that he normally would not.  I’m not going to repeat them here, because I also recognized that a sacred trust had been evoked by the man, and I gladly honor that evocation.

As we parted we were both smiling and connecting with our eyes.  Two strangers who, for a brief moment on a Wednesday afternoon had touched that which is real in each other.

I’m thinking about putting another bumper sticker on the front of my car. 

Okay, so I am far from a customer service guru.  However, I do have 17 years experience in the industry at all levels of customer service from clerk behind counter, to ice cream shop supervisor, to customer rep/tech support grunt, to customer service & billing department manager, to lead support rep.  I’ve been through the ringer from the service side of customer service.

They say that doctors and nurses make the worst patients. I have also seen the opposite be true. My mother was  a career psychiatric nurse and I watched her be both the best and worst patient when under hospital care. Both of those stemmed from the same source: she knew the job, what it took, and how to do it.

The same is true in customer service. From the service side I know what it is like on the far end of the phone/email thread/chat log.

I make it a point of pride to be both very courteous when I am being a customer in the customer service equation, and I also take pride in being veryu effective at getting what I need/want from the interaction.  Here are my tips for doing the same:

1. Courtesy – This goes a long way.  Try and remember that the person on the other end of the line (or other side of the counter) is not the problem. They are who you are speaking with to resolve the problem, and you want them on your side. Be civil. Explain your issue, and how you would like it resolved in a clear and concise way, and patiently re-explain anything that needs it until the human being on the service side knows what you need.
2. Don’t get annoyed by use of scripts – This can be tough, but it’s worth it. Most of the time the person on the service side is working with a trained formula on how to process calls.  Let them do their thing. It’s alright to interject for clarity, but if you suddenly interrupt you will knock them off their train and now you have a confused human being to deal with.
3. Talk to the Manager – Every customer service worker has a certain set of things they are able to do. They can’t do more, so pressing them to will result only in frustration and antagonism.  They also do not know the full range of what is possible. That’s not their job. Don’t blame them for it. However, once they have told you that they are “unfortunately unable to help you”, ask for a manager or supervisor. There are always more buttons that can be pushed. Make it clear that you are not escalating in order to make a complaint, but simply because you understand that they are not able to assist yu, so you would like to speak with someone higher up who might be able to.

Remember you always get more with a carrot than a stick.  Use the Golden Rule, treat the human being helping you like you would like to be treated.

What are your tips for effectively dealing with customer service workers?