Lesson 24 Courtesy can bring you more; definitely…
In many cases, I have said that I prefer to be with aged people and I hold what I said.
Previously, when there was a good-looking guy passing by, girls would immediately begin to talk about him, “Hey, you see, such a cute guy. Want to know him?” But once they called on me, they would say, “Well, Yuan, I know, I know, it is not your type, he is too young for you.”
Agreed.
Arthur heard about it and felt very happy. In fact, he got a very good reason, he said “I am 39 now and it makes me feel low sometimes. But! When I am thinking about your taste, I realize I am still much too young.”
Why I prefer to be with aged men? There are so many reasons but we can begin by saying that this is because they are more patient, more understanding, more intelligent, more experienced, more lovable even. Some people would believe that young and older people do not always agree, well, it depends.
Generally speaking, older people have a much milder tone, a more peaceful voice and, very important, they also have a more listening attitude. And it shows, everywhere and in everything they do, always.
Days before, Jose’s iMac froze when he plugged in his iPhone and he had to re-install the whole system again. This happened 2 or 3 times recently and I felt that it was quite unacceptable. After all, it is a brand-new machine and it is an Apple product, come on! It should be guaranteed from any failure during such a short period. So I asked Jose to simply require a new one from Apple.
But Jose said, “No, it is not respectful to do that. I believe in Apple products. I have been using their products for more than 25 years and I know this machine very well. I will call the service department to ask for some advice and technical support.”
So he called the technical support department and after he gave a short description of his problem the call was swiftly transferred directly to an Apple engineer in California.
After Jose explained the problem in details, the engineer tried to guide him to resolve it but finally, after more than one hour of trying various procedures, the man said, “Well, we will send a technician to your home to check and repair your machine.”
Jose said, “Thank you!” But to his surprise, the Apple guy said, “Well, to save you the pain of repeating your story to another engineer, should you need more help about that problem, I will give you my name, my email and my direct phone number which will allow you to reach me anytime if you need my help again.” Wow, it is so sweet and so nice! Jose was amazed and, frankly, so was I.
Jose asked him, “Do you give your personal informations to every customer you speak with?”
The engineer replied, “Of course not!”
And then Jose thanked him again for being so nice and asked him, “Can I ask you a personal question? Feel free to answer it or not but how old are you?”
“I am 61.” The guy answered.
And then both of them burst into laughter.
I asked Jose why did you ask the guy’s age. Jose said, “Yuan, I kept telling you that a person’s voice can reveal a lot about that person.
I felt that this man was very patient, and quiet, understanding, listening, and that requires a lot of experience. So I immediately felt that he was an elderly guy, but I supposed that he was 40 or 50 something, but 61, ehh, I am a little bit surprised also.”
Well, the Apple guy was really nice but I believe that he doesn’t do it often. He did it especially for Jose because Jose was nice with him to begin with.
Jose said, “It is very demanding for the people who are working in that department, because everybody is complaining about their problems; everybody is shouting and unhappy. So the people who are working there are under a terrible pressure.
But if you are more considerate and understanding while you are talking with them, even if it is their product’s problem, you can take it easy and be nice with them which will make everybody feel much better. “
I curled myself up in Jose’s arms saying, “But you are the customer, the customer is king.”
Jose smiled softly, “You know, Yuan, from my experiences I know that I always get more than I expect if I am being nice and courteous with people.
Harsh complaints can not solve problems and will make everybody unhappy, but courtesy can bring you more; definitely.”
There is an interesting ending to that story : I was able to solve my problem by myself before the technician called me the next day. So, I called back the engineer and told him that I had repaired my computer all by myself and, hence, that I did not need the technician’s services. To my amazement he said “Well, since you are saving us money I am happy to offer you a 100$ credit that you will be able to apply to your next Apple purchase.” Boy ! I am so happy to have learned courtesy…
Love this article very much. Courtesy is so important in customer service field actually. The more you are getting old, the more you will learn how to get along with people with courtesy. The growing process is learning process, and it is also the process to be nearly perfect as a human being.