We have a morning radio show here in Boston on Jamn 94.5 that includes this gag called the Jam Scam. Each morning at 6:50, 7:50 and 8:50 you can listen to Ramiro calling upon some innocent listener and scamming them. His content comes from friends and family who lay out a current circumstance in the person’s life and he takes full advantage. As an example, a memorable one I heard recently was a woman who had left her car for an oil change. Ramiro called her acting as the garage and told her that the lift had broken while her car was lifted and her car was wrecked. If that isn’t enough, he told her that because her car hit others cars, she would have to pay for the damages.
While the storyline changes every morning, one thing remains constant I have noticed and that is the person asking to ‘speak to the manager’.
How many times have you asked this? Demanded this? ‘Let me speak to your manager’.
Is the manager going to tell you something different? We expect a different service when we speak to the manager. We expect something better; a happier ending. But do we get one?
Empowerment and Trust
When you think of the word empowerment what comes to mind? I want to empower my team to act without me having the step in.When I am hired for a position, I expect my company to trust me to fulfill my role. I expect them to trust me to make the right decision. I want to be empowered. It’s really the only way you learn. It’s the only way you fail. And it’s the only way you pave a path for yourself.
If the manager is always doing everything including your job, then how do you feel?
If we want to be treated this way in our own positions, why do we not trust others in the positions they hold? If you were in the position of the person at the oil change shop, would you feel good about someone asking to speak to someone other than you? Probably not.
You have been empowered to handle the situation, any situation. The same goes for the person you are speaking with.
The manager has better things to do. True, they are there an available if escalation warrants it but what are we doing when we demand to speak to the manager each and every time we don’t like the outcome? And why do we expect people to trust us when we don’t trust them?
Hi Christina,
I tried to drill this into the head of my manager when I was president of my condo board. He was telling me that the weekend desk staff was calling him (and interrupting his weekend) to ask questions or get an okay to do something. I keep telling him that he needed to triage the requests and figure out which ones he could–and should–empower the staff to make decisions about on their own.
Sadly, he never quite got it.
One of the reasons I love Whole Foods is that the company empowers its employees to make decisions on the spot. So you rarely (if ever) have to “call a manager.”
@dariasteigman Hi Daria,
It’s both sides right? Even if the team is empowered to act on behalf of, the customer still feels like the manager will do something different for them. Then you have some managers that just want to control it all (like the one you mentioned here). Question for you – at Whole Foods, do you feel like you are getting the best answer even without the manager? There is empowerment that we can teach and enable but then we also need to ensure our teams are assertive with that power and sure of themselves.
Having been on both sides I understand what you mean by trusting your customer service rep. I worked in a call centre / helpdesk for close to 4 years and my goal on each call was to successfully divert each caller from asking for the manager / team leader. As Daria says as well, both parties play a part in this. Our leaders urge us to take control of each call and ensure we provide the best service, this would include not having many or any escalations. But, how much power do we have? How much trust do THEY give us?
I once had an issue with a credit card company listing me in their black list when I never received the card, and I was in that list for 2 years before I knew about it. There was no notification sent or any communication attempt made when all my contact details were up-to-date in their database. I contacted the call center furious but remained polite to the csr, but as soon as I hear uncertainty in her voice and she proceeds to ask me generic questions when clearly this is not an everyday issue, I demand to speak to the manager. I can understand the process, but sometimes these representatives need to be taught to go out of script a little, and maybe treat each case more personally and put a little ‘human’ touch in it. As customer service reps are the first point of contact, the customer simply wants to know what you can do for them and not for you to list down a number of things you cannot do, that just aggravates the situation even more.The manager was able to get things done quickly for me and had more power to do so as well. I apologized to the CSR but really it’s their management’s fault, thoroughly, for my issue as well as the training provided to the staff.
@JayNair Trust is on both sides. Does the customer trust that you are giving them the best solution and does your company trust that you can handle it?
I have been in a situation just like the one your experienced. It’s extremely frustrating to say the least when you ask a question and feel like you are speaking to a robot (now Im picturing in my mind all those automating phone messages that say ‘tell me your problem and I will try to help you’ [insert problem] ‘I dont understand you. Can you tell me your problem and I will try to help you’ ahhhhh! Right? Im glad you had a positive resolution in the end!
@C_Pappas Haha those automated IVRs bug the hell outta me. This post was useful though, I’m currently in a situation where I know the guy can’t seem to do much, but I somehow trust he is taking initiatives and this gives me hope. I also remember when customers gave me a chance, it sorta gave me a lil boost and the confidence I needed, I should always remember that!
I’ve asked for manager – when the front line staff couldn’t or wouldn’t address my needs. And there’s a big difference there.
As mentioned, it’s when the front line have zero power to make any decisions or actions. If they can’t comp a hotel night, buy a free dessert, do something to make the issue ‘right’ by the customer, it will escalate. I’ve gotten lucky, in that some front line call center folks had access to and knowledge of how to handle something w/ out needing to call supervisor. But all too often, if something has even the slightest complexity or deviates from the script, they’re stuck.
It’s also a case of degrees; the more serious an issue, the more a company may want/need a higher level person handling to ensure that not only is the matter resolved appropriately, but that 1) actions are taken to prevent future issues and 2) it’s kept in house, not becoming fodder for media. FWIW.
@3HatsComm Even when they do have the power and access to information to ‘make it right’ are we still trusting that that is all that can be done? I totally see what you are saying here, I had a few thoughts rolling around in my head on this one. The fact that we always believe the manager will do something better, the fact that when we are the front-line ourselves we take offense when someone asks for the manager (yet we do it in the reverse) and how companies can improve empowerment.
The reason people would like to “speak to your manager” because of emotion. Yes, speaking to normal staff and manager doesn’t have any different from solving problems point of view, but from emotion perspective, customers feel better, that’s the purpose of “speak to your manager”.
This is emotional world, politics is emotion, economics is emotion, business is emotion, sales and marketing are emotions. People buy our services and products because of emotions.