Retooling Customer Service

The community I wish to see some changes in is the customer service worker's community. Internally, we are the core of any business. We are the voice, the face, the personality of the company. We are usually the first point of contact with the customers, soothing, calming, consoling and assuring them that their money is well spent with our company. We must extol the virtues of our organization while seeking the most efficient, cost effective way to gain and maintain the customer base that is vital to our company's bottom line. And yet, customer service reps are abused repeatedly throughout their day. We are forced to endure insults with a smile. Some must accept foul language and even threats. In many cases, there are provisions in place to deal with such unruly customers, but on the whole, it irks me to no end that the very people consumers seek out to help with their problems are the ones who end up attacked when the solution doesn't suit. In order to meet company thresholds, we must maintain our cool, take call after call, and forget an unpleasant customer or encounter within seconds of ending it.

This repeated verbal abuse can lead many reps to become jaded. Jaded reps develop apathy towards the customer. Apathetic reps eventually cease giving 100%. They do what they must to get the customer off the phone (or out of the store) -whether they are the unpleasant sort or not- and moves through her day hating her job. The main source of this apathy is the quality of customer-to-rep interaction. No matter how professional or how well-trained, the rep can be negatively affected by rude or unpleasant customers. The tendency for more and more customers to patronize, disregard, threaten and insult reps needs to be addressed and changed.

Under repeated, unrelenting attack by the very people she has been hired and trained to assist, the apathetic rep begins to feel that no matter what she does, the customer will not be satisfied, so why bother going the extra mile? The rep may maintain company standards as far as call handling or even sales quotas are concerned, but she is, internally, sick and tired of being the punching bag for unhappy customers. This is the issue that causes the most concern. CSPs come into the position with the hope of assisting customers and making a decent living. It becomes harder to maintain that desire to help when the calls run toward the darker side of human nature. This issue has grown over the last 15 years. An irate, unpleasant, vulgar customer used to be a rare thing. So rare in fact, that he would immediately be turned over to superiors or disconnected after warning the caller. Signs in certain stores warned of the right to refuse service. This was hardly put into action, however, because we as society used to be polite towards each other. People who created a scene or acted outrageously in public were censured by their peers. Over the last few decades, however, an attitude of entitlement has made dramatic changes in the way many patrons interact with the people in the customer service industry. Reps have been told that they better deliver what was being demanded they would be fired. When the reps attempt to offer alternatives that are within their ability and authority, they are accused of lying, not caring about the customer, driving the customer away, losing business for the company, laziness, and incompetence. Many reps sit and talk with their coworkers about their day long after the shift is over. This is an effort to purge the stress of the shift before making the drive home. Often this does not lessen the bleed over enough once the CSP reaches home. It is difficult to leave the stress of a long work day at work. It is even more difficult when the rep has been insulted, abused, jeered and yelled at for simply trying to do the best she can with what she has.

Those lightning bolts you send crashing down on customer-service people shoot beyond the workplace into workers' homes and families. Customer-service representatives have a far larger-than-average problem with "work-family spillover," or job stress poisoning home life (Shellenbarger, S. 2004 retrieved Sept 9 2009).

This spillover can lead to conflict with family, friends and peers. The demands of the workplace can add friction to our most cherished interactions, making the CSP dread going to work and dread going home. Families endure the stress of the customer service worker more in the present day than ever before.

This strain on the rep, and continued customer dissatisfaction is the core of the issue that urgently needs to be addressed. Ten years ago, reps rarely experienced these feelings.

Steve Coscia puts a name to this apathy and general dissatisfaction in TELE-Sales: Relief For Call Center Stress Syndrome .

Customer behavior is changing. [Customers] appear less patient and more demanding. In addition, technological advancements have made it more difficult for the technically-challenged customers to keep up.

Coscia cites a "divergence" between customer knowledge and the speed of change. "This gap keeps widening" as technology, policies and practices continue to change. Coscia believes this lack of knowledge in customers creates frustration which the customer then takes out on the rep.

This is only one symptom of our accelerated lives in a continually shrinking world. Coscia cites the flip side of the equation:

The two issues that are converging are our customer's power and Their access to consumer rights information...they make our jobs very difficult...These customers know what words and key phrases will...make us cave in to their demands.

Coscia acknowledges that a stressed rep will not perform well. He offers options, training, strategies and literature to assist companies in arming their reps to deal with "customers from hell".

It is a known fact that on a global scale we as humans simply are not as nice to each other as we once were. Men no longer stand when a woman enters and leaves a room. Hats are not removed, "ladies first" had largely become a thing of the past. A great many people want what they want when they want it, no matter what has to be done or who has to suffer. This lack of common courtesy and respect permeates every facet of our society. It is this attitude of entitlement that can lead a customer to speak or act in a previously unacceptable manner towards a rep who is simply trying to work within the parameters of her position. Thesite.org states:

From the days of Jane Austen, where common courtesy involved addressing one another with titles and surnames, there has been a steady decline in formality, and, it seems, a decline in general manners.

