Guest Blog by Alexandria King
(the opinions in this blog are not necessarily the opinions of Michelle Pearson or Wunjo-is)
Rudeness does not pay off
As a sales representative I see my fair share of different personality types: engineers with lots of technical questions, laid back people, worried people, excited people. While each personality type requires a different approach, I am happy to answer questions, provide reassurance, or share in the excitement. One personality type, however, does not deserve my time. That personality type is the rude bully. I recently had an encounter with the rude bully that left me shaking and hurt. Husband and wife came into my sales center after they had effectively been “fired” from a previous attempted sale due to their rudeness. While the husband at first played “good cop”, the wife set in on me, demanding that I lower the price and not accepting it when I said I couldn’t. As their two children looked on, husband and wife became increasingly irate and abusive – informing me that I knew nothing, that all I knew was what had been “programmed into me”, and that I should be able to lower the price to meet their budget. Insisting that only a higher up manager would be able to answer their questions, husband and wife effectively told me that I was an idiot. I stood my ground and they finally flounced out of the sales center.
A few days later, husband, wife and children returned. This time my manager was there. Although they were aggressive at first, they were more receptive to what my manager had to say. When she told them the exact same information that I had given them, they were sweet as pie and accepted her words. This angered me even more than their bullying behaviour. Why did they treat me that way and accept what my manager had to say? Is it an age thing? A height thing? A title thing?
As a customer service provider, I can assure you that bullying does not pay off. It makes the bullied person feel resentful and angry, and therefore less inclined to do anything for you (even if they could). Treat someone the way you expect to be treated and everyone will have a better experience.
How do you handle bullies in the workplace or in your daily life? Does being friendly help you get your way or do you find that bullying does in fact work?
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