Motivation Shots from The Doc

A quick story – I recently had a night in a City Centre hotel. When I was checking out the next morning the check out clerk said -

“Was everything alright Mr Fairweather, did you enjoy your stay with us? And why do you have those dark circles under your eyes? (Okay, so I made up the last bit)

I had to tell her about my disturbed sleep due to the guys who started work at 5am on the building site next door. They were knocking lumps out of concrete blocks with a jackhammer! (Well that was the way it sounded to me)

Her response was; “Sorry ’bout that – What credit card do you wish to use to settle your bill”

Now that makes it sound rather abrupt, but that’s the gist of the message I was getting. And as you might imagine, it didn’t make me feel any better. If I wasn’t such a lovely person I may have turned into Mr Difficult Customer!

‘Sorry’ is a word to avoid when dealing with a customer, a colleague or a member of your staff.

It’s an overused word, everyone says it when something goes wrong and it’s lost its value.

As a customer; how often have you heard – “Sorry bout that, give me the details and I’ll sort this out for you.” It would have been far better to say – “I apologise for the inconvenience you’ve experienced…..”

If you are going to use the ‘sorry’ word then it’s better to use it as part of a whole sentence – “I’m sorry you haven’t received that information as promised Mr Smith.”   (and of course, it’s always good to use the other person’ name)

When mistakes have been made, there are other things you can say instead of “sorry!”

To find out; you’re going to have to contact me, or keep reading Motivation Shots or buy one of my fabulous books! Aren’t I a tease!