Dear Ammar,
Upon my graduation about a year ago, I joined a local IT firm as a marketing officer. My position requires direct and intense contact with customers and my duties include handling customers’ complaints and communicating them to management.
At college, I was taught to listen carefully to customers’ feedback, especially complaints. I did what I was taught to do and that got me in serious trouble. A major client called and complained about the performance of one of our engineers; Raed. The client was so adamant about it that he threatened to stop dealing with us and go to a competitor if the issue is not resolved. Immediately, I reported the case to my manager, who in turn contacted the technical manager about the complaint.
Later, I was surprised to find that Raed was upset with me over reporting this to management. He said I made a big deal out of nothing and that I hurt his career prospects at the company. I have a good relationship with Raed and would never think of hurting him personally. I was only trying to do my job.
You always write about how complaints offer opportunities for improvement on the organizational and individual level. Obviously Raed does not see it that way. The way I see it now, it seems that I will make someone angry every time I report a customer complaint. I will end up being the least popular person in the company. My other option is to close an eye to customer complaints to appease coworkers. I will lose either way. How can I do my job and still stay popular with my team mates?
Regards,
S. H.
Dear S.
You have to do your job and so do your team mates. Covering for them does not help anyone. If you do, everyone loses; the clients, the company, you, and your team mates.
No one likes criticism, even when wrong. But client feedback must be looked at as a valuable input to continuous improvement, not criticism. Clients want quality service, and they deserve it. After all they are paying for it. If client feedback is ignored, everyone loses; clients will keep getting lousy service, the company will lose its business to competitors, you will lose your self respect for not doing your job, and the team member loses a chance of a lifetime to improve.
It is normal for Raed not to like what you did. It is also expected that he will get angry, especially at you. Look at things from his perspective. He probably got scolded for the complaint. When people have to face the consequences of their mistakes, they usually find others to blame. Do not get defensive and do not argue with him. Just make it clear that you were doing your job to the best of your ability. You are sad he is hurt, but you meant no harm.
Work is not about being popular. That does not mean that colleagues must hate you. However, do not make popularity at work a goal by itself. This can spell trouble for your career and future growth. It is good to care about people and to have a genuine interest in them and their well being. But do not give up your integrity and professionalism to become popular.
If you always do what you believe is the right thing, you can live with your choices forever, and in total peace of mind. In your case, the easy thing to do would have been to ignore the complaint. But that would be very short sighted. It favors immediate gratification over long term fulfillment and being at peace with self.
In similar situations, it is a good idea to start by asking yourself: what is the right thing to do? There are different ways to find the answer to this question in an objective manner. One is to ask self: if I was the star of a movie, and my kids (or loved ones) are watching, what would I want them to see their mother (or loved one) do? Another way is to imagine a dear person asking you for advice in the same situation, what would you tell her? The third is to ask yourself, what would your most admired leader do if she were in your place?
Once you determine the right course of action, think about its consequences. What will happen as a result of your action? Analyze any negative outcomes and try to mitigate them proactively. Also, try to think of a way to do what is right and still come across positive and constructive.
After taking action, if someone blames you for it, a good technique to use is to ask the other person to put himself in your place. Then they will understand better and respect your point of view. They might not tell you that, or they might not realize it right away, but when they cool down, they will understand.
It is true that “Hindsight is 20/20.” So, once in a while, in retrospect, you will discover that you made a mistake, or that there was a better way to handle a situation. The important thing is that you did your best and you cannot be perfect. Learn from your mistake and move on.
The only other choice in your situation was to ignore the complaint, keep Raed happy, but feel lousy yourself for not doing what you firmly believe is your duty. It is easy to talk principles and give advice, (ehhem). But the hardest thing is taking the right decision when under pressure. Nothing builds positive self image like doing what is right in such situations. They resemble tests where the scores are kept by ourselves and, based on the total score, we judge our own character. So, you obviously scored high with self but low with Raed. Wouldn’t you rather have it this way than the other way around?
On the long term, try to proactively address these situations before they happen. One way to do that is to hold a one hour awareness session about the role of the marketing officer. Invite everybody and discuss the job and its challenges. Also, make it clear to everybody that it is your job to report customer complaints as they come, and that it is in the interest of everyone on the long term to do so. Ask management to support you in this session by telling team members about the importance of your role and how it will benefit everyone and the company on the long term. Allow people to ask questions and voice concerns. This will improve your relationship with colleagues and reduce the occurrences of misunderstanding over future customer complaints.
Good luck
Ammar