It never ceases to amaze me how incredibly easy it is to make someone's day. People are so accustomed to talking to customer service representatives that are at worst rude or at best apathetic, that when they speak to someone who's actually pleasant and cheerful it thrills them to no end.
I work in an inbound call centre for a major financial institution and I (incredibly) love my job. I'm living the dream--I get paid really good money to talk to people on the phone all day. While many of you would rather have a root canal or have your fingernails ripped off with pliers, I find this to be a rewarding and enjoyable job with stimulating challenges and tonnes of learning opportunities. I never know what the next call is going to bring! While this would fill a normal person with dread and anxiety, it fills me with adrenalin. When someone calls me and says, "I have a big problem" I actually get excited!
I know--I'm crazy.
My theory is if you don't feel the same way as I do then you have no business being in customer service. It shouldn't be as easy as it is for me to make the day of the person on the other end of the phone, but unfortunately we've been conditioned to not only accept poor service, but be grateful for mediocre service. When we eventually get great service it's like winning the lottery!
The best part of all this is when I give great service, I also have a great experience. There's nothing I enjoy more than having a customer tell me, "Thanks so much for helping me. I wish everyone were as friendly and cheerful as you. You've been a big help." It's nice to be appreciated!
2 comments:
Amen!! I wish everyone I call on the phone was like you!! I agree that if you don't like providing customer service, don't choose that line of work.
I had the nicest, most patient guy at Revenue Canada the other day, and I was a little impatient at first, due to reasons outside his personal control (but totally because Revenue Canada is ridiculous) but he was pleasant and did his best in a bad situation, and I ended up apologizing for my initial impatience and thanking him for his good service. Go figure-by being a human being, I was totally impressed by him!!
Its amazing how when you treat people with basic human dignity they not only respond in kind but their whole tone and mood change immediately and dramatically.
I work in customer service for the same company as Kendall (although in a different division). What I find tragic is that I provide the same service to everybody and people assume I'm going out of my way to help them.
Nope, I just treat everbody like I'd like to be treated.
You know we live in a sad society when being treated with respect is equated with "going out of your way."
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