Barry asked me to write one blog a week, so I’ve been sitting in front of my computer wondering what I should write (although I’m sure Barry won’t be surprised to see that I’m blogging early in the morning). Am I going to bring down the tone of his blog? What if I’m horrendously off-topic? My degree is in chemistry, what do I know about business (despite the fact that I’ve worked for Barry for what, 3, 4 years now)? I’m used to informal blogging (a la LiveJournal and MySpace), what if I accidentally break out the emoticons and netspeak, or worse . . . . abbreviations? (Example: “IDK GUISE, this is a little srs bzns for meh D=” translates to “I don’t know guys, this is a little serious business for me )=”). Well . . . now that the mental age gap between everyone over the age of 15 and me has been dramatically increased, let’s move along.

Lately I’ve been gearing up (mental image of me as a backpacker) for Barry’s third book, which, if you’ve looked around at the website, might possibly deal with Customer Service. This might seem like a sudden topic change, but I promise you, it’s not. It’s scary being in customer service–it’s scary having to deal with total strangers with a smile on your face, and having to be know the answers to questions they ask you. Does that sound anything like anyone’s job here? It should for most (even scientists). I’m going to play devil’s advocate, and instead of demanding good customer service (although I will be the first to admit that I’m picky and I’ve kvetched to friends more than once), to have compassion for whatever type of sales representative you’re dealing with. Maybe I will even go so far as to say that it’s your responsibility to ensure that you receive good customer service. But I’m not feeling quite that bold today.

Let’s use the example of retail. You have a pushy sales rep. The type who won’t leave you alone, who is hovering around you and bringing you more clothes than you could try on in a year. It irritates you, and you might even become snippy. But unbeknownst to you, they have debt, they have college fees to pay, they have a sick parent/sibling/child, if they don’t make their sales quota they’ll get fired and we know how fun it is to jobhunt these days–whatever it is, they need your business, and it is making them desperate. Or maybe they really are just a neurotic person.

Or maybe you aren’t receiving any attention. Of course this happens right when you need help, you need item X yesterday, and your sales rep is off wibbling in a corner (ah, I did it, there is the slang I feared–translation: being indecisive). Maybe she/he was the pushy sales rep from yesterday, who was ranted at by a customer with low tolerance and their self-esteem has been shot. Their enthusiasm for work and life has dimmed (it’s tragic, don’t you feel horrible?). Or maybe they’re just shy, and it was the only job they could find. Or maybe it’s their first day/week.

I think my point of this overly long post of theoretical situations is that, even though we complain about customer service a lot (and admit it, we all enjoy it, because ranting is really sort of fun), it goes both ways. Your customer service experience will be better if you have a little compassion and (politely) communicate what you want/need to your sales representative rather than demanding whatever amazing five-star experience you have in your head (although those are nice too; but unfortunately we haven’t evolved telepathy yet, and I don’t know about you, but not everywhere I go is five stars).

~Katherine