Your reaction to a “no” in customer experience

I am almost sure every adult has had some form of rejection in their life where your product or service was not needed or when you got an outright “NO” for a request. This could range anywhere from a salary increment request, a business request, a product developed, politics and all the way to a marriage proposal.

Truth be told it does not exactly feel great when your product, service or request is rejected and if God had given us the ability to see exactly what the rejected person is feeling, I am almost sure daggers would be flying.

The daggers could be because you had a whole thought process and hard work put in and yet someone is not willing to see all the value. It feels like you have wasted time and effort but also anger can creep in. However, unless you were born an actual princess or prince, rejection will happen to you at some point in time. What is important is how you react to it.

Last week I visited two boutiques in my area in search of a particular outfit. In one of the boutiques the sales gentleman was very helpful bringing down heaps of clothes for me to try. He even went to their stores behind the shop at some point to get other clothes. Unfortunately, he did not have what I wanted. I felt guilty that after all this I had not even bought a thing. However, he was quick to reassure me that he wanted to organise the clothes anyway (very clever sales man). Even as I prepared to leave, he asked if he could get my number and reach out to me once he had checked with another shop in town for the item I needed. The extra mile indeed. What a pleasant experience. The said boutique is now my new favourite and I am telling everyone about it.

In another boutique, I got something close to what I wanted but requested to try it on from the comfort of my home since it was nearby, to which the shop attendant agreed. Hell broke loose when I returned the item...my goodness. She just got the bag from me and flung it across the shop on a heap of clothes and mumbled some negative words. I just stood there in disbelief.

Another incident happened at one of the nearby malls that has a food court where different service providers approach you with their menus.

I picked a menu that looked at least clean and presentable but the girl whose menu I did not pick was not amused and gave me “the look” accompanied with some mumbling and smearing (couldn’t find an English equivalent of her action) her menu off the table. I did not know my crime was that grave!

While doing any business, we must have the humility to accept the “NO” without burning bridges, of course unless the transaction is criminal or the relationship is toxic.

Depending on how you react to the “NO” it simply could mean your product or service does not meet my expectation, maybe I’m not ready now.

Either way it gives you an opportunity to reflect and present better in future or try other options. The way you handle a “NO” today could turn into a double “YES” tomorrow.

I know we talk about the use of logic, facts and figures in making decisions but I assure you that how you make a customer feel is way up there on the list too.

 Ms Babra Mehangye Kahima is a customer experience enthusiast.