Yo, Yo, reed dis, dawg
Yo, Yo, reed dis, dawg
By Jeff Stone
“Yo bro, like wutz up. Can I like hep you wit suh-in?”
“Yeah you can help me with something. You can pull up your damn pants, straighten out your hat, button your shirt and call me sir instead of bro! Oh yeah, and take out you tongue-ring so it sounds like we speak the same language, and we’re inside so you can take off your sunglasses”
Give me a freakin break man! What is wrong with people? The other day I had to take my car in to get is “spected” as the front desk person put it. I needed to do the old safety and emissions inspection.
The opening line above is how I was greeted by the guy behind the counter. Yet, ironically, he was clearly not stupid. He obviously is more mechanically inclined than I am. He knew much more about cars than I could ever imagine. Yet he has no communication and no people skills, and definitely no customer service skills. I’m just tired of people acting like idiots, pretending to be gangstas and speaking incoherently.
Alright I’m done ranting. The point is simply this: What happened to the days when you pulled into a gas station and the attendant came out to your car, pumped your gas, washed your windows and checked all of your fluids, for free? It wasn’t that long ago, but I’ll bet that less than one percent of you reading don’t remember those days. Thus my point: They are long gone.
When I was a paperboy about 20 years ago, I took over a paper route where the previous paperboy just threw the paper, frisbee-style hoping that it wouldn’t land in the dew-soaked yard. But if it did, oh well. He didn’t have to read it. When I took it over, I decided to put every paper on the porch, and in many cased put it between the screen door and the front door. I had my papers delivered by 7:00 AM which was part of the job requirement.
I didn’t think I was doing anything spectacular. I was merely doing what I thought the job required. However, it was so drastically different from the previous paperboy that all of my customers practically worshiped the ground I “floated” upon. More money was paid to me, in the form of tips, than was paid to the newspaper company for the paper-fee itself.
Lesson learned, money earned. Customer service is critical to keeping customers happy… and it pays.
So what does that have to do with you, the magician? Well you are the “worker” giving customer service to your clients. I’m not only referring to your audience, but also meeting planners, and clients who hire you, restaurant managers, etc. When you answer a call, make a call, approach a table be friendly and upbeat. Show some passion and energy along with a healthy dose of respect.
When talking to customers/spectators, don’t call them “dude” or “bro” or “man” either call them by their name or by “sir” or “ma’am” or something that shows some respect. Oh and enunciate your words. “Suh-in” is not a word. The word you are looking for is “something.”
When you meet with clients, dress like a business professional who actually wants to get hired. Don’t walk in there with your doo-rag on and your chain hanging down to your knees with your boxers showing. For the love of Pete man, learn how to talk, walk and spell. You’re not an idiot; don’t act like one.
Sorry about ranting here, but you’ll quickly find that customer service and people who respect other people are so rare these days that when you actually do it with your clients, they’ll be astonished. And isn’t that the business we’re in anyway, astonishment?
Show your clients that you are a pro. Do it with your speech, attire and attitude.
Do that and you’ll increase the number of gigs you close, and you will multiply your repeat and referral business.
Don’t do it and you’ll have no gigs, but look on the bright side: your homies will think dat you da shiz.
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