Tag Archive of: compliments

It is still summer and I am in a vacation mood. So well, what to write about then? About sun, sea and beach? About ice cream, chips and the two dozen cucumbers we gnawed away on that beach?

I'll just leave out the staff shortage for now, because that's an unsociable topic. We know it by now. We have to wait longer for our coffee and our suitcases. Fewer trains are running and even in the call centers you are on hold a little longer. All this requires something new from us as customers. Patience.

Fortunately, we are totally prepared for that. Right? Because we got the vacation over with, went to that beach and went on endless walks. We watched the sunset from that mountain and rested up nicely. Ready for the last few months of 2022.

I do predict, in the coming time, we may luck out as customers. We get to practice patience and kindness. Something we may have lost in recent times. I would call for a loving approach to all staff serving customers. In restaurants, at the bakery, the butcher, in call centers, the delivery drivers, receptionists, stewards, cleaners and front desk staff. By now you understand.

Be prepared for the upside-down world. The wait staff is in power. Not us as customers, but them, on the other side of the bar. Because somewhere they disappeared. Did they prefer to work at the COVID test locations. With a mask on they stuck a stick in noses and throats to test. Rather that, than serve us as customers. And I can understand that. After all, how much fun are we as customers? Those disgruntled heads, drumming impatient fingers and disapproving looks. Maybe it's because of ourselves, the customer? That has to change.

So are you ready? To start being the coolest version of yourself? To start calling the insurance call center with a smile when your prolongation bill is not clear? To just add another five, when you wait five minutes for your cappuccino, and then say a cheerful Thank You to that girl on the terrace, who is very clearly having her first day at work?

As customers, let us be the reason why everyone wants to work in customer service again. Of course also because it's great work in organizations and good pay. But mainly because customers are nice. Because they are patient, even when things don't work out for a while. Because customers give compliments. In the coming months, be the best version of yourself as a customer. The world needs us.

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on September 6, 2022

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I don't think this is a new word in the corona dictionary on Taalbank.nl. And yet I believe this word belongs in it. Now that we live in the other half of the economy, we suffer en masse from hamster obsession, or we turn against hamster pariahs. We suffer from coughing shame. Nevertheless, in addition to this great suffering, I can certainly see points of light.

On LinkedIn the happiest photos of fruit baskets, Tony- bars, bunches of flowers and handwritten cards that are sent to employees will pass by. For me it's not yet clear whether they come from HR (or is it called the employee experience centre?) or from the team manager, but of course that doesn't matter. Now that we are massively working from home, Zooming, Teaming or Hangout, we get free views into living rooms, attics, study rooms and kitchens. Unexpected visitors come into the picture - children who don't quite come out of the math, a cat passing by with hunger, or perhaps the partner who comes to ask if it's okay to keep it down, given the communal homeworking space. That partner means of course you have to, but that's not how you want to appear on the screen.

I'm surprised how agile we are. Before that, we didn't need any agile training at all. Because we had to, we fucked up and all of a sudden it's okay. It turns out that the network keeps it up, but the home Wi-Fi is not always as strong for two home working parents and children who go to the Playstation in the afternoon. Fortunately, there are still network cables: nothing like a stable image with ditto sound in these times. It wouldn't surprise me if these will soon be sold out. Just like the noise cancelling headphones by the way, but that's an aside.

How cool is it that employers, despite the distance, give well-deserved compliments to their employees. Of course to all the heroes in care, from the garbage collection service and in the supermarket. But also the process optimiser, the back office employee and all those people in the contact centre on the phone deserve and receive a compliment. Everyone 'just' keeps on working!

So did my daughter. She works in a contact centre and received letterbox flowers from her employer with a personal message. Not a big bunch, but very sweet stubborn tulips, in a box that fitted through the mailbox. What I love about this is that this has been well thought out. This employer has experienced herself in her employees. They sit all day on the phone with customers and have no time to open the door for the florist. How thoughtful to take this into account and thus opt for letterbox flowers. At a time when we are social distancing, I experience a lot of positivity and attention for each other, even at a distance. That is precisely why letterbox flowers belong in the corona dictionary. I vote for it!

 

This blog was written for CustomerFirst and published on 13 May 2020

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