2012 Trends and Challenges in Customer Service

Jan. 4, 2012 - PRLog -- More demanding customers, more stress and more disaffected staff are among the challenges facing service leaders in 2012.

But, according to the industry experts interviewed in the January issue of "Customer Service Newsletter," there are plenty of strategies that managers can adopt to overcome these challenges and position the service department for success.

One particularly persistent challenge is stress management. In the article, JoAnna Brandi of JoAnna Brandi & Company, points out that customer service managers need to become much more adept at recognizing and managing stress in their service centers.

In difficult economic times, "people are willing to pitch in, they are resilient, and they are willing to do more with less, but they have been doing it for a while now, and there is a cumulative affect to the stress that they are working with," she says.

"Managers need to become more knowledgeable about dealing with stress. They need to find ways to get people off the phones occasionally. They need to understand the physiology of stress and make sure that people have access to healthier food and drinks on the job. And they need to learn how to frame things in a more positive way, so people feel more optimistic about the future."

You may read the full trends article online at: http://www.CustomerServiceGroup.com/csntrends.php

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About the Customer Service Group

For more than 20 years, the Customer Service Group has helped customer service, call center and help desk managers increase productivity, improve service quality and boost customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention. The Customer Service Group publishes "Customer Service Newsletter" and "The Customer Communicator."

Website: http://www.CustomerServiceGroup.com