This is a good customer service trick-when we see a customer getting antsy in line behind someone who is taking forever counting out her change, for example. When it is their turn at last, if the cashier lets them start the interaction, they usually bring anger to it. But if the sales associate quickly interjects a sympathetic “thank you for being so patient!” The person will grow a little taller, think “oh, right, I’m patient!” (all people believe ourselves to be essentially good, and are looking for good things to confirm about ourselves) and we’ve flipped the encounter back to the positive side, in one second.
It works with staff management, too-gratitude for the good traits, to help shape behavior. It’s like...the clicker reinforcement, in clicker-training for dogs. We catch the good behavior, whatever fragment seen, and say “thank you”’or “I appreciate when...” it sounds manipulative to say it like that, but it’s sooo effective.
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Being grsteful instead of apologetic takes a lot of practice but is so worth it when I have managed to do so.
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It works with staff management, too-gratitude for the good traits, to help shape behavior. It’s like...the clicker reinforcement, in clicker-training for dogs. We catch the good behavior, whatever fragment seen, and say “thank you”’or “I appreciate when...” it sounds manipulative to say it like that, but it’s sooo effective.
Reply
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