1 post tagged “answers”
During my work life, a lot of people ask for my help -- that's the job. Sometimes, I ask for some clarification just so they can help me help them. Clarification does not include, to my knowledge, further muddling the situation with irrelevant anecdotes and explanations of questions not asked.
Here's an example:
Hi Eros,
I hope I can provide you with some background and also ask for some understanding.
Our records are incomplete with regards to this customer who is Indonesia and the deal was done well (years) before my time so my knowledge and others here is very limited. Add to this that we are dealing with a third world country who does not speak English very well, poor telecommunications (sometimes you just can't hear them on the phone) and a partner that adds an extra layer to communications, sometimes (actually often) the message gets mixed up or misunderstood. Often, we spend a lot of time trying to interpret what the customer wants/needs and what the history is around it - much patience and conversation backwards & forwards on simple items required. These are the realities of South East Asia. You have to think of it as journey, not just a conversation. So it's not quite cut and dry when you ask me to "clarify as to how this is no longer a license transfer when it was requested as a transfer previously" because I am just not sure I understood the customer correctly. As an interesting side note, I was in a Bangkok club last week listening to a Thai Band playing western (English) songs. They were substituting words in the lyrics for similar words but ones that had a vastly different meaning and so what become obvious was that we just can't take it for granted that when they speak English, they actually know what they are talking about or are using the words in the correct meaning/contexts.
Anyway hopefully with the information you have and the information we have we can complete the picture, know exactly where we stand and service this customer appropriately
Dude, seriously? I have to think of it as a journey and not a conversation? This does not bode well for getting straight answers.
