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I've got nothing really to talk about so I thought I would throw this out for discussion. Is it sexist to give better customer service to someone based on their appearance? Let me be more specific if I can.
In general, I've found that when working with women, I tend to go out of my way more and give better customer service to those women that are attractive. Now, by this, I don't mean I don't provide the same level of professionalism with other women, but I might spend more time on a problem if the woman is attractive, take extra time to explain the problem, or just chat more while I'm working on the problem for them. (In case you're not aware, my team is the help desk and handles all PC issues.)
Regardless of who the person is, I'll keep digging at a problem until it is solved. I never treat any user as stupid (at least I try as hard as I can, we're all human after all). For example, if someone is having trouble getting something done in excel, I'll work with them until they understand and can do it on their own.
However, yesterday for example, we needed to install software on 2 PCs. I decided I would do one install and one of my techs would do the other. The two personnel were male and female, and the female is a nice red headed gal recently out of college (a couple of years). I decided I would install the software on her machine. Why? Because she's a cute red head. I dropped by this morning, got the application running, had her test it to make sure it worked, and moved on to the next thing. So was I a sexist pig or just a typical guy?
I will say in concluding that any person that has a good disposition and is fun to work with will get very good customer service from me. Additionally, any supervisor above a certain level will get as much of my attention as they need. Also true for human resources personnel. This is because I've found that if you keep certain people happy, when it comes time that you need a favor or if there is a problem, you've got some points stored in the bank. Call it politics if you like, but there's times those relationships pay off. I don't do it in a way that looks like I'm sucking up, I just make sure that when they really have a problem, my team respsonds well. I also take thier complaints seriously, even if they seem stupid on the surface.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing what you think.
In general, I've found that when working with women, I tend to go out of my way more and give better customer service to those women that are attractive. Now, by this, I don't mean I don't provide the same level of professionalism with other women, but I might spend more time on a problem if the woman is attractive, take extra time to explain the problem, or just chat more while I'm working on the problem for them. (In case you're not aware, my team is the help desk and handles all PC issues.)
Regardless of who the person is, I'll keep digging at a problem until it is solved. I never treat any user as stupid (at least I try as hard as I can, we're all human after all). For example, if someone is having trouble getting something done in excel, I'll work with them until they understand and can do it on their own.
However, yesterday for example, we needed to install software on 2 PCs. I decided I would do one install and one of my techs would do the other. The two personnel were male and female, and the female is a nice red headed gal recently out of college (a couple of years). I decided I would install the software on her machine. Why? Because she's a cute red head. I dropped by this morning, got the application running, had her test it to make sure it worked, and moved on to the next thing. So was I a sexist pig or just a typical guy?
I will say in concluding that any person that has a good disposition and is fun to work with will get very good customer service from me. Additionally, any supervisor above a certain level will get as much of my attention as they need. Also true for human resources personnel. This is because I've found that if you keep certain people happy, when it comes time that you need a favor or if there is a problem, you've got some points stored in the bank. Call it politics if you like, but there's times those relationships pay off. I don't do it in a way that looks like I'm sucking up, I just make sure that when they really have a problem, my team respsonds well. I also take thier complaints seriously, even if they seem stupid on the surface.
Anyway, I look forward to hearing what you think.
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