Re: The Worst Customer Service Issue I had In The Business

[ABLE1 <somebody@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

On 9/23/2022 1:54 PM, Bob La Londe wrote:
> I'm brusque and to the point for the most part.  Some folks don't like
> that and I really do not care.  That was never an issue for me when
> dealing with managers and owners who weren't trying to manipulate me or
> cheat me.  Those who wanted my services and wanted good solid knowledge
> of what they were getting and what was happening.  Being brusque was
> generally not a "customer" service issue.
>
> My biggest issue was third parties.  Employees, new managers, nosy busy
> bodies.  "Whatcha doing."
>
> "I am working on the building, and other than that I can not discuss
> it."Â  You should see a self important person bristle when they hear
> that.  Its like watching a fluffy kitten stand off with a rottweiler. In
> many cases the person trying to grill me was the person or one of the
> people who I was warned caused the situation for which they requested my
> services.  OC reports, access control, hidden cameras in "public" areas.
>
> I had a policy of not sharing anything with somebody who's name wasn't
> on the contract, or on the primary contact list.  In some cases the
> person I was told to deal with whom may not have been named not he
> contract.  I always made a note.  Deal with Joe Schmuck on access
> control matters.  Deal with John Meh on IT.
>
> In some businesses this was much appreciated.  One large multi campus
> access control client always made a point of introducing me to the new
> office manager, and the new IT manager so I knew who to talk to and not
> talk to about various issues.  In some businesses it cause division and
> back stabbing.  More than once I had a secondary manager or floor
> employee report me as a rude asshole for refusing to share information
> with them.  You would think it was just businesses, but I had this
> happen in residential settings as well.  "Hey I am Joe Schmuck's step
> mom whom you have never heard of, name doesn't match, and I'm not on the
> contact list.  He is out of town, and I am feeding his cats.  You need
> to come over here and disable the alarm until he gets back."
>
> "No.  I can not do that.  You are not an authorized party on that alarm
> and your name is not on the contract."
>
> As you can imagine I pissed some people off.  I was called an asshole (I
> am one) and other other things less polite.
>
> Sometimes I would get caught between a manager an owner or between two
> owners with conflicting directives.  While that can be pretty horrific,
> generally it never caused me as many issues as refusing to dish out
> inside intel to people who were not specifically authorized to have that
> intel.
>
> Sometimes it was the manager or owners own fault.  They handed the task
> off to somebody else and didn't tell me.  When I would ask to speak to a
> known authorized party the person who just got what might have been
> their first "trusted" responsibility would bristle and often refuse.
> "sorry.  I do not know you.  I need to verify that this IS your
> responsibility now."
>
> In retrospect I can see now how I might have handled some of these
> better than I did, but there are some that anything, but clicking my
> heels and snapping, "Yes sir," in the most subservient tone possible
> would not have been acceptable.
>
>