I have heard it said many times that we humans are social
creatures. We rely upon one another for
fulfillment emotionally, but we also rely upon one another in the business
realm. When one deals with the public and the needs of the public regularly, we
refer to this as customer service.
Customer service gets a bad rep, and it is also considered a very
low-end job, serving others the basics.
Yet, after many years in customer service, I firmly believe
that every individual should experience what it is like to serve coffee, to
make sandwiches, to balance all of the tasks and duties required of customer
service positions. Everyone should know
what its like to serve the public at 5 in the morning on a rainy or snowy Monday,
when every single person is grumpy, bitter to be awake and going to work
again. Everyone should know what it is
like to get yelled at for no reason.
Everyone should know what it is like to clean toilets and pick up
disrespectful messes.
Customer services has taught me many things, but, these five
stand out the most:
1. Just Say Yes
While this was my Starbucks district’s slogan, it really
comes down to the heart of where customer service is now. Just say yes.
Give them literally everything they want and ask for. And do it with a smile.
Boy does that take self-control! When you’re being shushed by a person
ordering while on their phone, it takes everything you have no to yell in their
face and say come back when you’re ready.
It makes me wonder, though, is just saying yes the right
thing to do? It seems that it continues
and perpetuates the entitlement and the disrespect of customer servants as
non-humans, but rather robots or individuals with no personhood or story or
importance. Is this really where we want
to be as a culture?
2. Relationships Matter
A relationship with the customer is the most crucial aspect
of business and customer service. After
all, people can buy their own coffee and make it at home, but, at Starbucks,
they get waited on hand and foot with a smile.
And they come back for that every single day.
Relationships keep them coming back. Relationships with customers paid my
rent. Got me tips to put gas in my
car. Relationships made me friends, got
me connections, and encouraged me that I was meant for more in this world than
relationships with people I serve daily at a coffee shop. What kind of relationships are these? Where customers know little to nothing about
me, yet I listen to their morning whining and their evening tired
proclamations? Is this really a
relationship? Or are customer services
representatives simply emotional dumping grounds?
Relationships matter in all aspects of life. We humans are social beings, after all,
right? I tried to cultivate real relationships
with customers. But in the end, I’m left
wondering, was it real?
3. Give Everything You’ve Got
In customer service, you’re expected to give
everything. Whether the demands come
from your boss, the higher ups in the corporation, or the customers themselves,
you have to be on – constantly.
Especially when you don’t feel like it.
You’re asked to give and give and give. Even when you don’t feel like it, you slap on
a smile and a howdy-do that even frightens you at how genuine it sounds. At Starbucks, we are asked to give
“legendary” customer service.
Legendary. As in it lives
on. And gets talked about after the
customers leave and go back to their own lives.
I hope everything that I gave and how I made people feel lives on in the
stores where I have worked. I guess
that’s all one can hope for.
4. Be Yourself
It’s obvious when you’re a fake, and you work in customer
service. I’ve actually been frightened
by baristas or managers who are basically different people at work and outside
of work. Even if you’re shy or weird,
you have to be you.
Starbucks drew me outside of myself. It pushed me to talk to people I would not
necessarily have talked to on my own.
And like it or not, I was me. I
was quirky. I was funny. I was chatty.
I was real. People saw me on good
days and bad days. Days when it was
really hard to wake up at 4:07am and days when I popped out of bed like a pop
tart.
There is beauty in being yourself that I learned during my
time in customer service. Because
everyone has a place. Everyone fits
somewhere. Some places better than
others. I gained confidence
exponentially in the past few years. And
for that I am extremely grateful. Even
though everyone is replaceable in customer service, people are still good and
have value and are beautiful and giving at the end of the day. And that is magical.
5. Don’t Be Afraid
Don’t be afraid of anything.
Of anyone. Of any dream that you
have. Sure it’s scary, but don’t be
paralyzed by it.
Sure I lost a lot of sleep and worked long and weird hours
at Starbucks. Sure I got anxiety trying
to constantly meet the needs of an ever-changing company trying to compete in a
changing market. Sure I felt
underappreciated and underpaid. That’s
customer service.
But it wasn’t my dream.
It’s okay if someone has a dream to have their own Starbucks and be a
part of that bigger community. You can
change lives that way – one cup at a time.
But it wasn’t my dream. And now I
have the confidence to follow my dream. And
three stores cheering me on – along with a whole family of partners who believe
in me and what the path holds for me.
For that, I am eternally grateful.
