As many of you might guess, Robin and I have very different styles when dealing with people. 

I am very non-confrontational.  If there is a way to do something unpleasant without making anyone angry, I'm all for it.  Now, don't get me wrong,  I can certainly be forceful when it is necessary.  I've been a supervisor, so I've had to fire people, reprimand people, the whole nine yards, but I don't enjoy it.  Confrontation always makes me very uncomfortable and I tend to take it personally, even when I shouldn't.  It takes a lot to get me angry, but if you get me there--watch out!  I'm also pretty good at holding a grudge.   Not a great trait, but just part of being a Capricorn I guess.  I'm working on it!

Robin, on the other hand, thrives on confrontation.  He is always up for a good fight with sufficient cause, but he never takes it personally.  He can get very angry, but two minutes later, it's like it never happened.  It reminds me of flash paper that the magicians use--a very bright flash of flame, then it's gone.  He seldom holds a grudge and will often later be working with people that he, at one time, was very angry with--a trait I admire.  I think these are skills he learned in the military although many of them are just in his nature.

The people I feel the sorriest for, however, are the "customer service" people that are in place for computer support, phone support, or just about any other support you can think of.  If any company want to increase the level of customer support they provide and/or get a thorough evaluation of how their people are doing, they should just have Robin call with a problem.  The first mistake many of them make is saying, "Let me give you a different number to write down."  Now, most of you know that Robin can memorize any number almost immediately and can even write it down when he needs to, but this poor representative gets the "blind" speech.  Of course, it is even worse if they transfer him without giving him the number of where they are transferring him to and the call gets dropped.  I always feel sorry for the person he gets when he calls back since it is rarely the same person that dropped the call in the first place, but they have to take the heat.

The next thing some of these representatives do is start talking 90 miles an hour.  They start telling him to do this and that on the computer.  Now, all of you know that Robin is extremely computer saavy. He was a geek before they invented the word and when he was younger and could see, he actually built his own computer.  However, the software that talks to him on the computer and tell him what he just typed does take a little bit longer.  Plus, it is a little tricky to be listening to someone on the phone in one ear, the computer talking in the other ear, holding the phone and typing.  I'll give him that one.  But the absolute worse thing that anyone can say to Robin is "I'm sorry there's nothing we can do."  The steam starts rolling out of his ears and the very next words out of his mouth are "Let me talk to your supervisor!"  It all goes downhill from there.

So far, behaving this way has netted him (and this is just the stuff I know about), two upgraded phones for free, free charger. free stylus, free white cane, free Panama Jack hat, free web hosting, free domain names, free MLM training tapes, and the list goes on.  I always call it rewards for bad behavior and it never bothers him in the least!

My way has netted me...well, pretty much zilch, but at least I can sleep at night and my stomach doesn't hurt.

Some good books on this subject, for those who are interested, are Fierce Conversations by Susan Scott; Instant Persuasion by Laurie Puhn; and Persuasion: The Art of Getting What You Want by Dave Lakhani.

Thanks for reading!