Dr. Gary S. Goodman -

Dr. Gary S. Goodman has been awarded a "5-Star" interview rating and can be booked as a motivational speaker via CMM. contacting CMM

Why Don't Customers Show 'Mild Anger' More Often?

In late October I asked the furniture refinisher when he expected to have my table repaired. He said, "We're promising deliveries for Christmas."

By the end of January, I had heard nothing, so I called to cancel the job and to request my table be returned.

"No problem," he said.

Ten weeks later, I had no table. Spring had arrived.

Frustrated, I got him on the phone, and asked with an ominous tone: "When are you going to return my table, PLEASE?"

Almost reflexively, he responded: "Would tomorrow be ok?"

Finally, he honored a commitment. He and two workers hoisted the antique table into my office's conference area at the agreed upon time.

As it happened, he cleaned it and repaired it, as I had originally requested, and there was no sign of an invoice.

What customer satisfaction lesson did I learn from this episode?

"Mild" anger gets results, especially when kindness and patience have been ignored. It reminds me of the persuasive insight attributed to gangster Al Capone:

A smile and a gun are more effective than a smile, by itself.

On one level, this is a sad commentary. We don't expect even slightly hostile communications to gain compliance or to make the world a better place.

Yet, deep down, as animals, we know that we have to warn predators and those who would encroach upon our turf and our possessions that they shouldn't tread on us.

Dogs convey these sentiments through growls and postures that seem to say, "Go no farther, or I'll attack."

Unfortunately, most customers don't use this mild-anger setting. They seem to go from nice-to-ballistic in one, dramatic step. Consequently, they're branded as "crazies" by customer service reps and others, making it harder on everyone to resolve any underlying problems.

In retrospect, I think I got lucky in communicating with the furniture fellow.

When I picked up the phone to call him, I didn't expect to append the word, "please" to my question, "When are you going to return my table?"

But I suppose I wanted to maintain a certain degree of dignity, and give him a chance to redeem himself--which he did right away.

We shook hands after the table was set into place.

I guess we're both lucky that I found my mild-anger setting.

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