Is It Possible To Make EVERYONE Happy?!

by Julian Ignatowski, Sr.

After reading my explanation of Pillar One, some of you are probably sitting back and scratching your heads, saying to yourself, "I know it's totally impossible to make everyone happy!"  Well, you're right, and, well, you're also wrong...Let me explain.  

I strongly believe that the skill set of excellent customer service is a bit of a phenomena.  You see, if you, as the service provider or seller of goods are doing everything you can, and I mean EVERYTHING possible to make the customer happy then there should be a turnaround.  This means you are actively deciding to go outside the metaphorical box if you have to, you are contacting a supervisor if need be, you are overriding an objection in your employee manual, you are asking the correct questions of your customer and caring about the response you receive, and all the while, you are empathizing with your customer (not patronizing them), with a tone and mannerism that is welcoming to the customer.  I believe that if you do all these things, or at least a mixture of some of them, then you will see a transformation of your miserable customer into a semi-satisfied to satisfied customer.  

To me, this topic can be summed up between two types of unhappy customers.  I call it the miserable customers vs. the "fake miserable customers".  I'll explain both of these sets of customers to you...

Sure I agree with you that there is this select group of people out there that call every complaint hotline they can get their hands on, subscribe to angry blogs that never have a positive thing to utter, and are members of their local "Unhappy Campers Support Group" to promote their misery.  There is an old adage that says, "Misery loves company!"  Boy, is this true.  I think if we are all intellectually honest with one another, we would agree.  Any one of us "normal folks" can testify to this fact.  We have been behind these people in lines at stores witnessing their incivility towards the helpless cashier.  We have been victimized by these types who blast their horns and give us the middle finger if we don't step on the gas immediately when the traffic light turns green.  We all go to the DMV once every year or two....I get it.  These types are outright miserable.  

The Online Dictionary defines misery as three things:

1. wretchedness of condition or circumstances.

2. distress or suffering caused by need, privation, or poverty.

3. great mental or emotional distress; extreme unhappiness.

 

I am an optimist, and as such, I have high hopes that EVEN these types of individuals can have sunny skies if they just take a moment, breathe and gather some real perspective.  That being said, some people cannot grasp the fact that the world will continue on regardless of their personal circumstance.  Some of these folks just can't  get outside of themselves.  It truly is a deep loss of perspective.  So, let's say I concede the fact that we both realize these people are among us, but hopefully are the minority and even they have the possibility of being made happy if they are given the opportunity.

Then I am reminded of one of King Solomon's proverbs.  Proverbs 20:14 states "“It’s no good, it’s no good!” says the buyer— then goes off and boasts about the purchase."  These are the "fake miserable customers" -- they are the hagglers.  These are the people who want that service or product, but is unwilling to pay the full price, so they find every glitch they can in order to play mental games with the provider and get them to lower the price.  When my wife and I were first married and didn't have a whole heck of a lot of discretionary spending in our budget, we enjoyed going to various Saturday morning tag sales.  These were great opportunities to find things you needed at a very reasonable price.  Well, most of the items were already marked to sell quick and move, yet I was always stunned by people who would haggle with the tag salespeople.  Sure, if it's a larger item, I have no problem asking if that's the best they could do, but to grab an item that is say $0.50 and chime in, "Will you take a dime for it?!"  Really people? To each his own...

You and I also know these types...you're probably one of them.  Heck, we've all grabbed something from the shelf and said to the manager, "This is scuffed.  Can you do something for me?"  Of course you should be a shrewd consumer and most wealthy folks say they never pay full price for anything.  And, I wholeheartedly agree.  But it is those who do this procedure in the wrong manner that makes it an uncivil common practice.  They add an element of rudeness to it.  Whenever I ask for a discount, I don't abuse the manager by pretending to be miserable.  I'm an avid believer that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar. I just pretend to act as if the actual purchase doesn't really matter to me and that, most importantly, I am willing to walk away from it and leave it there on the shelf if I am turned down by the manager.

So, yes...you're right.  Not everyone can or will be happy all the time.  But, you're wrong, if you leave it there and decide that the miserable customer cannot be moved.  Miserable customers should be viewed as a learning experience that will allow you to try out your growing customer service skill set.  Take your time with them.  Become a good reader of people.  Determine if this person is truly miserable, which will require all that you have within yourself to make the customer happy.  Or, is it a "fake miserable customer" that is just wanting a deal and testing you to see if you are willing to participate in their game. It's magic to figure out which of the two groups you are dealing with.  It's even more magical to figure it out and still make the customer happy.  So say a prayer and proceed.  Then let me know how it worked out, will you?