Respect is a vital ingredient in any relationship. Not only respect for ones accomplishments or success, but genuine respect for them as a person. This holds true of business relationships as well. Customers, consciously or subconsciously, like to be treated with respect too. How respectfully a customer is treated plays heavily into “their experience” with any given company.
“Their experience” with the company will play heavily into whether they return to do business in the future, however it’s important the respect given is genuine. Genuine respect comes from deep inside and its warmth is felt.
Case in point
I’m buckled in my seat on the plane when the flight attendant informs us she is closing the doors and if we wish to change seats we should do that now. The gentleman in front of me moves up a row.
The gate agent is speaking to the flight attendant as there appears to be a discrepancy between the gate agents head count and the flight attendants count. The gate agent pinpoints the problem to the traveler (customer) that was in front of me who moved. The fight attendant walks up to the gate agent and customer, and says out loud so all could hear, “You must have moved after I told everyone to remain in their seats.”
The customer tried to explain that was not the case, but the flight attendant insisted that he must have. At first I felt embarrassed for the customer. The more she insisted it was the customer’s fault the more I began to feel embarrassed for the flight attendant. She was obviously more concerned with making herself look good than she was for actually doing a good job.
The entire situation could have been handled quietly with very little disruption. By not treating the customer with respect she embarrassed the customer. She not only lost her own respect from the customer but from every other customer who overheard the encounter.
Challenge
How would you have handled this situation?
Is the respect of one co-worker worth the loss of respect of dozens of customers?
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