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Writer's pictureAlana Valino Solis

What An Idiot!

Updated: Jul 3, 2022

The key to managing the unmanageable customer is learning to manage yourself.


This is a phrase said whenever we feel a person does not understand or get what is going on with their vehicle. If they have unrealistic expectations or if they are demanding things that cannot be produced in the time they are demanding it. We are inclined to call them an idiot so that we can wash our hands of the responsibility of communicating differently with people that require it.

I would say, this phrase really raises the hair on the back of my neck. It usually comes out of someone's mouth when something does not go the way we want it to. Maybe a customer was shocked at the cost of a repair and questioned why it is so high. Maybe there is an issue with their car that we are not seeing, or diagnosing in a timely fashion. The list here goes on and on as we in the world of automotive service well know.


What we need to understand is, that we are responsible for solving their issues, and communicating with them, in their way. We need to help them understand what tools we have at hand that can help them. Some tools do not work for certain people so sometimes we have to be creative in coming up with solutions for them.


Whenever the urge to say, "What an idiot!" comes to my mind, I try and focus on where I am not making information clear enough for this customer at that moment. Or what I am not hearing from the customer that they are trying to communicate. Usually, if I rephrase, or back up and look at a different angle that is more parallel to the customer's, I can figure out what it is I am not delivering to satisfy their needs at that moment. 95% of the time, I can get it right. 5% of people will never be satisfied no matter what we do. In the case of that 5% we have to, as professionals, let it go. Not rant and rave arms raised through the department. Be calm, breathe, and move on.


Other than the purposes of coaching, where you go to your coach, explain the situation, release some frustration and look for advice, it does not serve anyone to go from desk to desk in the drive-thru and complain about the interaction. Why?


Your teammates are usually very busy. As service advisors, we are each responsible for managing at least 15-20 customers a day. Each of those requires updates, estimates to be delivered, history to be checked, and reviews to be done. It is paramount to take care of and mitigate issues that arise and even BEFORE they arise.


It is the second most important task we perform right behind selling. But to sell, customers must trust and like us and see we are capable of taking care of them. If we take our eye off the ball, things go sideways. Customers lose confidence in us. As well, we also are hopefully, answering the phone and booking appointments instead of letting it ring off the hook.



Your team mates are not a complaint department. Running from desk to desk interrupts vital processes and someone's time management. When people come to me with their latest "hot-headed" customer issue, if they are just venting I honestly cannot afford to pay close attention. But if they are coming for advice, I will stop what I am doing, and I try and get them to see things from the other side of the desk. Seeing why the customer has an issue and how they could resolve it, helps them grow in their role as an advisor. This I have time for.


Taking 5 minutes to do so may help them in the future. But generally, I know I do not have time for someone to just come to my desk looking for support for how something has gone down. But if someone wants to borrow one of my "tools" I am happy to help.


Personally, the only person I take things like that to is my boss or mentor. When I cannot come up with a solution, I check in with the boss to get a fresh set of eyes on something I am struggling with. My toolbox is already huge and full of many handy things, but I do not know everything. So when I have struggles and can't wrap my head around something, and there are things I struggle with I try and expand my vision with another perspective. Each time I do, I can put that "fresh angle" in my toolbox for next time if it works.



Another reason going desk to desk is not ideal is, that spreading that type of negativity is bad for morale department-wide. It makes everyone think that doing so is all right and this creates a downward spiral of internal self-talk that is negative. It blurs our vision of the situation and takes us to the "Dark Side". Yoda was right!


This does not serve us in the long run. Doing so usually is just a way to seek edification for the way you have handled the situation, which deep down, you know was not your best display of conflict resolution. I know this because I have done it.

Eventually, I had to put on my big girl panties and instead, look for advice on how to communicate better, and be more organized and focused so things do not slip out of my control. I had to take responsibility for what I could control and change.


If you are a manager, who in my opinion is the solution person of the department, great care should be taken not to stand on a pedestal after a bad encounter and state "What an idiot!" or "What a jerk!" or "Can you believe that guy?" You are an example that your staff should respect and emulate.


So be the person that they can look to, not around for solutions to their issues. It is your job to support your people when they need you. If they need you, they have done their best to avoid an issue. But if something gets out of hand, you are the next in the line of defense. You should come to their aid, not avoid the conflict altogether.


If your people need you too much, it is your job to get them trained so that they don't.


Sometimes people are a lot of work. Customers, and staff. In the case of the customer, we need to understand that people have complicated lives and their vehicle is usually a key component of everything they are doing. Customers, like all of us, express frustration with things; Situations that develop during the repairs or service, the reliability of their vehicles, the cost of service, and so on.


How we mitigate these frustrations can give us a great sense of satisfaction if we let it. Face it, this job is full of stress, negativity, and things that can drag you down every day. If we focus on what has gone right instead of what has gone wrong, we can keep our brains more positive.


We need to use our failures as a springboard for our minds. It is hard, even when I do something wrong, it keeps me up at night. But I can say that each time I have had an issue go sideways, I recognize how I could have delivered information better, more concisely, and more efficiently. I try to use that to learn to do it better next time.



When I "turn that frown upside down" I can choose to feel a huge sense of fulfillment, or ignore my triumph and move on. This is not a small thing. Focusing on the win spins your mindset to the positive or "Light side of the force"


What I notice about some people, is that when they blame the customer for lack of understanding, unrealistic expectations, and just generally being an "idiot" I can see so much of my former self in them. Now, when co-workers start to rant about it, I turn the volume off and keep my focus on my job. I get caught sometimes in the negativity tornado when I am not paying attention and I have to shut my trap and redirect my focus. The point here is I can choose to stay positive or I can choose to let negativity pull me out of my zone.


If you are struggling staying positive or dealing with customers that are "difficult" I would love to help.










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