Back to the Basics of Customer Service

Part 4

Have you ever heard the following line from any cohorts you work with, "Hey, I told them once how to get around this problem. Don't call me with this again!" I would bet that many of you heard that statement at least once if not several times by someone who forgot why he or she is in the business of maintaining equipment or operator training.

All right, you've done everything known to mankind to assist certain individuals with ongoing problems and you feel there is no light at the end of the tunnel except the freight train barreling down the track simply to run you down. How about this one: You are simply too overworked with equipment and projects to constantly return and help this individual or department. "What I have to do is more important than what they want me to do." It is difficult at times going back to certain individuals who you have made a conscientious effort to assist and show them proper techniques to performing what appears to you to be a simple objective. You may feel some individuals are taking the simple way out by calling you or your department.

Did I just put salt into an old wound here? It has to do with priorities and the importance placed on them. Think back at times you were asked to assist individuals or departments to determine if the problem they were experiencing was simply to relieve the amount of work they had to do. I seldom think this is being done intentionally. It comes down to broken equipment, knowledge of the system, or that perfect 100 page write up you sat at their desk which was read to page 99. Unfortunately, the answer they were looking for was on page 100.

Do you think they were aware of your priorities? Do you think they care? In some cases the answer may be NO. O.K., pick yourself off the floor. Stop the presses! I know that was a tough statement and everyone should care what your priorities are. The reason they may not care about your priorities is because what they have to accomplish may be very high on their priority list and may not be able to be completed because of broken equipment.

Do their priorities have precedence? Try looking at this from a different angle: If they cannot perform their tasks with the equipment at hand, their priorities will take precedence. In most cases, they will not look for the easy way out. So let's eliminate that idea right off the top of the list. Why not let this individual know that their problems can be resolved. If possible, try to rectify their emergency.

If you feel there is a more immediate priority on your list of items needing attention, then let the individual know that you will attend to their needs later due to a more pressing problem. If possible, give them a time and or date when you can fix their problem. I can guarantee they will be more accommodating if they know what priorities you are trying to resolve. You may determine that the problem they are experiencing may need to be placed higher on your priority list.

Next month we countdown to item #7 taken from our top ten most favorite statements, "The equipment is simply too old, they'll just have to work around it."

Take care and enjoy your day.

<< Part 1: Introduction to Series

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Edited by Gary Stigall. Posted March 1, 1999.