Give me an example of how you can use "I" and "me" theory in customer service.

George Herbert Meads theory of "the I
and the me" characterizes the "I" as the active aspect of personality, analogous
to the Freudian "ego," and the "me" as the socialized aspect, consisting of
the internalized attitudes of society. This means that the "me" conditions the conduct
of the "I."

In a customer service context, this principle suggests
that customers should be treated in such as way as to condition a desirable reaction. For
example, a customer making a complaint must be treated not only as though the complaint is
reasonable but as though that customer is the type of "I" who would only be capable of
making a reasonable complaint in a civilized manner.

Of course, in a
short-term customer service situation, the employee serving the customer has very little
influence over the customers "me," which has been conditioned by society over the
customers entire life. Perhaps all the employee can effectively do is to observe the customers
"me" through the conduct of the "I" and use this to ascertain what solution
or course of action will be most appropriate for that customer.

For example,
the employee might look at the range of options available to him/her in serving the customer and
use observation of the "me" to determine such matters as (a) whether it will be
helpful or merely confusing to present the customer with the full range of options (b), whether
one particular option stands out as being immediately most suitable for this customer, and (c)
which option or options are most likely to appeal to this customer and why.

This applies in any number of situations, from retail in a department store to such
products as financial services. In the latter case, a concrete example might be deciding how to
present a large array of options for mortgages or investment products to customers who differ
not only in terms of expertise and financial acumen but in the expectations conditioned by their
socialized "me."

In a long-term customer relationship, the
customers "me" may actually be conditioned, at least in his or her manner of dealing
with that particular organization. Employees should therefore be trained to deal with customers
in a predictable and consistent manner, amounting to a house style.