How to hack it in customer service.

I've always wanted to share my two cents on customer service to help other people out there to make the service industry more accommodating and enjoyable to them.

I will let you in on my story. Fresh out of college I interned at a local Internet Service Provider, fresh with my degree in Information technology at hand, I had never handled any service complaints from anyone. My first internship during my university period was to resolve hardware related problems and networking. I had minimal contact with people and my work was to make sure the computers and the network were running smoothly.

My first day began with a brief orientation of how to troubleshoot internet related issues, this included emails and internet downtime. I thought to myself "this is not hard, I'm sure I can hack this in no time" Alas while still in orientation the worst thing ever known to any ISP (complete downtime on all clients) happened.

The phones were ringing of the hook and the switchboard was blinking like a Christmas tree. I was told that it was the time to now put my training into practice. I picked a call from a client who was the owner of a big casino in town, I answered the call with all the phone etiquette that I had been taught. "Hello this is customer support, how may I assist you". The gentleman did not even let me finish. I had never heard someone curse at me. This gentleman was Italian and oh boy did he spit those words out and for a reason that was beyond me. This is what is called baptism by fire and by the cursing words, I was baptized.

This client could not even let me speak a word. Lo and behold after telling me off and complaining of how useless we were because we could not resolve the problem on the spot, he asked to speak to my supervisor. All my apologies in regards to the service problem fell into deaf ears. I had never ever been so glad to hand over the phone. My supervisor noticed how appalled I was by the behavior of the client and calmed me down. I literally held back the tears.

With time I came to understand that the service industry has a lot of different personalities. The ones who are impatient but polite, the ones who can't hold back the abusive language, the ones who will call every two minutes even after giving them a resolution time frame and the best ones who will let you handle their problem and speak to you with professional courtesy.

In the service industry, the client is boss. What I also came to learn is to never let the client attack you personally or use abusive language. A client is never allowed to abuse anyone let alone curse at you because at the end of the day we need to be respected. We do our best to calm the client down and if you cannot, let someone else handle them.

For you to hack this service industry, you have to be proactive, try your best to ensure that as a manager, all your affected clients are informed and advised on alternative ways or time period that they have to wait. This applies to all industries. Even the ones who call every two minutes will give you time to work on resolving their issues.

Beyond everything, you need to be understanding and never take it personally. The client is frustrated and needs attention and needs to be told what he wants to know. In the beginning I almost got an ulcer, worrying endlessly over something that I couldn't control. You may want your client's problem resolved, but carrying it around like a burden doesn't help either. Tell it as it is and as politely as you can. In the end they are also human even though at times they act like they are not.

Never lie to a client, that's the worst thing you can ever do. Be consistent in your response. Some clients just want to bait you, they may have already been informed of the problem, but just want to know if you will tell them something different so that they can hold it against you or the company. The minute you lie, the client will never put their trust in you again and that will be the beginning of clients requesting for other people to help them instead of you.

When you feel like you are loosing it, take a walk, get some fresh air, recoup and go handle that call like the professional that you are and better yet love your job.

In the 10 years of working in the service industry, I still love the Job. I would say the first client almost made me hate it, but in real sense he made me stronger. I now have a sense of satisfaction being able to resolve problems, the client coming back to appreciate you and your service.

Customer service is the face of the company. This is where a company needs to invest more and train their people well on how to handle these different clients. I know that there are difficult clients out there, but if you deal with them in the right way they will be the best clients you will ever have. They say that it's is better to have a client who complains bitterly because he is giving you the chance to correct your wrong than the quiet one who will walk away and never come back. Therefore, we should all learn to be patient, accommodating and strive for a better tomorrow that will make us love the job more and more.

I know someone out there may be going through the same thing somewhere in the service industry. Be it in the hotel industry, transport or any other organization. You can never be your own client so in one way or another you will have to deal with one.