Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Who is responsible?


You are a manager. Good!

You are working the front line. Great!

A customer comes in. Wonderful!

They want to see you. Sweet!

They don't look happy. Uh-oh!

They want to lodge a complaint about one of your employees. Rats!

Who is responsible? Me?

Should the employee be the one to make it right? No. You'll talk to the employee and get their side of the story, right? No. You're committed to handling the situation right then and there. YES!

While the customer may just need to vent, action on your part will show them you care enough beyond just listening. At that moment, you are responsible. At that moment, you need to take action. At that moment the customer needs to know that when they leave, a resolution is in the works.

Are you responsible?

3 comments:

  1. One of the biggest disappointments of our lives - we ARE responsible.
    Which is fine when times are good.
    But when there's a challenge or an opportunity, it becomes hard work...

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  2. So true Jeff.

    When customers are unhappy, turning a negative into a positive is a skill every owner/manager needs to perfect.

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  3. Jeff, we definitely are responsible. Yet so many people want to point a finger away from themselves and assign blame.

    Donna, we struggle with it every day. New days, new challenges. Perfecting it takes a commitment that a lot do not wish to make.

    What can WE do about that?

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