Earning a college degree will serve you well in launching a successful
career, but there is one area that virtually every educational institution
ignores: customer service. That is unfortunate given the indisputable
fact that customer service can make or break a business—or
a career. While, initially at least, you probably won’t have
control of a business, you will have control of your career and
that brings with it the responsibility of filling in the gaps of
your education with the knowledge and skills that will propel you
forward.
To that end, I recommend that you spend at least a portion of
your early career—maybe part-time while a student or as you
search for a job in your chosen field—working for a customer
service leader. You will be amazed at what you will learn, the skills
you will master that will be invaluable to you later on.
This advice is supported by a colleague, who runs her own home-based
business and, who at age 50, also began to work part-time for an
airline. Dealing with passenger requests—and complaints—and
working with an eclectic mix of employees, she places great value
on the interpersonal skills she has learned on the job. “I
wish I had done this three decades ago,” she says. “The
skills I have learned and the confidence I have gained in dealing
with the public and attempting to provide the best customer service
possible would have been an immense benefit throughout my career.”
Those skills and that confidence could be a boon to your career
as well. I recommend that you do whatever it takes to get a job
with a service leader, a company that you know from firsthand experience
puts the customer first. That job might only be part-time or temporary,
but it will be invaluable as you pursue a career in your chosen
field.
What skills will you develop during that
time? You will learn to:
Solve problems. Great customer service
professionals are quick on their feet. They have the skills necessary
to quickly analyze a situation and decide what needs to be done
to solve the problem to the customer’s satisfaction.
Listen—really listen. You can’t
help a customer unless you hear and understand what she has to say
and respond appropriately. Listening can go a long way toward developing
a strong relationship with customers—and with coworkers. Listening—and
showing that you are listening by making eye contact and appropriate
responses—shows that you care about what the customer is saying,
that you are empathetic to her situation or her needs, and it provides
you the information you need to serve her.
Handle complaints. When a customer
has a complaint, he not only wants someone to listen to him, he
wants someone to take care of it—and to do so in a timely manner.
You must be able to quickly identify the problem and potential solutions.
Then you must do whatever is necessary to rectify the situation
and to send that disgruntled customer away with a smile on his face.
Practice empowerment. You will realize
the importance of doing whatever is necessary on the spot to take
care of the customer—to the satisfaction of the customer, not
the company. That might mean breaking company rules, but it will
set you apart from your coworkers and mark you as someone who is
willing to take risks in an effort to satisfy the customer.
Apologize. Even if you aren’t
responsible for a customer’s problem, you must accept responsibility
for it on behalf of the company and do whatever is necessary to
resolve it. You can’t let your ego get in the way or try to
blame someone else.
Make customers feel valued. Little
things mean a lot. Recognizing your customers with a smile and calling
them by name go a long way toward building a strong customer base.
Surveys show that customers decide where to buy on the basis of
their personal experiences. The quality of personal relationships
is what brings them back to a business time and time again.
Develop a positive attitude. Your
attitude not only determines how you approach your job, your customers,
and your coworkers, it determines how they respond to you. If you
have a positive attitude, you will go far. One of the most important
things you will learn while working for a customer service leader
is that there is great power in mastering the skills necessary to
provide exceptional customer service. That power and those skills
will serve you well. They will get you noticed and will quickly
move you up the ladder of success, no matter the industry, no matter
the job.
John Tschohl is an international service strategist and speaker.
Described by Time and Entrepreneur magazines as a customer service
guru, he has written several books on customer service, including
e-Service, Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, The Customer
is Boss, and Ca$hing In: Make More Money, Get a Promotion, Love
Your Job. John also has developed more than 26 customer service
training programs that have been distributed and presented throughout
the world. His bimonthly strategic newsletter is available online
at no charge. You can reach John at www.customer-service.com.
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