When the call comes, it may not be convenient. When the call comes, it rarely comes with all the exact information. When the call comes, you may not know all the answers or have the time.
It sounds like a preacher on the mount talking about the call from God, but I am talking about when your clients call you. You should feel privileged to be the “chosen one” to service their needs. Competition is out there, but clients are sometimes treated as an inconvenience. You know you are going to receive poor service when you see a sign behind the counter that proudly states: “I love this job—except for the damn customers!” You are only where you are but for the client.
Sometimes clients are treated with utter contempt—and clients will walk! Two colleagues from the same organisation were recently travelling together through country roads. They had their identical mobiles sitting in the car console. The reception was up and down, and as they came back into reception each time, one phone was receiving messages while the other one wasn’t. It was quite intriguing but frustrating. A phone call was made to try to solve the problem. The retailer explained that it was quite obvious—he was out of reception. When it was explained that two identical phones were side by side and one was receiving messages fine, the retailer answered that when you have two of that same model phone next to each other, only one will receive messages.
This was too much for my friend—he was no techno-wizard, but he could see this was utter baloney. The retailer was treating him with complete contempt. He started asking how people received messages as they drove on a busy freeway and passed each other. What about in a shopping mall or in a train station? More importantly, how did it decide which phone was the lucky one? Are messages only delivered to the “most important” one?
When he took his phone to another retailer, the problem was solved with a firmware upgrade. Lucky—otherwise he would have been the one standing in the corner by himself to make sure he received his messages!