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“We Can Hear You”: 25 Things Employees Know That Customers Usually Don’t
Article created by: Indrė Lukošiūtė
A 2024 survey by PwC found that the gap in consumer trust in companies continues to grow.
According to the results, while 90% of business executives think customers highly trust their companies, in reality, only 30% of them actually do.
That 60 percent difference is greater than the 57 points in previous PwC surveys in 2023 and 2022.
Part of the explanation for these numbers might be the fact that people nowadays demand higher transparency and accountability from companies, which many just cannot provide.
This is evident in a recent Reddit thread kickstarted by platform user Ferro_Roux. They asked workers to share the secrets and hacks they've learned about industries after starting to work in them, and folks had plenty!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I work in IT and can confidently say that providing bribery in terms of food or snack will 100% get your issue taken care of faster and will help you jump the line in the ticket queue.
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#2
I dont work there. This can be a hack to get out of paying a towing fee. I had my car towed to a yard because I stupidly thought it was a different day where I could park. Got my car towed, aware it's my fault so I might as well make this situation a fun one. Walked into the office with a customer already screaming at the front desk. Waited a whole 5 minutes for them to finish and they finally left. Front desk was just expressionless and were clearly used to it. I came up with a bright face and said, "so if I scream like that, will there be a chance I dont have to pay for the towing?" they all cracked up laughing and we all just went along the convo. Front desk stamped the receipt in front of me and just said, "just read the signs next time bud, we got you for now". Didnt expect this. But felt so boss when I left.
#3
Animal Medicine. Just because you put clothes on your pet doesn’t make him your child. Please don’t spend more money than you can afford. Even if we manage to get your 14 year old dog through cancer, you still have a 14 year old dog. You should not make your pet suffer because you feel sad, Fido isn’t enjoying life let him go.
#4
Name brand packaged salads and generic supermarket branded packaged salads come off the exact same production line, using the exact same raw materials. The difference is just the packaging.
#5
Lean into the bite.
I work in pediatrics and we’re re taught that if a child bites you, lean into it (push whatever part of you they’re biting further into their mouth) because their automatic reaction will be to open their mouth and the risk of them breaking your skin is greatly diminished.
Source: I was just bitten at work
#6
If you're nice to my receptionist I will find a way to squeeze you onto my schedule. If you're a B then you can have whatever the next available appointment is. If you make the office staff cry you get a certified letter firing you from the practice.
#7
I worked at a restaurant and one time the chef burned the apple sauce that was supposed to be served with the pork chop, he put it on the menu as “smoked applesauce” and people loved it.
#8
State Trooper here. If I pull you over for speeding and you apologize, the odds of you getting a **warning** have just skyrocketed. Redditors like to say "Never admit to it because they'll use that against you." I have never needed what the driver said for a guilty verdict. In fact, I've never even used what they've said. I've been in court a hundred times and never lost a speeding ticket case. The point of the ticket is to change your behavior. If you acknowledge your behavior was bad, then I'll believe there's a chance you'll change your behavior without needing the ticket.
#10
Bartender here. If you're at an event with an open bar or something similar, tip $20 cash on your first drink and introduce yourself to your bartender (if it isn't crazy busy). Give them the cash and say some variation on: "Hey X, good to meet you, my name's Mike. I'm going to be drinking [your drink order] all night. Thanks for taking care of us at this event." Guarantees good service, skipping the line, etc.
#11
Many online retailers have what’s called “Cart Abandonment” marketing strategies.
If you put something in your cart and then don’t check out, you’ll likely receive an email or some kind of messaging with a discount code to incentivize conversion.
If you’re gonna buy something online, always at least try adding to your cart and leaving first before buying.
#12
Paramedic here- keep a list of your medical history, medicines, allergies, health card info and next of kin contact info on a paper on or in your fridge.
It’s a common place for us to look. If you’re incapacitated, we have all the info we need.
#13
When I worked as a pharmacy tech, I spent a lot of time calling insurance companies and waiting on hold while the world burned around me. One time I got impatient with the voice recognition bot because it kept hearing background noise and made selections impossible so I started cursing it out.
