It’s Surprisingly Easy to Get Hooked
He took his children camping one fall weekend. It was one of their favorite things to do. After setting up camp by the intercoastal waters, they grilled dinner then baited their hooks for a little night fishing.
It was nearly midnight and they were all getting tired. Paul left his baited line in the water and put his kids to bed. He intended to come back to his fishing pole before turning in for the night.
Next thing he knew, the sun was coming up and so were his children. Paul went to the shore and checked his line. To his surprise, without any effort other than baiting the hook and casting it out, Paul reeled in a nice sized redfish. It was big enough to keep.
His kids were excited to see the fish and asked if they could have it for breakfast.
Debrief
As customer service representatives, it’s so easy for us to get hooked and reeled in by our customers. The fish in this story is like us sometimes. We go about our customer service business and then with little effort on the customers’ part, like Paul in our story, the customers have hooked us! They reel us into their frustration, their irritation, their dissatisfaction. They reel us into succumbing to their unrealistic expectations (like an undue credit or a free perk).
- How can this compare to us getting “caught,” “hooked,” or “reeled in” by customers? When we go about our jobs routinely, maybe when we are not on guard, we can get caught and reeled in by a baited hook. We can get reeled into making a decision that is not necessary and not good business sense.
- How can this compare to us getting “reeled in” by upset customers? If it’s easy for us to get caught without much effort on the customer’s part, an upset customer can also threaten to hook us easily.
- What can you learn from the fish’s experience? Be mindful of the waters. Be mindful of what tempts us when we are unsuspecting.
- How will you approach upset customers to avoid getting reeled in by them? Be attentive at all times. Don’t take the bait. Stay unhooked.