Recently a front line customer service employee presented me with a challenging mindset. She said ‘Why should I care about customers. They don’t care about me.’ Turns out this young lady was just having a really bad day. After digging a little deeper, I discovered she cares deeply about her customers and wants to do what is right for them but feels frustrated if customers treat her uncharitably. This got me to thinking…
Customer service training typically concentrates on a list of do’s and don’ts that are supposed to guide you through any given situation, they tend to focus on leaning sales skills or champions the teachings of the latest training book the boss has read. Not habitually addressed are the principles behind why we do what we do such as: doing the right thing even when it’s not always profitable, paying it forward and the good that goes around comes around – no matter how things may feel at the moment.
These values are also at the heart of the human experience because customer service is about sharing a bond with others no matter how long or short lived. Ultimately it is about forming relationships with people that produce an ongoing connection between customers and our organization or company. Think about it; customer service built solely on marketing ads, scripts or techniques will only last until the next ‘Big Thing’ comes along. Relationships built on genuine kindness and generosity however, can last a lifetime and weather almost any storm.
It’s important to remember; serving people doesn’t have to be so hard. We just need to remember to keep a ‘Pay-it forward’ attitude. Pay-it-forward customer service is about being a real person, filled with grace, remembering that the little things that upset us don’t really matter in the big scheme of life. Recognizing that what you do does make a difference in people’s lives.
Every one of us has been the recipient of kindness at some point, maybe someone said ‘We all have a bad day sometimes’ or ‘Don’t worry about it – it’s ok’ when in fact the way we were behaving was definitely NOT OK. If we keep in mind the times we were given a pass while being less than our best selves and someone extended a little grace to us, perhaps we could learn to be more tolerant of our customers or even strangers who may be in a similar situation.
Take a few minutes to watch this commercial from Thailand. It sums up in 3 short minutes the heart of this message better than full-length Hollywood movies have. SPOILER ALERT! It’s a tear jerker (but totally worth it!) you might want to have some Kleenex nearby.
http://gawker.com/this-three-minute-commercial-puts-full-length-hollywood-1309506149