Shells

A hard shell. That is what customer service reps. create once they have worked in the industry for awhile. Daily we get hammered with stupid questions, rude comments and blamed for everything that has gone wrong during the customer's visit.

Now this shell is usually easy to crack and just takes a little consideration for the person that is helping you. Consider that a customer service rep. (CSR) has helped numerous people all day long and sometimes they go into autopilot and are daydreaming about the weekend or something else besides servicing the customer standing in front of them. Now we have become so good at this technique that most time customers will not even notice the void behind the smile. There are times that I will go into auto pilot and I will not remember the description of the person I just helped.

Turning off the will take a little effort on your side, not much just a little. There is a great quote that goes "do unto others as you would have done unto you". If people would use this more in their interaction with people there would be so many less people walking away scratching their head and wondering why they always receive horrible service.

Smile and acknowledge the CSR and you will find most times it will be reciprocated. Don't walk up to the counter and start demanding what you want. Would you do this any other time when you are meeting someone for the first? Say "Hi" simple right? But you would be surprised how many people will walk up and start bellowing out their requests and needs like the CSR was a robot that would nod and take their requests, and this is about the reaction that you will get when you behave that way

Something that shuts off my auto pilot mode is when someone asks me how my day is. It is like someone turned on a switch and I suddenly notice the person standing there and will have a conversation with them. Do they get the best service I can provide? You bet they do.

I have tried this experiment often when I am out and about. I went to a fast food restaurant and there was this guy behind the counter that was clearly in auto pilot and had just had a mean customer degrade him before me in line, so I walked up to him with a big smile greeted him and told him my order. Boy did his attitude change and this bright missing teeth smile came to his face. He kindly helped me with my order, even came over to my table when I sat down to offer me napkins and condiments. I don't think this would have happened if I had been like the many customer drones that he had just helped.

So the lesson is: if you would like to receive better service put in a little effort and you will get a much better result. I can't promise this all the time, but generally speaking it works.