Dave Ramsey (23:50)
Well, we have a rule at Ramsey. We work with people, especially in the money space, many of which are struggling and they're frustrated and having money problems is a huge stress point, obviously. And so sometimes folks don't control their emotions and get confused that they can direct those at us. So we, you know, some customer Service departments and some companies. That's Greek for you get abused all day long. Nobody wants that job. And we've got, you know, Ramsey concierge, where people call in and talk to us about almost anything. And we try to help them with our different ways of serving someone that's struggling. Maybe they've got a foreclosure, they're scared. They're afraid. They're bankrupt, they're looking at a repossession, or they're just fighting with their spouse about money. In all of those cases, they're angry, but not at us. And so we've trained our team, and it's been very, very good for morale. First, we want to be kind and we want to be calm. The louder they get, the quieter you get. And at some point in the conversation, wherever you decide that you're starting to be abused personally by this frustrated, angry person, you have to stop them and say, okay. At Ramsey, we don't do this. If you want to be frustrated, I understand, but I'm a person over here, and I'm trying to help you. I did not personally cause your situation. Ramsey didn't personally cause your situation. And we'll try to help you, but you don't get to yell or scream or cuss. And if you do, we're going to end the call now. How can I actually walk through this with you as two friends working on a problem? And if they resume the screaming and cussing, just hang up. I don't have to talk to them, and your people don't have to talk to them. Just say, you know, I tell you what, you call me back when you can get control of your emotions and hang up. That simple. No one does that in corporate America. They just put up with the public's bullcrap. And the public is out of control. We call them 2 percenters. 2% of Americans should be institutionalized. They're nutty, out of control, need coaching, need counseling. And we're not, you know, spend the money you were going to spend with us on. On counseling. You have a rage problem, we're not going to. I don't care if you're my customer. If you're going to be a but and so hang up. And you can do that. Well, I don't know. Listen, no one anywhere requires you to create a toxic environment where abuse is their job all day long. That's a ridiculous scenario. And so if I'm you, I'm going to look at my team and say, I love you so much. I'm not going to require you to do that. Now, I don't want you to be mean to them. And you don't cuss back at them and yell back at them. That's not the point. We're not going to. Matter of fact, we're going to de escalate. Like I said, the louder they get, the quieter we're going to get. Ma'am, we're going to have to end the call if you can't get control of yourself. Because I'm here to help you, But I'm not your pounding board. I'm not your whipping boy. So if I can help you, let's do that. Otherwise, I'm gonna have to just end the call. You hear the dial tone, There it is. And I discovered this a long, long time ago. And I discovered what it did to the morale of our company accidentally, just because I'm a redneck hillbilly. So I was walking through the lobby where we had at that time, an old fashioned receptionist desk. And we had these things on the receptionist desk called telephones in those days. And she would pick up the telephone and talk on it with a headset. And the young lady that was our receptionist, she'd only been there about four months, was crying, talking to this guy, and tears are running down her face. And I'm like, what? I said, just, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I waved my hands. Just put that person on hold. What's going on? Are you okay? You know, this is the third time this guy's called. He just yells and screams and he just calls us names. And he says, ramsey's awful, and I just can't take it. And I said, oh, okay, hold on. And I just picked up the handset and I said, hey, bud, here's the deal. You're fired. This is Dave and you're fired. He goes, what do you mean I'm fired? I said, you're fired as a customer. Whatever business you were doing with us, take that money and go by counseling. Don't ever call here again. I don't want you in my database. I don't want anything to do with you. I want you to stay completely away from our people. You don't call here and abuse people anymore. Do you understand? He said, you're kidding. I said, do I sound like I'm kidding? Don't call here anymore and be a but. And I hung up. And she looked at me with these wide eyes like I had invented fire. You know, I didn't know you could do that. I said, well, I own it. I definitely can. Do it. And I've just deputized you. You can do that too. You do not take a but on the front desk. It is not your job. It's not like chief abuse acceptor is not your job title. That's ridiculous that somebody's calling in sweet little receptionist lady sitting there just chewing her butt out because he has an emotional problem. Well, give me a break. I'm sorry. Go get your root canal somewhere else, buddy. And you know what the weirdest thing I did? That. That's the only time I've ever done it in 30 years of running this company. But that idea that you are deputized to retain your dignity spread like wildfire through our company. And our people are not mean to our customers. We're kind to them. We love them, we want to help them. But we're not going to engage in a toxic, out of control, freakazoid relationship with a customer. We hang up on them. And the morale, oh, wait a minute. Dave values us more than he does somebody that's out of control. We'd rather forfeit the money than put up with that. That's what I would do. And I think you're gonna see your morale soar and just, you know, and then you've got the ability to just be kind and sweet to the calls you take. Cause you're gonna take some bad calls in your world right now. I don't disagree with that. It's the environment you're in. And we take some bad calls. That's fine. That's part of what comes in here. Some of them are sad, some of them are angry. Some of them just rip your heart out, you know, and go through all that stuff. That's part of, you know, dealing with folks. You're solving a problem for them. So sometimes they're emotional when they've got that problem, so be kind. But at the end of the day, we're going to get to a certain point and say, you know what if we can't get your volume and your language under control, we're not going to be able to have a conversation here, and I'm not going to be able to help you. I sure hope we can do that. Please. So you want to take a minute or you want to take a minute and call me back after you have a minute to calm down? Because we don't. We have a rule here at Ramsey. We don't. We don't do abuse. And you're, you're being abusive, you know, and just. And if they just keep on and they think they have the right to, because people are entitled twerps out there, some of them. So just hit the old hang up button and it just solves all kinds of. It's like this immense power that you suddenly have. And with that power comes dignity and morale. Shoots up. I know a guy that works on automobiles, and he's kind of a. He really should be a little bit nicer, but he's really good at fixing cars and he's got a great reputation and he's not mean to people, not unkind to people, but he really doesn't suffer fools. He's got a little auto repair shop, does a great job. And I was laughing with him. One day he started telling me what he was doing. He said, I have a stack of my competitor across town's business cards and the other auto shop. And he said, when I get One of these 2 percenters, when I get one of these people that's out of control, rage a holic, I don't want to deal with them. I just say, you know what? I think this guy here can help you. And he said, I send all those nasty customers to my competitor. That's mean, but it's also funny. I don't care who you are. So that falls in the same category. Melissa, I'm sorry you guys are facing a tough time in your industry. We've been watching it. We work with pnc and we know what you're dealing with. And it's kind of ridiculous out there. Honestly, I agree, and I agree with the frustration of the customer. But that doesn't mean they have the right to abuse your team and destroy their morale and take their dignity. We're not gonna do that. This is the Entree Leadership Podcast. Does leading your team feel like herding cats? Even if your business is winning financially, a misaligned team will create new fires for you to put out every week. But with Entree Leadership Elite, you'll align your team and hold them accountable so you can stop herding cats and start scaling your business. To join elite, go to entreeleadership.com elite or just click the link in the description if you're listening on YouTube or podcast. Well, thanks for hanging out with me today. I'm Dave Ramsey. This is the Entree Leadership Podcast. If you're looking for theory, you're in the wrong place. I make payroll. In order to do that, we have to deal with actual tactical things that work. We get up, leave the cave, kill something, and drag it home. This is not a theoretical discussion. I don't Mind having a theoretical discussion with you, but I'm a guy that gets it done and has for 35 years. That's how we got where we are at Ramsey, and we're here to help you. If you want to be a caller on this show, call 844-944-1070. Leave us a note in. The voicemail team will holler back at you and get you set up to be a caller, just like Shay in Charleston, South Carolina. Hi, Shea. How are you?
