We think we are rational beings and that we can’t be fooled easily .. Wrong. Our trickster mind fools us all the time. Here’s an interesting personal incident.
We got both our cars serviced recently a week apart. The Toyota service centre was classy as always, people were available when we reached, but the person assigned to us had difficulty in communication and was basically lost. He didn’t understand what we were asking for, and with some difficulty we completed the process of giving our car for service. He didn’t even understand when we asked him if we can be dropped off home in our car and the service can be started after that. Anyway, we managed to get dropped and then the pain started. He called up at 4 to say nearly everything had to be changed in the car … And if we confirm right away, he can get the car ready by 5 pm. We debated on a few things and finally called him back in two minutes to confirm what we wanted done. He said, the car won’t be ready till Tuesday … Yes, Krishnan lost his cool and finally told him not to do anything and that we were coming over. We had to make a second trip to confirm for ourselves what work had to be done and this time we were dealt with by a veteran and felt comfortable leaving the car with them.
Contrast this with the next service experience that happened yesterday. The service person was in the service centre ahead of schedule, no change in estimate and called up two hours ahead of the estimated time when he could give the car after service. Silky smooth wow experience.
Now here’s the trick my mind played on me. I drove the Corolla yesterday and felt the service was not done well and kept complaining to Krishnan … But today, I drove the other car and felt it was serviced wonderfully well. Both are serviced by world class car makers at their respective service stations by experienced engineers but where I had a bad perception of the customer service experience, I extended it to the service as well !!
So beware, perception is reality. Strive to leave a great perception everytime, it’s tough to change it later.
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