I’ve received some really vague requests for help through the TRAs lately, and they got me thinking: frustration in customer service can come from not getting your way.
But more often than not, frustration in customer service comes from not clearly defining what it is you want in the first place. If you send the request “it does not work” (complete with lack of punctuation, even!) you’ve given the person on the other end nothing to work with — what is it? What isn’t working? What product are we dealing with, here? etc, etc, etc…I can guarantee this person is frustrated as all hell with me, as we still haven’t nailed down what I’m supposed to be helping to fix.
Got it? If you’re clear with what, precisely, is frustrating you, you’re more likely to get it resolved. Of course, having NO expectations is dangerous, too! I recently attended a wedding and accompanied the bride to her hair appointment the morning of the big day. When the stylist asked what she wanted, she replied, “Something part down and part up and pretty” while making vague hand gestures.
Seeing the stylist’s panic face, I grabbed a book of hairstyles and helped the bride to communicate exactly which picture she wanted her hair to look like, preventing confusion and dismay a few hours later. This isn’t me being a hero or a miracle worker, just providing a way for the two parties to better communicate with one another. Both the bride and the stylist were thrilled with the end result.
How can you, as a consumer, better convey your expectations to those trying to help you? Better yet, how can you help your clients convey their expectations to you?
This week, I dare you to get out there and communicate. (Remember, your coffee isn’t ‘awful,’ it’s ‘bitter & stale, with the wrong type of creamer.’ 
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I used to do tech support for Apple, over the phone. One time, I had a lady call in and say that her computer was “acting squirrelly.” Wh… what am I supposed to do with that?! It took close to 10 minutes for me to just figure out what, exactly, her problem was (and only 5 minutes to fix it).
I spent many years as a makeup artist and I feel that stylist’s pain! I think proper nomenclature is definitely a problem at the root of it.
People would say they want red, when really they wanted more of a brown color. They’d say “smokey eye” and then be horrified that it was dark. I think they hear terms thrown around and don’t research them before hand.
Now I work in wireless part time, and people will say “phone book” when they mean their call log, or email when they mean text message. They’ll call the battery a sim card, or say they’ve got a family plan when really just 1 person in the family is on the plan.
Sometimes they even come in and say it like they know exactly what the problem is, and then get mad when you do what the ask because it’s not really what they meant! People seem to get frustrated when you ask too many questions as well. It’s so hard! I remember asking a lady a few questions to determine exactly what kind of lip product she would like, and she turned and pointedly said “I would like an EXPERT who knows what they’re doing and will stop asking me questions.”
Sometimes you just can’t win!