Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc. 837 Chapter 24 Customer Support, Communication, and Professionalism while working with people. Without it, you may not have a job. It does not take long to earn a reputation for your attitude—good or bad. For this chapter, the best defi nition of attitude is a subjective judgment of char- acter made by the customer based on the perception of how the technician presents himself or herself and meets the customers’ needs. Show the customer that his or her problem is your main concern. You do this by asking probing questions such as, “How long have you had this problem?” Never be judgmental or indicate that the customer caused the problem, even if the customer did. You will use training techniques and suggestions to help the customer avoid the problem in the future. Avoid distractions. A customer or fellow worker will feel you are not interested if you do not give him or her your full attention. For example, when working on a project, always stop your work to talk to a customer. Th is will give the customer a feeling of importance and show that you care about his or her problem. It will also keep you from making an error on your project because you are distracted. In making customers feel important, you will gain their confi dence. Be Culturally Sensitive Use appropriate professional titles, when applicable. For example, use “Ms.” when you are unsure of the correct title for a woman. When working in a diff erent country, it is always appropriate to use the titles preferred in those countries. If you are deal- ing with a religious client, you should prepare by researching the appropriate titles and references. Th ere is never a good reason to antagonize a customer, and using the correct cultural language is an easy way to avoid a problem. Cultural awareness is an understanding of the diff erences and similarities be- tween one’s culture and the culture of another person or group. It is important to learn how a person’s culture infl uences how he or she lives each day and the life decisions he or she makes. Cultural intelligence, often abbreviated as CQ, is the ability to adapt to unfamiliar cultural situations. It is not a measure of the intellectual capability of a person or the intelligence of those in a particular culture. An individual with high cultural intelligence is aware of values, beliefs, and attitudes of those from a diff er- ent culture and can change personal behaviors to better match. Since the ability to change personal behaviors requires cultural awareness, the link between cultural awareness and cultural intelligence is inherent. Cultural competency is the acknowledgment of cultural diff erences and the ability to adapt one’s communication style to send and receive messages successfully despite those diff erences. Th ink of cultural competency as a two-step process. Th e fi rst step requires a person to be aware of cultural barriers, which is the development of cultural awareness. Th e second step requires taking necessary precautions to overcome those barriers, which is applying cultural intelligence. Striving for cultural competence in any given situation will surely help you navigate potential communication or cultural barriers you may encounter on the job. Be on Time Th e habit of punctuality is one that can set you apart as a concerned professional. An old saying says,” If you are on time, you are already late.” Early arrival provides wiggle room for traffi c mishaps as well as giving you time for a fi nal check of ap- pearance, toolkit, and attitude. However, unexpected distractions are a part of life, and there will be times when you are unable to hold an appointment. In these instances, be sure to contact the customer as soon as possible and inform him or her that you are running late. 1002: 4.7 1002: 4.7