Do your service staff care about helping people? I mean really care, as in going the extra mile to solve your customer’s problems, to make them happy? Or… do they do just the basics, just enough to get the job done?

Let me give you an example...

Do your staff get into "autopilot" mode and forget the basics of phone courtesy?

Here's a recent example of this I experienced and how it drove this customer away...

A couple of weeks ago, I called to make a reservation at a hotel I’d stayed at previously. I’ve had mixed experiences with this hotel – some of their staff provide the kind of friendly, classy service you would expect in the hospitality industry, and other times they demonstrate the dull, brusque demeanor you might expect at a convenience store or truck stop.

When I told the receptionist I wanted to make a reservation, what response did get?

The click of my phone call being transferred.

Having excellent stress management skills are critical for anyone in customer service, but even more so during the holiday season… for obvious reasons. Here are a few articles to help you increase your ability to stay cheerful and upbeat, regardless of how stressed out or cranky your customers may be:

"Becoming Resilient: The Key to Thriving in Today’s Challenging and Uncertain Times"

"Bring Less Stress and More Joy Into Your Holidays"

"Take A Vacation From Stress By Bringing Your Own Portable Oasis To Work”

(Note: If you’re a manager and would like to post these on your company’s
intranet, feel free to, as long as you include a click-able link in the author
bio to http://www.humannatureatwork.com)

In the previous entry, I talked about why it’s important to help customers feel comfortable giving your business feedback. If you don’t, you’ll never hear about little annoying Moments of Truth that alienate your customers, but which they’ll never tell you about.

They won’t tell you, because most of us don’t enjoy confrontation. Most of us also don’t want to appear picky or petty, so we grin and bear the little inconveniences or sources of friction that make our customer experience less than perfect.

Although they’re significant enough to diminish our experience, they’re small enough to seem picky or petty if we bring them up to the service person or their manager. For instance, think of how many times you’ve been inconvenienced and the service person doesn’t bother to apologize.

It’s rather awkward to say “You know, it would be nice if you apologized.” So instead, customers either go away annoyed or they make a sarcastic comment that doesn’t feel as vulnerable as saying as “You know, it would be nice if you apologized.”

Although it doesn’t feel as awkward or vulnerable, it leaves the customer service person thinking “What an obnoxious customer!” and with no clue about how his or her behavior triggered such an unpleasant response.