Turn an obstacle into an opportunity.

Recently, I had an interesting encounter at the bank that got me thinking about the difference between missed opportunities and bad luck. A customer came in, all flustered and irate, requesting assistance with their account. Initially, the conversation started as a request for a new debit card that should not need a special request. Soon, it became clear that the problem lay elsewhere.

The customer explained the problem: their request for a debit card was unresolved despite multiple attempts, and no reason was provided. The bank employee checked the logs and determined that the fault lay with the bank, and she immediately launched a probe in an attempt to save face.

The employee spoke bravely about checking into the matter, finding the error, and rectifying it for the customer. As time passed, she realised that the previous employee who handled the case messed it up. Now, here is where this employee messed up her chance at glory. Instead of explaining the issue clearly to the customer, she brushed it off as a miscommunication between the customer and the previous employee. She tried to pass the buck onto the main branch and get rid of the messy case.

Unfortunately, the customer came prepared with receipts. They clarified that the previous employee was from this very branch and also pointed out that the error that caused all this mess was something that the bank did. The customer should not have to run around to correct it. The bank should proactively correct its error and apologise instead of pushing the blame around. The bank employee was losing her cool, and the customer threatened to close their account with the bank.

At this point, another employee picked up on the whole problem, and he proactively took up the responsibility to correct it. He took the disgruntled customer, apologised, and assuaged their anger with a plan of action. He clearly understood the customer’s primary concern and suggested other ways to solve things for them. At the end of the day, despite not solving the problem, the customer was appeased. Further, he provided a plan of action and promised to follow up on it personally.

After witnessing this, I was amazed at how the first employee came close to losing a customer; apparently, they were an old customer with a big balance. At the same time, the second employee saved the day and the customer a lot of headaches simply by doing his duty. The issue was a messy one that could not be solved, but he understood the client’s need and offered other solutions, something the first employee did not do. Ultimately, he cashed in on the opportunity and came out a winner.

This incident got me thinking about how I would have reacted in that situation. Would I have been smart like the second employee or missed a chance to shine? Many times, life throws us opportunities like this that we miss out on and think that we dodged a bullet. Even if we do take the chance, we look at it as bad luck. But is it a case of bad luck or a missed opportunity?