OVERSTEPPING YOUR BOUNDS

When providing service to customers, you may be tempted to overstep your bounds. That is, you may sometimes feel like criticizing coworkers, policies, procedures, or instructions or joining in customer complaints. Resisting these temptations, however, can often lead to positive results.

Criticizing Coworkers

Heavy work loads, inexperienced personnel, unfamiliar situations, and carelessness all lead to the likelihood of errors, which you must correct at some later date. If you seldom make a mistake, you may have a problem understanding why other personnel frequently do.

When you find a mistake while helping a customer,

resist the temptation to "sound off" to the customer about the person who made the mistake. Such action gains nothing; correcting the error requires the same amount of effort whether or not you express your feelings. Instead, simply explain when and where the mistake was made, and then take steps to correct it. Most customers will forget their annoyance once they understand the problem and know that it will be corrected.

Criticizing Policies, Procedures, and Instructions

If you disagree with official Navy policy, command policy, or divisional procedures or instructions, resist the temptation to criticize them to your customers. You don't have to agree with all of them, but you must follow them. Discussing them among your coworkers may lead to a better understanding of policy. It may also result in positive changes, such as a more efficient procedure or a better flow of information, that improve your ability to help the customer. Discussing them with your customer, however, serves no helpful purpose.

When a customer's request is denied because of current policy or regulations, frustration or resentment is a natural reaction. If you express your disapproval or criticism of this policy or regulation, it increases the customer's feeling of resentment or frustration. You have not helped-you have only made it harder for the customer to accept the inevitable answer. However, you should explain when a policy is only temporary or when it is expected to change so that the customer knows the current governing instructions.

Encouraging Complaints

Since you are a source of answers to problems, customers may sometimes bring you a problem that you are experiencing yourself. The SN's comment, "The division officer doesn't like me," in Case Number 4 opened the door for the PN to offer his shoulder for the SN to cry on. The PN could have joined the SN in a duet of self-pity and condemnation, but what would that have accomplished? Rather, the PN determined the real cause and took positive steps to correct it.

You may have some customers whose problems are only imaginary. They want to complain about their petty officers, division officer, duty assignments, working conditions, or the hole in their socks. In these situations, you must listen, but remain objective. Once again consider Case Number 4. PN Doe listened objectively to SN Frost's complaints about his division officer. Then she checked the Page 4 of SN Frost's personnel record and found he had not completed his PARs. After a phone call to Frost's division officer, PN Doe was able to show the customer the specific causes of the problem. Her action to correct those causes did much to improve the customer's attitude and discourage complaints. Had she encouraged the customer's complaints by sympathizing with him or agreeing with his feeling of unfair treatment, she would have reinforced the customer's negative attitude.

What should you do when faced with a similar situation? You should try to improve the customer's attitude. If, like the SN, a customer has an attitude that he or she is being picked on, try to show the customer the specific causes of the problem. Then, take action to correct those causes. Your actions will do much to improve the customer's attitude.