What frontline customer service staff fear most about 2022

Well before we heard the word COVID, Frontline customer service staff were seeking help.

The #1 concern and the concern of frontline customer service Managers/Leaders, was how to professionally interact with rude, angry or upset customers.

We know this because since 2010 (when Lightbulb Training Solutions commenced) , it has been the most requested training topic.

Professional skill development in the area of difficult customer interactions is not a one dimensional, one session, or one time activity. The art of professionally interacting with challenging humans has many layers of soft skills (people skills) and below gives you an overview of just some of the sessions we deliver to build confident and professional frontline customer service staff:

• After Shock - Managing stress after difficult customer interactions

• Staying Positive. Team harmony in times of customer outrage

• Am I making it worse? Self awareness for frontline customer service staff

• The fuel of bad behaviours. Understanding and using empathy with challenging customers

• Taking The LEAD. A 4 step process to lead customers from emotional to rational.

• The Power of Stopping. 3 min daily activities to create a cutlure of confident communicators

• I can’t hear you! What stops us all from active listening and how to turn it on.

• When customers are rude. How to gain respect face to face and over the phone

So, as you can see from above, there are loads of professional and personal development sessions we deliver to help frontline customer service staff arrive and leave work feeling confident. It’s what we specialise in and it’s what frontline staff have needed since customer service began.

And here we are today, the start of 2022. We have been riding the COVID rollercoaster for 2 years and frontline customer service are being asked to manage more and more difficult and demanding customers.

Sadly, a post on Insta last week of a Supermarket employee sitting in their car taking deep breaths before they started their shift, was not surprising. The comment read:

“Getting ready to answer the same questions over and over and over regarding RATs, product shortages, masks and no staff etc etc. I’m preparing to be abused. I can handle it, but not sure for how much longer “

So, that’s the greatest fear - the fear of the unknown. The comments of support and shared feelings on the post were not just from Supermarket staff - this kind of fear and fatigue impacts all industries. Even highly experienced and skilled customer service staff have limites.

There are of course polite and caring customers who greatly appreciate and support frontline customer service staff but that doesn’t stop the anxiety fatigue that comes from an uncertain future; who or what will I have to deal with next?

What can you do about this?

Call us for a FREE Customer Service Analysis.

Maybe you won’t learn anything new but knowing that you are doing the right things now and putting in place a plan for the future will alieviate stress - yours and the stress of your frontline staff.

By Cate Schreck - Author of “The A- Z of Service Excellence” Download the First Chapter for FREE