I only wish they would flash up in front of me the next time I go to complain
I sincerely hope they don't ...
That piece of pocket brainwashing is nothing new. It's something I first saw put down in writing (almost EXACTLY to a word) when I was investigating the high pressure sales techniques of a certain well know vacuum cleaner company... It's a classic piece of psycho-manipulation.
The other place I've heard this repeated in in call-centre training. Both as a means of quelling the workers and persuading them to dismiss complaints with a clear mind....
As much as
that (i.e. the vacuum cleaner) company's sales depended on shifting sales people away from their moral constraints towards duping, browbeating and bullying customers into buying: They also depended on deflecting the inevitable complaints about amoral sales techniques, poor quality product and (what was essentially illegal) loan-shark financing..
And it's the very same justification that's today used by those frustratingly poor quality ISPs, mobile 'phone companies, banks, insurers... You just NAME a company that gives poor service and handles complaints badly and I guaranteed that's EXACTLY the justification they'll make for behaving that way....
All the points made
are true of course; At least they are to some extent. And may well prevail in someone diagnosed with a personality disorder. Which is EXACTLY what's suggested in the text... Equally well it could be the case (it is more likely in fact!) that someone legitimately HAS something to complain about....
Consider a more obvious and troubling example....
A child (perhaps the friend of one of your own children) comes to you from help. They claim that their parent, a medical professional, has been abusing them; They have allegedly been being beaten.
How do you react to this?
I could tell you, and point to psychological research that validates that the child is exhibiting classic attention-seeking behaviour. That this is clearly the indicator of some psychological flaw in the child's character. That medical professionals are responsible people who are almost-never abusive or violent. And thus justify dismissing the child's complaints...
But what do YOU do? Do you call the police and seek professional assistance or call the accused parent and ask them to take charge of their child?
Ask yourself this: How many children have lost their lives (either literally of figuratively) to abuse over the past 50 years? And how many didn't complain at the time (or indeed walk around as adults with those complaints still eating away at them) Because they believe that in complaining they would...
a) Not be taken seriously
b) Expose a flaw in their own personality
c) Shouldn't be taken seriously because of (b)...
It's a dramatic illustration I know; But when I tell you that just a few weeks ago I found myself in EXACTLY this situation. And that subsequently a Lothian and Borders Police officer whom I had called to assist was not only dismissive of the child's claims, but indulged in leading questioning and immediately returned the child to the alleged abuser you'll begin to realise just how serious the consequences of taking that sort of view are....
I'm guessing here; but the impetus for that Police Officer to dismiss the claims of that child so lightly are EXACTLY those that the 'vacuum cleaner' company had in dismissing their complaints so lightly....
Cost, time, effort. Easier to go through the motions of dealing with the issue
but in truth finding a way to abdicate responsibility for it!
It's quite cost-effective to try and convince people that they really shouldn't complain. That it's not worthwhile. Or that in being a complainant the individual exhibits signs of maladjustment. In the short-term it can reduce costs considerable. But there are some serious risks in taking such a tack...
1) For evil to flourish good men need only do nothing! The reason our streets are unsafe at night, children are abused, the banking system is in chaos, our public services are eroded and our taxation is through the roof is that people don't complain! Or at least when they do those complaints are dismissed as whinging.
In fact the reason this country
as a whole is going downhill is that no-one dares complain and if they do it's rare for their complaint to be handled honestly and effectively... How many times have you complained about something to be dismissed with 'well no-one else has complained'?
There's a difference between complaining and just whinging for whinging's sake of course! But you should NEVER be (or allow yourself made to be) afraid of taking a legitimate complaint as far as it can possible be taken!
2) Adopting or justifying a head-in-the-sand attitude will kill your business. Companies like BT, Setanta (about to go t*ts up!),Tiscali, One and One etc make a great play of producing largely vacuous customer service stats. The reality of dealing with them is that you'll be endlessly patronised by them while your goodwill and patience are eroded to the point where you just go away.... It's all part of the 'churn rate' for these businesses. To some extent they can afford it. But years of customer abuse are beginning to catch up with them now!
...If only they'd handled those complaints properly!
3) NOT complaining leads to more things that you don't want showing up in your life! By
not complaining, by
not holding others to account you allow them to abdicate responsibility. Complaining does indeed focus on the things that you don't want! But you're a grown up! And life is about facing up to the things you don't want and MAKING them go away!
Try NOT focusing or your mortgage payments, VAT return, car insurance or the missing tiles on the roof of your house! the way to make them go away is to DEAL WITH IT!
Don't be a Dilbert... COMPLAIN!!! And if someone complains to you take ALL their views and objections on board, deal with them defuse or (legitimately) dismiss them one by one. Like most things in life complaints are a question of balance and to see them as wholly negative is quite simply wrong!
4) Complaints yield the most valuable data! Most engineers will tell you the first step to repairing a machine is to find out WHY
it isn't working! It's important to know how it works and to keep an eye on its performance when
it is working for early signs of failure. But more often-than-not the really valuable information is to be gleaned from non-performance indicators!
It's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil? Why? Because it's telling you what it needs and if you don't meet those needs it will stop working for you!
Petrol heads among you will appreciate that an oil pressure gauge will tell you when things are beginning to show signs of failure (and thus avert catastrophe) far more effectively than the customary red warning light. Which generally comes on about 8 seconds before a piston leaves the vehicle via a hole it's just blown in the bonnet! Likewise actually listening to the rumblings and grumblings of a machine will give the skilled operator far more of a 'heads up' than any performance measure....
My uncle used to often impress upon my sister (who ran a Chinese Take-Away) that it was often more important to worry about the hungry people OUTSIDE the shop than the ones inside! To that end the waiting area was kept clean and comfortable with a TV to keep folk amuse while they waited. If it got busy and folk started groaning my niece would be sent 'round the que with free prawn crackers and a cheesy grin....
And certainly if a diner in
his restaurant complained he himself would listen, take on board and 'restore face' to the business by compensating the customer... And a huge part of this was THANKING the customer for finding the weak spots in his operation!
It's a sad sad indictment of the world today when people are being discouraged from giving what can be the most valuable feedback of all. If you don't like whingers, moaners and complainers the best way to deal with them is leave them nothing to moan about!
