Obviously when the employee saw me walk in the door they said to themselves: "Here comes trouble." How do I know this? Because, after our business was concluded and if they had done a satisfactory job, when I said thank you, they responded; "No Problem."They didn't say "no problem" because I was potentially a problem, they responded that way because they were in robot mode and really didn't think about any meaningful and unique response like; "You are welcome Dennis, we appreciate your business Dennis and hope to see you again soon." This may be a direct result of not really caring all that much about me as an individual, even though, I can assure you, it means a lot to me. I was in their particular business to do business with them and have a direct impact on the success of their business that I intentionally chose to do business with. I am loyal to those businesses that I choose to do business with, as long as they meet my expectations and until they treat me like everyone else. Not that I consider myself to be a special customer and demand special attention, I simply demand that I be treated as Dennis and not Jane Doe-Customer!
Walter Cronkite worked for United Press International as a young reporter. After a while Cronkite felt all of his stellar and hard worked merited a raise in pay. He took this "unique" idea to his supervisor and during his justification statement Cronkite stated that he had worked hard and his $125.00 weekly salary just wasn't very much money to him. His supervisor listened and responded by stating that Cronkite had indeed done a fine job and even though $125.00 weekly was not much money to Walter, it was to UPI! You see, Cronkite was looking through a one-way lens and everything reflected back to his individuality and not the greater picture of those with whom he was in business with. His motivation was all about Walter.
Make your motivation about helping others as individuals. The people you interact with may in fact be problematic, but until you walk in their shoes, don't make judgments. If there is a problem be a part of the solution and don't use the over used phrase "no problem" it is indifferent and insulting.
