The essential book for fatigued, anxious and angry frontline customer service staff
One of the very ugly outcomes of COVID that we have witnessed, heard about, read about and seen too many videos of is the horrible behaviours towards frontline customer service staff. It’s happening in small towns and big cities, in businesses and in Schools and it’s enough to make some frontline customer service staff WANT to isolate.
Yelling, swearing, demanding, blaming, accusing and threatening behaviours.
In response to this businesses are putting up signs in windows, on websites and social media and sending emails and text messages asking/pleading customers for patience, for understanding, for kindness. Businesses and Schools are doing their best every single day to protect their frontline staff from verbal and sadly in some cases physical, abuse. It’s not easy and it can leave individual staff, their co-workers and their managers/leaders feeling fatigued, anxious and/or angry.
Some are doing all of this whilst home schooling, caring for others and feeling the heavy weight of their own personal circumstances. Days full of reviewing, changing, communicating, supporting, listening and learning so that the doors can open and close are long and emotionally draining days.
In better news, there are some wonderful customers doing womderful things too.
They are the caring customers who defend frontline staff and who are patient and willing to work with them, not against them. We thank each and every customer who seeks to repair the confidence of frontline customer service staff as it confirms that we are all in this together. Your actions are helping business and Schools that are under a constant daily pressure to keep both staff and customers safe, to keep going, to keep trying and to keep positive.
Is it understandable that during an ongoing pandemnic everyone is entitled to and will be feeling stress? Yes
Is it acceptable to express those feelings through behaviours that intimidate and leave frontline cusotmer service staff feeling anxious, angry or just plain tired? No.
In our businesses - Lightbulb Training Solutions and Just For Schools, our goal is and has always been, to create teams of Customer Service Professionals. We’ve been doing this since 2010 and never have we seen the level of fatigue, anxiety and anger being expressed by our customers - frontline customer service staff and their managers and leaders.
We are working with businesses to bring as much positivity, confidence and clarity to their teams through our online and when possible onsite customer service, teamwork and leadership training programs. If you’re part of a team we haven’t worked with yet, or you know someone who works in a customer facing role who could do with a reminder of their value, give them access to this book.
CHAPTERS RECOMMENDED FOR THE DEPLETED:
E - Emotional Intelligence Why EQ is more valuable than IQ when times are tough
F - Fun Great for you, your co-workers and your customers
H - Handling Complaints A 4 step process that leaves staff and customers feeling valued and respected
R - Reality Check Take a breath and step back - the future is bright
Z - Zen Your place to relax - do it daily
And again, THANKYOU if you and your team are working together to help fatigued, frustrated, angry or anxious customers through the storm that is COVID19 and THANKYOU if you are a customer who is doing the same for frontline customer service staff.