I recently had a conversation with two customer service professionals regarding their behavior and thoughts towards customers. I happened to catch one of them placing a customer on hold and blurting out an obscenity. I could hear rage in his voice and thought something terrible was happening in his personal life that would warrant such an outburst. I was alarmed as I asked what the problem was and dumbfounded as he gave his explanation. As he explained it, the customer was purposely being stupid and lying to him. As we talked through the situation, it was obvious that he had made many assumptions about the customer and had made a choice to believe the worst. As I shared my belief that we should love all customers and treat them like royalty, his co-worker chimed in and said, “It’s not like they are our relatives”. She also added that she often hears management talking about the customers. That caused me to pause. I recognized a common problem most individuals have when it comes to customer service. We need to understand that loving our customers, internal or external, isn’t about feelings but, actions. It is more about respect than it is about emotions.

People of faith refer to agape love when talking about love that is action based and not feeling based. It is described as selfless and seeking the other person’s best interests no matter how anyone responds. “It entails the decision to proactively seek someone’s well-being. Since it is not a knee jerk reaction nor just a responsive feeling to how I’ve been treated, agape is capable of acting in a hostile environment where there are no warm fuzzy feelings.”

How to change your mindset and the mindset of your team:
1) Stop talking about other people in a negative way! It breeds disrespect. Eliminate referring to your customer as a jerk and the people in other departments as idiots.
2) Squash the “I hate people” mantra that may be a part of your team. To flush this out, start your meeting with a statement such as, “I need to get something off my chest today. I hate people! Anyone else feel the same way?” You may be surprised at how many of your sales and customer service people raise their hands in agreement!
3) Remind your team that it isn’t about how they feel during or after a customer conversation. Their goal is to provide the best attitude and solution possible without expecting anything in return. They should always strive to treat customers the way they would expect to be treated. Customers don’t always remember what you did, but they will remember how you made them feel.