A Powerful Mindset That Will Help You Deliver Oustanding Customer Service

It’s nearly impossible to adopt this way of thinking and do less than your best

Image by Mylene2401 from Pixabay

Have you ever provided less than the best customer service you were capable of, and later you looked back upon it and regretted it?

I sure have.

For years I had a job where customer service was not the main component of my work, but I did have to do it once or twice a day. I have to admit, I could get a little annoyed when the phone rang. Often I was in a good flow state working on my main responsibilities, and the call was an interruption.

I’d spend 5 or 10 or 15 minutes helping the caller, however long it took, and the call would end. After it was over, I would sometimes think, “I was more interested in getting that person off the phone than I was genuinely helping them.”

Then I’d think, “That customer is one of the people who pay my salary. That customer is the reason I have a nice apartment, a car that runs well, and plenty of possessions. And I didn’t help them as fully as I could have. Maybe I don’t deserve to have this job.”

Then one day, a comment in a meeting changed the way I look at customer service. Perhaps it will do the same for you.

We are family

We were in our weekly departmental staff meeting, where we all go around the room, say what we’re working on, and bring up any concerns we have.

One of our marketing people brought up a concern. “Our membership skews older,” she said. “Many of them are in their 70s or older. They didn’t grow up around computers, so it’s very frustrating for them to try to get online and log in to their accounts with us. They call up here asking for help. What can we do to give them a better experience when they call?”

Our graphic designer then said something profound.

“I try to treat each person who calls up here as though they were my own grandmother or grandfather.”

She continued, “Would you be happy if your grandmother called up here and someone was rude to her? Would you be upset if your grandfather was more confused at the end of the call…