I work in customer service. Some weeks are worse than others. This has been a rough week already. And it’s only Tuesday.
I’m not sure why people think that just because they can’t see your face, you are just some robot voice on the other end of the telephone line and that it is ok to verbally abuse you, tell you your worthless and don’t know anything, or should be fired from your job. And why? Because they are not getting their way, weren’t told what they wanted to hear or don’t want to take responsibility for their own actions. The current thought of “gimme something for nothing or I will take this to social media” is really getting out of hand. No one wants to take responsibility for themselves anymore. It is always someone else’s fault. Why is that? What have we done in the recent past that people have become so self-centered, unforgiving, and just downright RUDE? What happened to the “do unto others” thought process. Or the “would you talk to your mother that way” idea? Manners have certainly become a thing of the past.
My favorite interactions with these customers are the ones who tell you they’ve been in customer service for 20 years and you are not providing good customer service. This is something they would never do to a customer. Really? Because yelling at me is being a good customer? Running over my offers of advice, help, or troubleshooting with your very loud and demanding voice is being a good customer and allowing me to provide ANY kind of customer service? How can I provide good customer service of you are not willing to listen and only yell, threaten, and hang up on me anyway?
Take a deep breath, in through the nose, now blow it out. I do this several times a day just to try to let go of the stress that is customer service.
It takes nothing to stop and listen. To bring it down a notch. Listen to the advice and suggestions. After all, you called us for help, let us try to provide it. Smile. Take a deep breath. I know you are frustrated, you wouldn’t be calling if everything was peachy and working perfectly in your world.
You have a choice. You can choose to be a miserable cow or you can choose to listen. Remember, whoever you are working with, they are doing their best with the parameters they have been given to work within. They don’t make the rules, they just have to play by them. Be nice, it won’t kill you. You don’t know what that person, who is just trying to do their job (and sometimes the job of others), has going on in their life or who else they’ve had yelling at them today. Put yourself in their shoes and just be nice. It won’t kill you and it might just make someones day a little easier.