Customer Service Week
Are you prepared for customer service week? Many people do not even realize it is exists till they hear that friends have had celebrations in their offices or places of work. It occurs during the first week of October each year. According to Dee Cohen, a licensed social worker in Florida, "Many of my clients say that they feel unappreciated at work and this adds to their stress on top of family problems and financial issues." She reports that common work complaints are not being appreciated by one's boss, gossip in the office and discomfort about approaching one's supervisor or employer.
Cohen suggests that managers and supervisors evaluate if the work atmosphere can be reduced of useless gossip, if ways can be addressed to improve communication between employees and staff and how stressful competition can be reduced. She notes that employees feel non-motivated when stressed out and this can translate into poor customer service. By finding ways to assist employees to be more comfortable and relaxed at work, better relations to one's clients and customers will follow.
People often are stressed by the time they arrive at work due to an argument at home, financial fears, problems with a child or a difficult commute to work. When someone is already tense at 9 am, the day can often go down hill. Having an open communication with one's supervisor, an eap program for counseling and lunch time yoga or stress reduction programs can make work both more relaxing and productive.
Sometimes customers can be rude and training on ways to deal with this without losing one's cool are important. It also can be useful to see if there is any truth in the customers' complaints. Is there too much red tape someone has to jump through? Are the phone waits too long? Is there a long line that is very frustrating in the place of business? Are there problems with the products or services that are not being addressed? What can be done to reduce these types of problems? If there is a common complaint made, be honest and see if there is something that does need to be changed to reduce this problem. If customers are angry, it will make staff uncomfortable which can result in a similar attitude, resentment or fake smiles.
Customer service week is the perfect time to have some training for your staff for dealing with their own stress as well as for tough situations that come up with customers and clients. If employees can have a sense of humor and lightness about things, this will carry over into customer relations.
During the week itself, celebrate with your employees with little gifts, food breaks and activities. In the office, store or place of business show your clients and customers you remember it's customer service week and use contests, free booklets and puzzles to celebrate. A puzzle piece is the logo of customer service week. Have healthy snacks set up for both staff and customers. Don't just have lots of sugar-laden junk food that creates a high and low cycle of moods.
Think hard about giving something meaningful to employees and your customers during customer service week. Booklets are kept compared to pens and little calendars that are distributed everywhere. They can be inexpensive for management to provide and offer tips on daily living. At http://www.outside-
