TASK

Starting at the young age of 15, I landed my first job in the customer service industry, since then I have been in the customer service industry for over 6 years. Being in the customer service industry has given me the opportunity to solve many problems and improve my problem solving skills. One of my first jobs was at Monastery Bakery, there we would design various cakes for special occasions, and part of my job entitled me to communicate with customers to make sure their specific requests were met. To remained professional while handling incoming telephone calls regarding customers’ orders or requests, reviewed recorded messages and returned calls when required. 

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SITUATION

I will never forget one particular situation where my problem solving skills were put to the test. There was a lady who ordered a $100 cake for her son’s first communion she was coming to pick up the cake that day.  As soon as she arrived and I showed her the cake upon arrival she panicked. It turns out her son and most of her guests were deathly allergy to nuts. Unfortunately the person who took the order circled the wrong type of Sfoglia cake and cake was covered in hazelnuts.

 

ACTION

My first action to handle this problem was to calm her down and let her know that we will do everything we can to solve this problem. My second action using my problem solving skills was to quickly find a manager and let them know about the situation and see what we could come up with. Unluckily my manger was very busy and he told me he trusted me to fix this situation on my own. This was not an easy task but I knew it was up to me to solve this problem. After calculating cost difference I decided that I could give her 6 smaller cakes in the shelf that were nut free for the same cost. I told her that I would write Happy First Communion on all of them and that this would be awesome because her guest would have a bunch of cake options that are 100% nut free.

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RESULTS

She went from being very angry to extremely happy and at that moment I not only realized that I solved a serious problem but I was also able to get the money back. Since I knew the Hazelnut Sfoglia cake was popular we cut it in pieces and people bought the cake pieces. Which means through calculating cost difference and writing out possible solutions I not only made a customer every happy but I also made sure the pros out weight the cons. I successfully accomplished this task due to having good problem solving skills in this situation. I created a very positive result not just for the customer but also for our company and my manager was very pleased.  I exhibit my problem solving skills more and more as I grow older, I currently work as a bar tender and server and Boston Pizza and problems arise daily. The one thing I have learned is to never be afraid of a problem and always challenge yourself and do everything you can to solve that problem.