I happened to meet a customer service manager recently who I will call Felix. The call center he is responsible for is experiencing turn-over, they are unable to manage the call volume and their mistakes are high. Felix is a great guy and he is a hard worker. Leadership is puzzled. Why is he failing as a customer service manager? Felix got the position as the manager because he had previous management experience and he knew someone at the company. He had not worked in a call center before and he had no experience in the industry. His lack of industry knowledge has become a disadvantage because he doesn’t know what he doesn’t know. He is learning the ropes by trial and error. While he may understand what makes for good customer service, his standards are low and he has no idea of how to develop those skills in his staff. His past positions did require some sales management, but in the industries he came from their sales process was order taking. Building a sales lead database, following up on unclosed sales and training others to overcome an objection to a sale was not a part of his past. He managed other employees before, but most of them were men. They didn’t mind that he never said “good morning” or that he gave compliments by e-mail. Now his team of 12 is comprised of all women and he doesn’t understand why his communication style isn’t working. He is attributing the communication problems to hormones. Did you know that: • Being a great driver doesn’t make you a great route manager • Having a great attitude doesn’t make you a great department head • Managing daily processes well doesn’t mean you will be able to lead and change course • Being given the responsibility of managing customer service does not mean you will be effective • Low performance scores can be an indicator that you do not have the right customer service manager How to find potential leaders in your organization 1) Create a “Leadership University” program for those who have potential. The curriculum should include ethics training and it should help them discern if they are most likely to be better at managing or leading. 2) Nominate candidates who may someday be great supervisors, managers or leaders, to attend Leadership University. 3) Have Tooty conduct an in-depth evaluation of your team to help you identify potential leaders and those who may be more suited for managing processes. Your customer service manager is the pivot point for all other departments. Don’t entrust such an important position to someone who does not have the right qualifications. She must interface with operations, sales, billing, collections and the customer. Reconsider the importance of providing customer service manager training on a regular basis, too. They need to be on top of their game.