Gratitude: My Secret Weapon
by Sueños on 03/30/17
I would be lying if I said I didn't make mistakes. (Who doesn't?) However, I'm a big believer in the idea that it isn't our mistakes that define us, but rather how we remedy them. Most people's response to making a mistake is to initially apologize profusely. I, on the other hand, recommend a second option: remedy and then thank.
I learned this technique when I was a phone associate the Home Depot call center. For anyone who has called into a contact center, you know that it is a dreaded experience often characterized by long, frustrating wait times and half-assed responses and remedies. Home Depot, on the other hand, attempts to be a cut above the rest. Their focus is on customer experience, rather than brevity. It's a brilliant approach, that has them continually ranking among the top 10 customer service providers.
In that environment, I found out very quickly that while people appreciate your empathy, they really just want their problem fixed. So, my approach became this: hear their concern, thank them for their patience, and fix the problem. I watched my customer satisfaction surveys sky-rocket in just a couple of weeks, so, I thought, "Why not try this in my personal life?"
I can honestly my personal relationships greatly benefited from this as well. Instead of saying, "Sorry I'm late," I moved to, "Thanks for waiting for me, I'm sure that was frustrating." Once it started, the gratitude was hard to stop, and I noticed myself thanking people for weird things. Things as simple as, "Thanks for being so kind to wait staff." It made the people around me happier, and better yet, it made me happy to say nice things to people.
Gratitude goes a long way, and it isn't until you start, that you realize how hard it is to stop. I hope you all find ways in which gratitude can help you improve your life and your relationships. As always, thanks for reading.
This is a guest post by one of our coaches Diego-Andreas. If you like this post, and want to see more like it, check out his blog at www.wonderingintomyself.com
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