Did you ever find yourself staring at your phone as it rang and hoped the caller would just hang up instead of bother you? Bad days, too many calls, disgruntled customers and job burnout can make even the greatest help desk person a wreck and not care about the service they deliver. So what do you do? You could scream, holler, stomp your feet and have a temper tantrum, but that won’t get you anywhere in the long run. In this session we’ll discuss ways of combating those negative feelings and delivering exactly what your customer is looking for – an exceptional customer service moment.

1. August 22, 2013
Giving Great Customer Service –
Even When You Don’t Want To!
Sheri Robertson

2. 2
BREATHE

3. 3
B Bite Your Tongue

4. Bite Your Tongue
• STOP and listen
• Don’t react or overreact – it’s not personal
• Acknowledge you’re listening by repeating the
issue to them
4

5. 5
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax

6. Relax
• Take a deep breath
• Release body tension
• Stand up and stretch
• Smile
6

7. 7
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize

8. Empathize
• Put yourself in their place
• It’s not about you, but them
• Diffuse their frustration
• Show compassion
• Provide reassurance
• Show a sense of immediacy
• Understand their needs
• Know your customer
8

9. 9
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize
A Accept What You Can’t Change

10. Accept What You Can’t
Change
• Don’t argue
• Let them have their own opinion
• Don’t try to prove them wrong
• Don’t try to change them
• You can’t teach everybody!
10

11. 11
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize
A Accept What You Can’t Change
T Tone of Voice

12. 12

13. Tone of Voice
• Don’t “talk over” them
• Soften your voice
• Don’t be condescending
• Don’t be belligerent
13

14. Handling Difficult Questions
Is there anybody there that knows what they’re doing?
A: It’s not something we normally support, but if you’d like I can research it and get back
to you or I can see if one of my teammates is familiar with this.
What are you doing? That can’t be right, are you sure you know what you’re doing?
A: Yes sir/ma’am. Hang on, let me show you how this works.
Don’t mess up my document!
A: No, not at all, let’s save it first just in case, so if you don’t like the changes we can
discard them.
Why can’t you people all say the same thing? Everybody at the Help Desk does it
differently.
A: I apologize for any confusion. There are always alternate ways to achieve the same
goal. We try our best to be consistent in our answers. My goal is to show you the
simplest, fastest way to get there. Let me show you what I mean.
14

15. 15
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize
A Accept What You Can’t Change
T Tone of Voice
H Help

16. Help Them
• Remember your role
• Offer suggestions
• Attempt to fix the problem
• If you can’t fix it, assure them you’ll escalate
• Follow up later
16

17. 17
B Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize
A Accept What You Can’t Change
T Tone of Voice
H Help
E Enjoy Yourself!

18. 18

19. Enjoy Yourself!
• Have some fun
• If possible, interject humor
• Laugh with them, not at them
• Keep smiling
19

20. Bite Your Tongue
R Relax
E Empathize
A Accept What You Can’t Change
T Tone of Voice
H Help
E Enjoy Yourself!
20
B
R
E
A
T
H
E

21. Burnout – “The Funk”
• Overwhelmed by:
• Too many calls
• Too few staff members
• Too many changes
• Argumentative callers who don’t listen
21

22. 22
Bootsy is the ONLY funk you should be in!

23. Leaving “The Funk” Behind
• Take a break, get off the phones
• Go for a “walk about”
• Get some air
• Talk – not complain – to a teammate
• Find humor in the situation
23

24. Staying Out of “The Funk”
• Keep focused
• Why do I do this?
• What do I enjoy most about this job?
• Feeling stressed?
• Have stress balls on hand
• Post pictures of family, friends, pets or locations you dream of
visiting
• Update your computer wallpaper to something fun
• Get plenty of sleep and TAKE CARE OF YOU!
24

25. 25
Q & A