Have you ever had a lesson on how to make a customer service-related call? Maybe we can use a lesson here and there on how to get what we want when making a call to a customer service rep. Or how to get what you want from customer service?

As disgruntled customers, we don’t know how to help ourselves better when we do not know how to use customer service appropriately to get to a resolution. We just think bitching and screaming at the rep would solve our problems because “the customer is always right.”

I used to work in customer service and I gained a lot from being in the work that I genuinely love de-escalating issues and providing solutions to dissatisfied customers. Making their frowns upside down and whatnot.

It’s been a couple years since I’ve worked in that position and my partner made me realize… I don’t know how to complain efficiently. (I’m also the type to cry over frustration when I am having a hard time trying to get a solution so yeah, he’s not wrong.)

To answer the above question in the title, no the customer is not always right but the customer is a priority so if we can help them, we do. If we cannot, we direct them to someone who can in our efforts to seek out a resolution they can be satisfied with.

I have no formal training in leading workshops or teaching credentials in this but I just thought it would be amazing if we sought out more skills like this, what would they be called: conflict resolution skills in a customer-service context as the customer? We can learn to get what we want AND also be better customers for our providers because even though we are paying for a service, we could go farther if we are nice to our provider’s employees. They are the face of the company and OUR way to get what we want from them.

I just watched my partner make a call to our electric company and he came out of it with a better result than I did when I tried calling them earlier today… and yeah, I was schooled. I took down some mental notes and now I’m eager to see how my next opportunity to learn comes up.

I have no bullet points to make but this is something we probably can gather from our own experiences along the way.

I shall remain curious along the way.