Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:
We choose our attitudes and our actions
And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…
In just about every customer service training session I do, I hear someone say this (or something like this):
“It’s hard to be cheerful all the time because some customers make me so angry.”
People who say this are often guilty of treating customers (and others) poorly because they feel bad. Their emotional state is negative and it comes out in everything they do.
But when working with customers we shouldn’t act out how we feel, unless our feelings are appropriate to the situation.
Remember, customers come to us to accomplish something. They do not show up on our doorstep just so we have an opportunity to express how we feel through our actions. Our actions need to focus on helping our customers, not on how we feel.
How we behave is 100% within our control. Believing this is the first step to providing Amazing Service to every customer every time.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Ever come across this strategy?
“Politely stone-wall the customer at all costs”
I’ve come across it several times and it generally plays out the same way each time. Basically the operative remains irrepressibly polite during the exchange, but does not actually give an inch. This is infuriating. Eventually most callers lose it. This gives the operative a moral high ground and a ready excuse to end the call and record (for posterity) that the call was ended because the caller became abusive. Then where do you go?
In summary sometimes I just find companies playing all sorts of games, and getting better at them, rather than going back to good customer service basics. As I have said in the past, while politeness is always nice, it should not be confused with providing good service, as it does not, in itself, deliver a satisfactory outcome
I see that and other variations on a daily basis. It’s because the people making the decisions at these companies have forgot the basics, as you mention. They are focused on what they want (minimize costs, increase profits, etc.). What they forget is, if they focused on helping their customers, they would probably have higher revenue and profits as an outcome. Thanks for commenting Shaun!
i have found myself feeling rushed lately. i get the feeling that i am no giving as good a service on the phones as i have always. your aritcle ,We choose our attitudes and our actions, enlightened me to what i am doing. i was giving what i thought was great customer service, but rushing through the transaction. i see that now, i feel if i slow down and take that couple extra moments to give our customers that extra touch that we say we do. i can be right back on track and feel good about how i am working. thank you. i am also going to have my crew be more mindful of this situation. very important. thank you again