I feel strongly that working with the public, you need a chameleon personality to work with the different people and the different situations arise. Different things work differently with different people. (Ok, that sounded all odd, but not sure how else to say it:irked: lol) Certain people will only respond the desired way with a certain treatment.
I have always worked with the public, in a myriad of ways.
When I worked with stock-brokers (who are savage rude cavemen by the way, with no more manners than pigs), I had to have big attitude and be able to get in their face and tell them where to get off in rather strong language, or get eaten up and spat out. (But I would NEVER dream of dealing with anyone else as I did with Brokers.) I had to either A)have balls as big as theirs or B)pretend that I had balls as big as theirs. If I let them holler at me without saying a word, they'd walk all over me. As office Admin, I had to make them tow the line in the only language that they knew. YES there were the very odd few that were darling and sweet and respectful, and I treated them the same was as they treated me. For the rest of the savages, out came the whip and chair :lol:
I recall one particular client... very aggressive and rude sort.. he put all the assistants off.. Never paid any of them any respect. He tended to yell all the time, full of bluster. Anyway... one day he pushed my buttons too far. I interupted his tirade and told him pointedly "if you can't speak to me nicely and stop yelling, I will hang up this phone" He started hollering again, so I hung up. After that, he only ever wanted to deal with me, never with any of the other 'dumb twits' as he called them and he was ultra polite, never any more yelling. Sent me a 100$ gift card at xmas. Go figure. I was sure I'd get canned for hanging up on him LOL My boss thought it was hysterically funny. No one had ever dared to hang up on him, not even his broker (he still yelled at him LOL) and when I left the firm, he apparently gave his broker **** for that too and said it was his fault :lol: :lol:
With dainty lil old lady clients (whether it was in the office or as a tech now) I'm the daughter-in-law that they all wish they had. I make them laugh, I make them feel wise and treasured, I make them comfy and make them feel spoiled.... I am ultra polite, never use slang, cautious with topics and any jokes....
For the mature "gentleman"... they all wanted to adopt me too (ok, some wanted to marry me HAHA)
With my younger crowd, they want someone laid back who's not going to judge the antics and craziness in their lives, and I'm just their crazy pal, good for a chuckle.
With my business set, they are the ones where every 2nd is an hour for them, so it's down to business.. chop chop, no chit-chat, all very serious... Some people.. try as you might, you just can't get that pole out of their butt
:lol: :lol:
THEN lastly, my REAL pals/girlfriends..
They show up with coffee from Tim Hortons to spoil me (cause I refuse their tips) and we chat and kid around, they tease me, I tease them. We pause now and then for a ciggy-break or whatever...... A set/fill with one of them can take as long as 3hrs sometimes for all the silliness and kidding around. We tell dirty jokes, talk about sex etc etc.. it's all just a bunch of fun.
So I think it's ultra important, if you want to be successful to be able to gauge a client's mood and personality and 'be' that person that will make them feel most at ease. Some prefer silly, some prefer tranquil.
A good tech will know which of her faces to put on for whatever personality or situation.
PS: sorry for the ramble LOL
