If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive

Point to Ponder:

The choice of words and how one approaches a person can create a dramatic difference in results.

"If you want to gather honey, don’t kick over the beehive."
  -Dale Carnegie in How to win friends and influence people.

Story Line:

Freddie seemed very upset. She had received her monthly cell bill, which showed a $423 charge for additional minutes over her family plan. She looked through the details and found many errors in the bill. Very upset, she called the phone company.

As soon as the customer service person came on the line, Freddie screamed “YOU MADE A BIG MISTAKE”. There was a silence on the other side for a while and then conversation did not seem to go well. Suddenly there was a big noise; Freddie had hung up on the guy.

Freddie was about to call the phone company, when her companion in the next cubicle walked in. She gave her some tips about the next call. This is what followed.

“Good Morning, XYZ wireless. This is Jackie.” 

“Good Morning Jackie, I need your help.” Said Freddie

“Certainly” said the other side.

The conversation seemed to go very pleasantly. A few minutes later, jubilant Freddie walked in the next door neighbor’s office and said that her bill was corrected down to $135. The customer service person also had told her about the new plan that allowed a customer to identify 10 frequently called numbers for unlimited free calls. In addition, the customer service person looked at Freddie’s current month phone bill to date and informed her that it was running over the limit but she would sign her up for new plan retroactively to the beginning of the month. That resulted in another $34 savings.

Wow! Whopping $322 savings just with different choice of words and new approach.

Reflection:

Now some may say that this is common sense and also the first customer service person should have handled the irate customer better. But the common sense is not so common and we witness this kind of episodes many times in interaction between people.

By pointing finger at someone or implying it is their fault, we are putting that person in a defensive position and that person will do his best to defend him/herself.

By asking the person “I need your help” and describing your situation with courtesy, we are appealing to emotional and compassionate side of the person and he/she may go our of her way to help you.

Comments

[Hurshit Nagar]

what a wonderful way to explain.You hv made it clear .Your storyline has helped to explain ,IF U WANT TO GATHER HONEY,DONT KICK OVER THE BEEHIVE.Thanks so much.