One of the benefits of speaking and training in the field of customer relations is having the opportunity to sit down and listen to those who on a day in/day out basis serve on the front lines of interaction with customers be it by phone, internet, or in the “trenches” environment of face-to-face dealings. People are truly fascinating, and I learned long ago not to expect that one size fits all or what is important to one person is also important to another. It’s just amazing the things one can learn with an open mind and a shut mouth, the latter being no less important than the former. All around us are thousands of truly dedicated people who have to deal with confusion, friction, conflict, and confrontation on a daily basis. My admiration and heart goes out to all of them. Just how do they do it and keep coming back for more?
Keep in mind that perhaps without title, recognition, or high salaries they rise early to prepare for their day which may mean getting children out of bed and ready for school, lunches packed, while at the same time dressing and feeding themselves and their pets (often at the same time), making sure that low tire has enough air to make it to work, negotiating frantic traffic through long red lights and blocked railroad crossings only to arrive with just ten minutes to spare before the bell rings, the barrier is raised, and an agitated public bears down on them as if they personally were the creator and author of the universe of problems. All things considered, the demands put on and met by those in customer service positions are simply heroic. They are the proverbial “face” of the company, the company soldiers on the front lines of customer conflict, and the first to bear the wounds of insult and hostility. And the majority that I have personally interviewed have been thrust toward the customer relations buzz-saw with little or no effective professional training. They’ve had to “learn it as they go”. And I’m in awe of just how effectively many have adapted, improvised, and overcome as Gunny Highway put it.
Recently I interviewed several customer service representatives who while working in a public service office shared their most significant challenges. To them these were paramount: coworkers who worked only hard enough to get by and get out as early as possible, customers who demanded and received exceptions to established procedures and those demands being granted by a supervisor and granted without consistency, and, finally, the frustration a coworker giving the customer inaccurate or incomplete information. In this particular office I call them the “Big 3”, and if I was a betting man I’d wager those challenges are as common as a diesel truck in a refinery parking lot. In fact, I’m certain they’re common because I’ve heard their stories repeated so many times they weigh on me like a wet overcoat.
Among those I interview, one particular “personality” stands out, and that is the recipient of customer vitriol who doesn’t take it personally and shrugs it like water off a duck’s back. As you probably imagined they are, by far, the most content, the most effective, and, yes, the most rare. As one much more wise than me cleverly said, “it takes two to tangle” meaning the upper hand and victory goes to the cooler head in a hot head butting contest. Truth be known the ability to stay cool under customer fire can be both taught and fairly easily learned should one become weary of investing emotional energy in the downward vortex of the anger dance. Since we all have personal buttons to be pushed, job one is our becoming aware of exactly what those buttons are. When we’re able to name them and know them they lose their emotional power and no longer drain our energy. Psychologists may be able to help us understand WHY they’re our personal buttons, but who has those resources to invest when our days are already crowded with unbrushed teeth, dog hair, flat tires, and finger snapping customers? Learning to disengage from the off-on-a-tangent tango, the anger waltz, would be of great value to many because, after all, the barrier goes up in ten minutes, and as usual Mad Max is standing at the head of the line with his arms crossed. As we have been counseled for centuries, taking the risk and doing the uncomfortable work of looking inward goes a long way toward owning our emotions when under fire and cutting the puppet strings heretofore manipulated by those who attack, shame, or attempt to intimidate us. I tip my hat and say a prayer for those who on a daily basis deal with foot-dragging coworkers, cranky customers, and barking dogs.
Originally published in Beaumont Business Journal, Heat And Humanity Column
