"Our Take" - Guilt is Good

(Past Editions by: Date, Title, Topic)

 
About "Our Take" 
"Our Take" is a collection of daily vignettes covering a wide range of CRM topics. It's an attempt to add our own spin to the world of CRM. We will use the column to share our perspectives, opinions, epiphanies, web nuggets, or quite frankly anything that moves us. Get ready to expect the unexpected. And, don't be shy about sharing your thoughts.
 
 
4/9/07 - Coming Clean
Last week, I had the grand opportunity to spend time with my son skiing at Lake Tahoe for spring break. Monday night was the NCAA men's college final basketball game. While basketball doesn't rule our lives, it is the big game of the year and a perfect way to chill out after a day on the slopes. One problem: the television requires a remote to change the TV from the interactive home screen to the broadcast stations. And our remote didn't work.
 
Picture this: It is thirty minutes prior to tip off and the front desk promises to send someone right away. The game started without us because the maintenance man never arrived. I called the front desk again and was again promised that he would be there in a moment. He arrived right away and solved the problem - dead batteries - quite quickly.
 
Here's where the story takes a twist. I received an apology from the person at the front desk who took my first call. He said that he was distracted and never called maintenance. It would have been easy for him to "let it slide." However, his confession and apology went far to build trust and to show that he really cared. I bet he feels better. I know I do. Do you come clean when you make a mistake with a customer?
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/10/07 - Guilt is Good
Yesterday, I shared a story about the hotel front desk manager that took responsibility for not following through on a request. I would have never known that he dropped the ball assuming the maintenance man simply was pre-occupied or taking his time. But the front desk manager did call explaining that he was the problem and he sincerely apologized.
 
So the questions you readers asked, "Did he do it because he was trained to or did he do it out of fear that a patron might wittingly complain to the maintenance man?" Was he afraid the maintenance man would "get in his face" for setting him up with a hostile guest created by his own miscue?
 
I don't know the answer for sure. The front desk manager was a very young guy so I was surprised at the maturity of 'coming clean.' However, the sincerity of the apology and perhaps the unexpected nature leads me to believe he was not trained or motivated out of fear. So maybe it was a bit of guilt. Sometimes we hear negative things about guilt. However, I think guilt can be a positive motivator. In fact, think about how guilt might have continued to affect the manager had he not explained and apologized.
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/11/07 - More on Guilt
On Monday (Coming Clean), I shared a customer service example in which a hotel front desk manager took the proactive step to accept blame for a service miscue. Yesterday (Guilt is Good), I suggested that perhaps his motivation came from guilt.
 
Did guilt really play a role? Is guilt good or bad? I'm not an expert in determining whether or not guilt is a good thing or a bad thing. Do you remember the evil character in the Star Wars movies? Before Darth Vader went to the dark side, he was a good guy. My point is that most things have an upside and a downside to them. It's what you do with the emotion that makes it a good thing or a bad thing.
 
Tomorrow, I'll share reader feedback on how guilt fits into the customer service equation. Are there other emotions that have a positive or negative impact on customer service?
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/12/07 - Commenst on Guilt
As promised, today's column will share a few thoughts regarding our discussion about Coming Clean (also see Guilt is Good and More on Guilt).
 
One reader commented, "While individual employee guilt can play a significant role in customer relations, corporate guilt is yet more important. Employees tend to follow company policy despite conflicts with their personal values. Ergo, when a company feels guilty about poor customer treatment, more is likely to change than when an individual feels personally guilty." Another responded, "Honesty is something that rarely backfires on you. I'm always dumfounded at the number of people that are surprised when they are provided an honest answer."
 
And yet another suggested, "When people complain they only want a resolution, not to blame someone. This person's response made him accountable and protected others from exposure or criticism. One thing to recognize is that if you blame others and question their competence, the client will associate your personnel with those comments." More thoughts tomorrow.
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
 
4/16/07 - More on Guilt
I hoping for some great feedback and input on the Greed is Good for customer support column last week. In the meantime, more thoughts on guilt. One reader said, "Although it is impossible to say what the actual intentions were of the front desk individual but it may, in fact, simply be his affective level of commitment. He simply might not have been able to not do otherwise. In this case guilt is not an operative construct. Meyer and Herscovitch (2001) proposed a general model of commitment in the workplace which hypothesized three types of commitment: affective (desire mind-set), continuance (perceived cost mind-set) and normative (felt obligation mind-set)."
 
He goes on to quote the work: "The mind set of desire (affective commitment) develops when an individual becomes involved in, recognizes the value-relevance of, and derives his or her identity from association with an entity or pursuit of a course of action. The mind set of perceived cost (continuance commitment) develops when an individual recognizes that he or she stands to lose investments, and/or perceives that there are no alternatives other than to pursue a course of action of relevance to a particular target. The mind set of obligation (normative commitment) develops as a result of the internalization of norms through socialization, the receipt of benefits that induces a need to reciprocate, and/or acceptance of the terms of a psychological contract.
 
The reader's take is, "Individuals who are bound by desire or a belief in the meaningfulness and importance of the activity also tend to exercise discretionary behaviors to the benefit of the target, such as the customer. You can always seem to spot store personnel who exhibit affective commitment. They are the ones who exhibit a desire to help you." So do you think it was guilt or a belief in meaningfulness and commitment?
 
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)