Customer service is all about the Reps first, customers second

If you want consistent, golden, five-star customer service from your customer service people you have to teach them, customer service is NOT about the customer.

Customer service is NOT about how to treat a customer. Customer service is about the customer service rep. Why? Because customer service reps are human too. And while many of them certainly enjoy helping others what keeps them going over the long haul is how giving great customer service helps them. When you both *get it* that they can improve their lives, their people skills, their ability to communicate by learning how to interact with customers in a positive way – they will. And the customer will benefit in the long run and so will you. Because when people see that doing something pays off for them they are more likely to keep doing it.

If you are a customer service rep knowing how to listen, how to recognize opportunity, how to problem solve with another human being – particularly one you’ve never met and don’t know! and learning how to think on your feet, on the fly, on the phone or on the internet is a skill-set you can’t learn anywhere like you can in customer service. Not only do you learn to think, you learn how to learn to be proactive and how to be confident.

If you’re a customer service rep the customer is the person who is going to help you become a better person, a more compassionate person, a better thinking person. The customer is going to help YOU achieve YOUR goals for yourself. Because the customer is your measuring stick.

Their satisfaction is what tells you how well you’re learning to apply those thinking, problem solving and interaction skills. So, stop thinking you are a servant or whipping boy for an angry mob of customers. You’re not. You are developing the most critical tools a successful business person can have – the ability to HEAR, really hear what your customer is saying; to know how to respond, what to do, to spot trends in what customers like/want/need or hate/love. That’s invaluable. Every minute you talk to a customer is your own private focus group.

It doesn’t matter if you are a in a formal customer service rep job for the rest of your life or not. The skill-set is what you’re after. You will have families, you will participate in professional organizations, some of you will teach. In everything you do from here on out your success at whatever you do will rest in learning how to listen, how to solve a problem, how to deal with angry people, how to control your own emotions, how to have compassion and empathy and how to interact with strangers in a way that leaves the world a better place. Customer service can teach you those skills if you listen. Your instructor may or may not *get it* but you can.

Those skills will be disguised as “customer service” but make no mistake about it – customer service is about YOU service. This is about YOU. I hope you understand what I am saying because if you learn to see the service you give as a way to hone your life skills – life will come so much easier to you and your success will be great.