Can you feel me?
The other day I was traveling from Munich to Berlin by train. I was standing on the platform waiting for the train to arrive.
It was a Wednesday afternoon and there were quite a few people waiting. Which was surprising. It was the middle of the week.
A minute or so before the train arrived at the station an announcement was made indicating that wagon 26 and 27 were missing today.
That put a smile on my face. My reservation for this 7 hour journey was in wagon 27 of course. What did they do to these wagons? How come 2 of them were suddenly missing.
The train arrived and everyone was trying to get on the train first in order to get a seat. Things were getting heated.
We finally got on the train and there were people everywhere. This was not going to be fun.
I somehow managed to find a place in first class and even though I had a second class ticket I took a seat. I was relieved.
When the conductress came she looked at me and my ticket and said: „Sir, get up — you need to move to a second class wagon“
„But my wagon no 27 isn’t here“, I replied. „Can I please sit here as I have a 7 hour journey ahead of me?“
„No you can’t! Move now“
Hm, German efficiency I guess. I asked another two conductors if they might know where there is an empty seat on the train.
They kind of looked at me as if I was asking if I could have a Gin Tonic.
So I fought my way thru all the other wagons trying to find an empty seat. I was clearly pissed off that the conductors did not even make an effort to help me.
But when I sat down at the trains’ bistro I remembered a few clever words from Bernadette Jiwa (us Kick Ass Boys love Bernadette).
She was describing a similar event at an international airport and she concluded that the person dealing with the crisis might experience it three times a week -or even more — the customer only acutely, on that day.
Bernadette says that everyone offering a service needs to train for empathy.
In any customer service situation ask yourself:
„How would I be feeling if this were me?“
„How would I be reacting right now?“
„What would I be saying and doing?“