Turns out if you say the F word a few times in a short span, the bot recognizes you as an angry customer and will switch you to a representative real quick. I did this multiple times to a lot of strange looks from my coworkers until I explained the hack.
Quick edit since I'm getting a lot of the same responses:
I now know that you can spam 0 or # to get the same results.
It's a feature being phased out in places.
Shouting representative or operator also works.
#14
We design parts for appliances to break in five years. We can make them better but the OEM doesn't want to pay for it. We used to make the same part last 15 years.
#15
I’m a singer, and I book a lot of weddings/corporate/ general gigs, if you come to me directly rather going through an agency, I can plan and run all the music whether you want just me and a guitar to full band and dj for after party,
It can literally save you thousands, some agencies put a 40-60% mark up on my services, and I ask them for more than I’d charge someone privately, it’s crazy
If you’re looking for entertainment, try and contact direct.
#16
I used to work in the floral industry. Don't call a large national florist. Look up a local florist in your recipient's area and call them directly. Most have websites to help you choose and you'll save money on delivery and service fees which can go towards a nicer arrangement.
Also, unless you order flowers regularly, the membership/loyalty program is a scam and hard to cancel.
#17
Dog trainer, this is a hack we *want* people to understand.
One reason we can get your dog to do something so fast is because we use a high rate of reinforcement.
Example :
I'm training your dog to walk on leash without pulling, and we practice in your driveway. I feed the dog 20 tiny pieces of food by my knee as we walk to the end of the driveway. The first time a client tries the exercise they may use five.
The mechanics of the exercise look easy, but it takes time to get used to. And when people are practicing on their own they do other things, instead of focus on the exercise. They forget how often they need to reinforce the dog for doing the right thing.
If they do the exercise for two minutes during each walk, with a high rate of reinforcement (RoR) , that may be all it takes. And once the dog starts to learn, you can gradually slow down the RoR.
#18
I work for an airline. I manage the development of the system our call center agents use. "Please" and "thank you" will unlock magical doors of help when you're on the phone with the agents or are at the airport dealing with airport staff. Simple politeness no longer seems to exist in these interactions. I've shadowed agents to understand how they use what my teams develop and I can count on two hands in the 150-200 calls I've listened into over the last year where the caller was polite and acted decently towards the other human on the other end of the line.
#20
You can and should get your kid an evaluation for learning disabilities if there is any potential - (many parents want to avoid potential stigma) - but depending on your school district they might not tell you because they don't want to increase their SPED caseload.
#21
Academic here — to get a PDF of a paper you can usually email the author and ask for one, the times I’ve tried this they’ve been happy to share. After checking if it’s available on https://oa.mg of course. Don’t mess around with formatting your references manually — use something like https://citationsy.com to automate the whole process.
#22
Not sure if your homeowner's insurance will cover something? Apply this one simple rule:
> Was the damage caused by a sudden and one-time occurrence?
If the answer is yes, 99% of the time you're covered. If the answer is no, 99% of the time you're not covered. (This advice applies to the US).
#23
Electric guitars made out of fancy expensive wood will sound exactly the same as guitars made out of cheap wood. The electronics system is what makes electric guitars sound different from one another, not the fancy AAAAA flamed maple top. It’s pure aesthetics.
#24
If you use Libby to download ebooks from your library to your Kindle, you can turn it to airplane mode and keep the books as long as you want. The next person in line is not affected.
Edit: because not everyone wants to illegally download ebooks from sketchy servers in Tuvalu? It's not any easier than what I suggested. .
#25
Most industries have retention teams because it costs 10X more to get a new customer than it costs to keep one you have. So if you call up and complain/threaten to cancel every other time they raise your rates they'll probably give you the introductory rate. Just be aware you might have to switch. edit threaten to cancel added. edit 2: Another thing I'm seeing a lot is people getting shut down with no explanation. People hang up and call back. Just say you got disconnected you might have better luck with another operator. Yes they take notes, but some reps are more empowered than others. Also feel free to escalate. Make sure you know how long you've been a customer, and how long you've been up to date on your bill.
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