I recently heard two very interesting stories. One made national news, the other was local, as in something that happened to a friend of mine. They are both entertaining tales, but one is heartwarming and the other is unbelievable and not in a good way. There’s an underlying theme to both of them, so I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast both of them.
A viral video featuring three bear cubs made headlines a few weeks ago. I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not THOSE three bears from the fairy tale. This troublesome trio is famous in their own right.
Tom and Shirley Schenk of New Mexico live near a dumpster that has proven to be irresistable to a small family of black bears. One day, while foraging for food and doing whatever it is bears do in dumpsters, the three cubs found themselves unable to climb out. The couple heard their cries, as well as the bellows of the distressed Mama bear pacing outside the trash receptacle.
Feeling the need to assist, the video shows Tom backing his pickup truck up to the dumpster with Shirley in the back of the truck bed. When they reach the dumpster, Shirley gently lowers a ladder and then Tom quickly drives off. Seconds later, you see the young cubs climbing up the ladder, dropping to the ground and scampering away with their Mom leading the pack. It’s freakin adorable! You can see the You Tube video here.
The couple was interviewed and commended for their bravery and creativity. Shirley replied that this was the third time they had rescued the cute creatures from the dumpster.
So, despite the frustration and danger associated with assisting these repeat offenders, this couple went out of their way to help multiple times.
Now for the second story. My friend Matt was having trouble with the door handle of his car. He tried a few times to fix it himself since the garage he was taking it to could not seem to get it right either. The last time he picked it up from the shop, he noticed that the door panel was loose. When he removed it, he saw a note from one of the mechanics written on inside of the door panel in Sharpie. It said something along the lines of “Stop trying to fix this yourself, I’m tired of bailing you out.”
I warned you that one of these stories was unbelievable.
In any kind of service business, you will find repeat customers. Some of them return to you because they have diverse needs. Other times it could be repetitive fixes to the same stubborn issue. Whether it’s self inflicted or a persistent problem that needs a creative resolution, it’s never acceptable to shame, belittle, mock or lash out at a customer.
Occasionally we will see repeat issues at Teltek. We have a customer who has been hit by lightning four times in the last year. Each time it fries their phone system we advise them to address the lightning issue with a suppression system of some kind. They have informed us that for now, repairing the damage is more cost effective than installing a lightning rod, so we replace the system and hope for the best.
When addressing a repetitive customer service issue, it’s best to send a ladder instead of a nasty letter. Can you imagine what it would be like if the fire department responded in this manner? Let’s say you call them because your eight year old son is stuck in a high tree (again) and instead of bringing the firetruck, it’s a hand delivered note that says “We’re tired of saving your kid from that huge tree he keeps climbing, he should know better.”
The written word is a powerful tool, but in some cases, action is the better solution, even for someone you may consider to be a “repeat offender”. The fact that they keep calling you to rescue them means they trust your expertise and have come to rely on it. Don’t let them down.