Loving the unlovable

On patience, and loving the unlovable. When internet support goes wrong & how we can all correct it. On loving the unlovable – the title may be slightly misleading, as all of my titles are. In any industry (service or otherwise) we often find ourselves dealing with folks who have little knowledge of the topic at hand. I admit, I used to find myself in situations where I would have trouble dealing with those on the other end of the line – it’s very easy to let anger take over. The internet is full of sites dedicated to throwing sticks & stones, and being condescending. Clients from hell is a prime example of this – originally intended for developers/designers who are obviously working with people less educated than themselves in the topic at hand.

It’s a prime example of what’s wrong with a lot of people in the service industry (I reiterate, I’m guilty) – the lack of patience, time and love quickly turns into the ripe situation and gives us the opportunity to deride someone on the other end. I recall a particular phone call from a client many years ago where a client could sense my frustration levels rising along with his own, too. A short while after our first call ended, he later called and apologized and explained that while he may not be the most technical minded, he was a doctor of medicine. He explained to me situations in his own industry where he could easily get frustrated when someone didn’t know much about the topic at hand. We ended up having a lengthy discussion where we opened up and had the opportunity to simply be human. Instead of him getting angry over his own frustrations, we would laugh it off – the opportunity to be human, and understand that we all get frustrated quickly turned into a tool to keep one another calm.

The end result was my realization that the goal of everyone in situations like these was education – instead of getting frustrated in situations where minor mistakes, we could take the time to educate someone on the topic at hand or at least offer our expertise in the situation. I have been frequently humbled by people who may be uneducated in one particular topic, but experts in their own right in another. We can learn a lot from one another by simply being patient, and respecting one another’s levels of knowledge in different topics and remembering to be human in every interaction.