Learning About Insurance

I didn’t realize until later this week that I have three more textbooks I need to read *sigh*.

But instead of saying “F*ck it I’m done!“, I kept going anyway. Why?

Resisting isn’t going to make things easier anyway so I might as well give in and give it my full focus.

We feel resistance towards things we need to do but we don’t enjoy doing.

Since you NEED to do it, why make it harder for yourself by resisting to it?

I tell other people I’m “studying” when in reality I’m just reading.

My goal is not to master or fully internalize what I’m reading but to (at least) gain familiarity with the subject.

This was the idea that popped up in my head when I left mid-way in one of the crash courses (offered by the insurance group I’m with).

I left because I couldn’t follow along.

Staying would’ve been a waste of time because everything that’s being discussed is so foreign to me.

The class was intended to be a review – not an introduction.

Since my retention rate during the class was 0%, I left.

Felt a little bad for leaving early. I don’t want the teacher to think she’s not providing value when in reality, I was just being respectful because I couldn’t give her the attention she deserved.

The same feeling crept up when I missed the…

 

Coaching Call

I, again, missed another coaching call for that copywriting course I recently purchased.

I forgot all about it – too busy reading about life insurance while cooking dinner.

But what I found more interesting is the dismay I felt for missing it.

I didn’t have to be there. The coach would’ve cared less if I showed up or not.

However, I felt really bad due to the following thoughts:

• Am I a good student? Am I committed to learning? If so, then why can’t I show up to the call?
• Wait, I’m not prepared. Showing up would’ve been useless anyway (because I don’t know what kind of help I needed).
• Wasted opportunity for feedback. These coaching calls are very valuable as you have a chance to do a Q and A with the coach. This means addressing all your issues and concerns in depth (right away).
• I’m not getting my money’s worth. The calls may be recorded (for later consumption) but to be there live is different – it draws more engagement. The more engaged you are, the more you “aha-moments” you’ll get. The more “aha-moments” you get the more improvements you can add to the quality of your work.

Took a warm bath to help me get over it.

Dwelling in that negative state (of missed opportunity) before going to bed ruin my chances of getting a good quality sleep.

I need that kind of sleep to improve my reading retention rate.

This week, I’ve been getting up earlier to allow me to spend more time reading AND…

…to compensate for the lost time because I’ve been going to work an hour earlier. Why?

I had to carpool with my boss who starts work at 6:00 AM.

The cold weather wouldn’t let my car start.

 

Random Error Messages

–on my dash like it was possessed/hacked. It shows all sorts of error messages and flashing dash lights (when I try to turn the engine on).

I was under the impression that there’s a problem with the car’s programming or some electrical-related issue.

But as per the service adviser, the main culprit (behind the random messages) was the battery.

The best thing it can do is trigger random error messages as it couldn’t provide enough energy to start the engine.

I’m glad that was only the case, otherwise, that would’ve cost me more. Phew..*wipe sweat*

Christmas is coming soon. I need to reduce my expenses to allow me to buy more gifts — for myself >:D

After three days in the dealership’s garage, my car rose again – with a brand new battery and winter tires.

As I was leaving, the service advisor ended our transaction with “Here’s my card, give me a good service rating!”

Hmm, the importance of…

 

Feedback

Otherwise, you wouldn’t know exactly how you’re performing (self-assessment can be biased).

I’ve been working a lot of side projects (at work) lately.

90% of the feedback I’m getting is positive.

While that sounds like a good thing, it could also mean that the people who are assessing it are not willing to give it an honest assessment.

Their reluctance to provide negative feedback (because you know, they wanna look nice) could be the reason why.

But that’s me being pessimistic about it.

If something is considered “perfect”, it means you exhausted all opportunities for improvement (which is almost close to impossible). This is why I hate the thought of “perfect”.

If that’s the case, then it’s safe to assume that my work is NOT perfect.

This could mean that people who provided feedback…

• did not care enough to point out what was missing OR
• maybe they are the wrong audience to provide feedback OR
• the work I created is already “perfect” (to their standards).

Regardless of the reason, it is very challenging (for me) to acquire honest feedback.

Speaking of “honest” feedback, I wanted to give the service advisor the customer feedback he’d asked.

Not through their standard survey but through this blog.

Note: I will be a lot nicer on the survey. But not on this blog.

My overall feedback: 1 out of 10 stars.

Let’s start with the…

 

Service Status Update

He never took the time to give me a quick update until 3-days after the car was brought in.

I’ve been wondering and worried for 2 days thinking about what’s wrong with my car and the money I’m going to be spending to get it fixed.

I called, left a message, but he never called back until day 3.

He could’ve taken 5 minutes of his time to relieve my worry.

Now, I get it, he is super busy. But guess what? I don’t give a f*ck.

It just shows how poor his time-management skills are.

RJ’s Rating = 1 star out of 10 stars

 

Customer Satisfaction

The same maintenance error showed up on my dash when I started my car (about to leave dealership).

Confused as to why it wasn’t done, I walked back into the office to ask for an explanation.

His excuse? I didn’t put a request to do the maintenance I was talking about.

But I’m 110% sure I did.

To reduce the escalation of my complaint, he asked that I can come back anytime next week to get it fixed.

Oh and he’ll even take off $50 – what a generous f*ck.

What he doesn’t understand is that it is a pain the ass to take your car to the shop for service. Why? It involves…

• waiting
• adjustments to your schedule
• figuring out how to get around while it’s being fixed
• worrying about how much you have to pay when it’s fixed.

The maintenance we were talking about could’ve been addressed already if only he had called to provide an update so I can verbally tattoo (what I need to be done) in his brain.

Irritated when I got home, I reviewed the paperwork and voila! It shows that they did do the service I had asked for.

So now I’m more confused as to why the maintenance message was still showing even AFTER the maintenance was done.

So I called him again, he requested I drive back so I drove back and got that sorted out.

He later corrected himself by confirming that I did get the service and that they only forgot to reset the system. *smh*

We could’ve done all of that over the phone instead of driving myself back.

RJ’s Rating = (-) 10 stars out of (+) 10 stars.

Professionalism

The first time I got on the phone with him, he addressed me as “Tito”.

I was like “Huh? Jumping into conclusions I see. Big NO NO for me”

Then he starts talking to me in Filipino.

Now, I don’t mind he did that as my English is not that great. But man, I want you to AT LEAST TRY.

Otherwise, you are only limiting yourself to serving Filipino-speaking customers.

But what about serving non-Filipino speaking customers?

Do you deprive them of the service you’re supposed to be giving everyone else regardless of where they came from?

Is that considered racist?

I certainly don’t have the right to give him a career advice but geez, if you’re getting to paid to provide good customer service, at least try to provide good customer service to EVERYONE.

RJ’s Rating = 3 stars out of 10 stars

Reversal

I react this way probably because I’m already pissed off at him and I’m using the language barrier as an excuse to verbally slap him further.

 

What about you? How do you deal with bad customer service?

Let me know.

PM me on Facebook, text message or e-mail 😀