If you’ve been following our blog for any length of time then you’ve probably noticed that much of what is posted is in regards to product facts and tips in addition to the experiences of our customers. Rarely do I ever post anything personal, but today I wanted to share a personal experience I had when dealing with a representative who was not wearing an ID badge. It was actually rather humorous to me because I found myself experiencing the very things that I write about every week. When writing these blog posts I base them on what I know to be true about the customer experience in addition to the actual feedback from our customers, so encountering what they experience was enlightening for me. Let me fill you in on what happened in my head when this representative wasn’t wearing an ID badge.
An Immediate Lack of Trust
So, to give a little back story, this representative was from our building’s cleaning service. There had been some management changes, or something to that affect, and our new rep was stopping in to introduce himself and to get our alarm information as to not trip the alarm when coming in to clean our offices. I understand that this is a necessary action, however, the whole scenario put me on high alert. When this man showed up, he was not wearing an ID badge or company logo. Since we had not been informed that he was going to be stopping by, we were leery of his intentions. Because of his lack of identification, there was an immediate lack of trust.
I was Uncomfortable and Felt Pressured
Another strong effect this had on me was in that the encounter made me feel very uncomfortable. Innately I wanted to trust this man and it was uncomfortable for me to have to express that I couldn’t give him any information because I was struggling with this trust issue. It was very awkward. I was forced to point out that I had no way of knowing that he was telling me the truth because he had no way to identify himself as a part of the cleaning company. Now, I always like to make people feel welcome and comfortable and in this scenario I was forced to make him feel like I didn’t trust him. That’s a bad feeling and one that you should avoid inflicting on your customers at all cost.
I was Disgruntled
When the whole scenario was over, I found myself feeling a bit disgruntled that this cleaning company had put me in the position to deal uncomfortably with their rep. The information that they were asking for is very sensitive and shouldn’t be in everyone’s hands. Obviously, I couldn’t give him our alarm code without being able to verify that he is with that company. They should have considered that. It made me feel as if they didn’t consider me as a customer and that didn’t make me feel very valuable.
Conclusion
So, to make a long story short, the point is that not having ID badges has a bigger effect than you may realize. I personally felt a lack of trust, uncomfortable and disgruntled by my experience and chances are your customer will feel similar things. Do yourself a favor and implement ID badges into your company’s customer experience strategy. They will help to put yourself customer’s minds at ease. If a customer feels comfortable with the experience they had with you, they’ll probably come back to do business with you again.
