Rant: A customer told me my 'helpful' explanations were actually making things worse

About a month ago, a regular came in for a specific plumbing part and I launched into my usual detailed spiel about pipe threading and sealant types (you know, trying to be thorough). He cut me off and said, 'Look, you're giving me a college course when I just need the address.' Basically, I was over-explaining and making a simple task seem hard. Since then, I've started asking 'Do you want the quick answer or the full story?' first. It's cut down my average interaction time by maybe two minutes per customer, and people seem way less stressed. Has anyone else had to totally flip their communication style after one blunt piece of feedback?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles58118d agoMost Upvoted

Yeah that quick answer or full story thing is smart. I used to do the same at my old job, explaining every single feature on a basic tool. Drove people nuts. Now I just ask "You want to know how to use it or how it works?" Saves everyone a headache. Good on you for actually listening to the feedback instead of getting defensive.

luna7518d ago

Totally, that's the move right there. I had a coworker who would give me the entire history of our project management software when I just needed to find the deadline field. Now I catch myself doing a quick "need the short version or the whole thing?" and it cuts the chat time in half.