Are You Anti-Customer?

Fighting the daily currents of customer wants and needs can be demanding and stressful. Stress, as we all know, adversely affects our mental and physical well-being. It can make us defensive, temperamental and otherwise gloomy. Unfortunately though, stress is often the nature of the job for Call Center customer service representatives and dealing with this pressure often includes negative, unprofessional, and anti-customer behaviors. Anti-customer behaviors include: * Mocking customers * Criticizing customer expectations * Being self-oriented Regular, honest self assessment and assessment of those around you is a great place to start in identifying these behaviors, why they exist and methods to change them. Be honest with your self analysis, and open to change. You can make your office a brighter place by working on turning around any anti-customer habits. Mocking Customers Sure, the lady in Sheboygan with 100 cats meowing in the background and a propensity to say "a-hoy-hoy" at the end of every sentence is worth a little snicker after ending the call. The urge to make fun of customers happens when we encounter people who seem to fall short of our personal expectations. We often criticize them because of their personality, manners, intelligence, dialect, or other inferences made during our call. Mocking customers and being the comedian also wins points with colleagues and eases our stress when a customer is particularly difficult to please. However, this behavior does nothing for personal improvement, career development, moral fortitude, efficiency, or, the customer. Additionally, we must be careful not to make mockery a habit. Regular mocking goes against being of service to others. Humility and respect for those who are different or seemingly less fortunate are essential values for customer service success. If you don't feel that these standards suit your personality, at least, fake them in the office to maintain an environment of professionalism until you make them a part of your person. If these traits seem impossible to adopt full-time, perhaps customer service is not the right field for you. Whichever the case, minimize your tendencies to make jokes at the customer's expense and do not encourage that behavior in others. Criticizing Customer Expectations If you expect customers to behave properly, treat you with respect, not use profanity and accept all of the company's standards, then you have it all backwards. Since we too are customers, we can identify with the fact that people want to be listened to, understood, empathized with, accommodated, and to be treated with respect. Other than that, customers generally want a good product, and they want it now. Of course, "now" isn't always possible and a great customer service representative can oftentimes make that seem okay. Example: Customer: "I need this tomorrow." Representative: "Bob, I really, really wish I could get this to you by tomorrow. I understand how you must be anxious to get your hands on this new technology. But rest assured you should get your package by Tuesday. If it doesn't come by then, you give us a call, okay?" Saying "I'm sorry, that can't happen" flatly is almost as cold and ineffective as saying "No way." Empathize with the customer's desires and show that their wants matter to you a great deal. Offer a solution that let's them know that you are doing as much as you can to meet their needs. They still may blow up at you, but you must accept that as part of the customer service territory. When addressing other undesirable customer traits such as them being disrespectful or using profanity, you must be able to handle it properly, politely, and effectively. If a customer wants to curse, then they should be able to curse. Some licks you must take because customers who call the Call Center are generally disgruntled about a poor product or service or a billing error. Companies' rules may vary on situations like this, but it is important to familiarize yourself with those rules as you are learning your job. Ideally, the customer should be able to "misbehave" a little because you are trying to understand their grievances. Being Self-Oriented All anti-customer behaviors stem from self-orientation, which is putting yourself first, instead of the customers. By doing so, you impact the company in a negative way and may jeopardize our job. It may be difficult NOT to share a story about an unusual customer or challenging call. Sometimes, this helps get you through the day. But be mindful that these behaviors can spin out of control and into becoming habits. The next time a customer pushes your buttons or presents problems that you have difficulty handling, try not to badmouth them afterwards or on your break. You probably will find that you get over it more easily and will forget about it when you take your next call. Symptoms of self-orientation in a call center may include: * A lack of adherence to schedules * Poorly timed vacations and other absences * Regular objections to standards, practices, and goals based on personal inconvenience * Lack of responsiveness to either customers, representatives, or other internal customers Try to serve as an example for others and take measures to ensure you are not contributing to an anti-customer culture. Your actions reflect the company and affect those around you as well as the company's success. You can thrive on your new-found humility and on the pride that comes from being outstanding. Help create an atmosphere which has zero tolerance for any kind of mistreatment of customers. Being a customer service representative in a Call Center places us on the other side of the counter, but our minds should always be where the customer stands. We must always put ourselves in their shoes and practice being understanding, patient, respectful, and forgiving. Remember, you can learn how to become a great customer service representative, but customers never learn how to be great customers. Become and remain pro-customer for the betterment of your company, daily work environment, and for your general well-being. Good luck -- you can do it!