There needs to be a course on dealing with the elderly when it comes to customer service, and the reason I say this is because as we age we change and at times when we are serving the elderly we need to have special insight so that we can understand where they are coming from and be more sensitive to their needs. The other day an elderly person told me a story of something that happened to her that was so upsetting that when she told me her voice started to shake. The woman had been a client of a certain beautician for many years and had come to feel that she was friends with her. Her beautician had been to her home and they had shared many life stories together. My friend mentioned that she always paid her beautician at the time of service, she went to see her every week at the on the same day at the same time, never bounced a check and always gave her a nice tip even though she owned the business. Then a couple of weeks ago my friend received a call from her beautician early on a Tuesday morning (and my friends appointments were on Thursday) she told my friend that she was at the bank and noticed that the check that she gave her the week before was not signed and she wanted my friend to come down to the bank immediately to sign this check. My friend was very upset by this because she forgot to sign the check and that this demand was being made of her. But her husband told her he would take her to the bank right away and just to get in the car. Once at the bank my friend signed the check, but then told her long-time beautician that she could not believe that she made this demand of her like she was some sort of criminal trying to get away with something. She reminded her of the years of patronage she had given her and her checks were always good and that this was just a one time mistake and why couldn’t she just have waited until Thursday (two days later) and ask her to sign the check? My friend got in her car and was beside herself, she not only felt like she had done something wrong, but she felt terribly betrayed by her friend. I felt so bad for my friend, I suggested that she write this woman a letter and let her know how she felt and then find a new hairdresser. What a sad situation, my friend felt like she was treated like a bad child, and this woman had no idea how to handle elderly customers and by not knowing she made a very nice woman feel inadequate, scared, and abused, which was totally unnecessary. If you work with the public you probably deal with elderly people, there is a lot to learn from them and about them so that you can serve their needs appropriately. The article below has some good advice and insight about the elderly. First you need to understand where they are coming from, treat them always with respect by helping them, but not over stepping their rights and boundaries, try to think what it might be like to be in their shoes and go the extra mile to make your encounter a good experience for all.
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