I finally figured out why my shop's phone calls always turned into arguments

For years, I'd just jump right into fixing the problem when a customer called my electrical shop in Boise. Last Tuesday, a guy named Dave called about a flickering light, and I immediately started asking about the fixture age. He got super mad and hung up. My wife heard the whole thing and said, 'You didn't even let him finish telling you he was worried about a fire.' I mean, she was totally right. I was solving before listening. Has anyone else had a customer freak out because you cut them off?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor_hayes251mo ago

Oh man, that hits home. It's like we're all trained to fix things fast, but people just want to feel heard first. I see it everywhere, like when someone's telling a story and you jump in with a similar one, it just shuts them down. You probably had the right answer for Dave, but he needed to say his piece about the fire fear. That panic is the real problem he called about, not just the flicker.

dylan6041mo ago

Yeah, the "shuts them down" part is so true. It's like we're all in a race to show we get it, instead of just letting them have the moment.

michaelf511mo ago

Actually, sometimes sharing your own story shows you're listening.