As a great believer in courtesy, the writer must agree with TheSite.org. In this age of excruciating political correctness and global scrutiny, one would think a civil tone on the phone would be the least we could expect from our customers. This has not proven to be the case, however.

At this time, it is unknown to the writer just when or how this "you owe me" mindset came from. It is detrimental to reps and to customers over the long term. Time is wasted, resources are under-utilized and the customer loses in the end. Allowing the initial rep to deal with an issue can take the length of a phone call. Escalating the issue can delay resolution by days, weeks or even months depending on how far the customer pushes the issue. It costs the company more money, and costs the customer time and energy. Ongoing issues can create an atmosphere of confrontation and mistrust. Many repeat or recurring issues can be resolved by the rep, but only if the customer allows them to do so. This impatience, the demand for immediate resolution is another facet of unpleasant interactions that can generate stress for the rep and frustration for the customer.

There appears to be two possible courses of action to change this trend towards obnoxiousness in customers and apathy in reps. The first option is to implement a policy in which reps are allowed to advise customers that the interaction must remain civil. Consequences could range from simply ending the call, or removing the customer from the premises to as severe as terminating the customer's services for repeated offenses. To implement such a policy would dramatically alter the general rules of engagement between reps and customers. The policy would have to be reviewed periodically and revised to match changes in the marketplace. A firm, yet flexible policy and procedure that grants reps the ability to control the call in this manner could see a drop in the turnover rate in call centers and any retail point of customer contact. This would lead to a drop in company expenditures on hiring and training new CSPs, which would see a growth in profit overall.

The second option is far more audacious and far less likely to come into being. It is, however, in the writer's view, the path that should be taken, even if the first is implemented. Companies should put a program of customer retraining in place. Customers who repeatedly escalate, abuse, or otherwise disrespect the CSPs, disregard policy or demand special treatment would have their accounts marked. These customers would then be systematically advised that their behavior has caused the company to place them on a rehabilitation program. That program would involve a probationary period wherein the customer must rethink their approach to the company and its representatives. This policy would require meticulous records, in order to confirm whether or not the customer was in fact changing their behavior. Accounts, credit lines, and payment arrangements would be limited under this program. Perks, sweepstakes, giveaways or special promotion would not be available for customers placed in Rehab. Services could be terminated at the customer's request, but records would be maintained. The mark would not be removed until the customer completed the course. The program would review the notes left on the account before and after the Rehab went into effect. If the customer fails to change their behavior, services could then be terminated, in effect, firing the customer. Should the customer respond favorably, however, the program would be lifted and normal business relations could resume. Certain customers respond well when they are given a chance to see their behavior from the rep's point of view. When they make contact, they want their issue question, problem or concern addressed. It has been pointed out to some unruly callers that the time they wasted ranting could have been more wisely spent. This is the lesson that needs to be taught. Customers need to be made to understand the enormous impact their negative behavior can have on their services, their costs and their lives.

Empowering CSPs can give them back that initial desire to assist customers. It can remove the apathy and free them from the dread often present when one realizes the caller or customer is not going accept the company policy or their limitations within that policy. It will clear the way for customers who truly need assistance, with serious service or account issues that require more in depth research. Retaining customer may break through the general attitude gripping our society. Disrespecting CSPs is not the only symptom of this plague. Road rage, carjacking, home invasions, identity theft, and fraud have all increased in recent years. It is believed that this is due to the general "who cares, I got mine" attitude that has swept the nation. We must care; we must restrain our baser, less pleasant human nature if we are to live together in peace. Lack of compassion and respect for our fellow man fueled the collapse of Enron and Wall Street.

Instead of working for their patrons, these people worked for themselves. Greed and selfishness have turned us into a rude, intolerant, hateful people. This is merely one facet of that disease. We must heal ourselves, if we are to survive. If we can start with improving relations on the every day, when you go to a store, call a company, place an order. Making customers see the other person as an equal, as a human being with feelings and a life outside of them can go a long way towards lessening the incidence of unpleasant encounters, and thus improve the customer experience. Happy customers are loyal customers. Loyal customers are the baseline income of business. A solid customer base allows companies to expand their service offerings and their infrastructure, which benefits the company and society overall.

Bridging this gap between reps and customers is paramount to resolving the increasing lack of customer satisfaction and lower CSP performance. Finding the middle ground where all can meet and engage in a civil exchange that leaves all feeling that their time has been well spent. CSPs will know their work is worthwhile, and customers will remain confident in the company and maintain their relationship with businesses that deliver consistent quality.