The most interesting thing happened to me today. I will tell it from my side first, and then from the other party’s side, as far as I understand it.
At about 4:00 PM I walked into a supermarket, picked up what I wanted and went to the checkout to pay. A very ordinary thing. I have done it many times, and I am sure you have too. In fact, I had shopped at the very same supermarket at about 8:00 AM that morning, and nothing extraordinary had happened.
This time, something did. The first thing the lady at the checkout said to me was, “You have a different card?” I was still unloading my items from the basket onto the counter. I was a bit puzzled, but I did not think much of it and carried on unloading. She, however, wanted an answer. Did I have a different card?
By now I was very puzzled about what a “different card” could mean.
This is how our conversation went. Keep in mind that I had not yet presented any card for payment.
Me: “Different from what?”
Her: (polite, but you can tell she is getting a bit irritated with me) “You need a different card. Your card cannot pay for these items.”
Me: “I am so lost. I’m not following this conversation.”
Her: “Your card will not work. It needs to be different.”
Me: (thinking I have finally understood the issue) “Oh, so is there a maximum amount you can charge for each purchase?” (I had many more items this time than I had in the morning, so perhaps a card could only be charged so much per purchase.)
Her: “No, there is no maximum amount per purchase.”
Me: ” “
I don’t know about you, but there are times when a conversation becomes so puzzling that I simply stop talking. Partly it is so that I can process the information I have been given so far. Partly it is in the hope that my conversation partner will fill the silence with more information, preferably the kind that helps. By that point I have no intelligent question left to ask. So I stay silent.
Her: “Maybe you can come back after 20 minutes.”
Me: (even more confused) “Why?”
(My thoughts at this time:
I can’t figure out what will have changed in 20 minutes. This conversation will not make any more sense then than it does now.
Maybe she’s asking for a different kind of card?
Why has she already decided that the card I am about to present needs to be different? Does she think I can’t have a card with enough on it to fund my purchase?
What other card could she possibly want, when she hasn’t yet seen the one I have?)
Her: “Ma’am, the machine will not let you make another purchase until 20 minutes have passed since the last purchase.”
Me: “The last time I used my card here was at 8:00 AM. It is now 4:00 PM!”
Her: “Oh, are you a different person?! I’m sorry.”
Me: (finally understanding her perspective) “Oh.”
Now, her side. She is from the Philippines. I am from Kenya. A customer who looked African had checked out at her till a few minutes before me. To the lady at the checkout, who is from the Philippines, we black Africans must all look alike. I can’t blame her.
That earlier customer had tried to make two purchases within minutes of each other, and the cashier had already explained to her that she couldn’t. She had to wait at least 20 minutes between purchases.
So from the cashier’s perspective, I was slow, or stubborn, or had a remarkably short memory. As far as she knew, she had explained the 20 minute rule to me a few minutes earlier, and here I was again, unloading a basket and asking what she meant.
If either of us had been in a different mood, this conversation could have turned ugly. Instead, we both burst out laughing when we realized that she had me confused with someone else.
Lessons:
- Know and understand your customer. Don’t assume that you already do. Make the effort to find out.
- If your customer looks puzzled, look at things from their side and work out why your service is confusing them. Normally, the customer is puzzled because you are not meeting her expectations.
- Always explain your instructions and conditions clearly. The lady kept asking for a different card, and I honestly could not work out what “different” meant or why the card needed to be.
