Anyone deliver customer service face-to-face?

[SilentAndShy]

ATM, I'm work front of house doing my admin role where I sit on my desk and it is in a decent place where people occasionally pop in. It tends to vary.

Anyhow, I just wanted to gather how people, who have anxiety, shyness etc, who might work in a customer service face to face role, how they handle it?

I had a customer come in who got abit aggressive and in the heat of the moment, I panicked and went to my line manager but sadly, she fobbed me off onto someone else who was really good in helping me. Sometimes, when someone comes in, I think "oh no what they want?" because I fear I'll not know something and struggle but I guess I can ask my colleague who sits opposite me.

Any advice on dealing with people who might be agitated or raise their voice?

Thank you.

 

[Froggy246]

Stay calm, let the person tell their story, don't interrupt them, give them your full attention, when they have finished acknowledge that you have understood what they said, and suggest what you can do to help, even if that merely involves getting someone else over.

 

[SilentAndShy]

I'm finding this becoming more anxious for me as of late.

I sit front of office and there's a massive window which people walk past and it bugs me how I get anxious when people look in and look at them from the corner of my eye thinking "don't come in!".

It's difficult to change that thought process. Sometimes it might be that I'm busy/or in the flow of doing work that I don't want to be disturbed but still think it's fearing that as I wrote in my OP that I fear I'll come across as unknowledgeable which I still feel I am despite being in the job over a year!

 

[Megaten]

You've got guts Ill give you that. So I can say at least pat yourself on the back for holding down that type of job for this long. Ive been avoiding customer service positions.

 

[Ithior]

I'm finding this becoming more anxious for me as of late.

I sit front of office and there's a massive window which people walk past and it bugs me how I get anxious when people look in and look at them from the corner of my eye thinking "don't come in!".

It's difficult to change that thought process. Sometimes it might be that I'm busy/or in the flow of doing work that I don't want to be disturbed but still think it's fearing that as I wrote in my OP that I fear I'll come across as unknowledgeable which I still feel I am despite being in the job over a year!

Something that helps me dealing with that sort of anxiety is having a backup plan. Basically, what should you do once things go wrong? It seems that in your situation it would be asking your colleague for help. Think of what you would say to the customer before asking for help (like "I'm sorry, I am not certain on how to deal with this issue, let me ask my colleague for his opinion" or whatever you think is appropriate). Try to memorise it and recall it from time to time, so that when it happens it sort of pops into your head and you can just follow the steps you planned. In this case, it would be a relatively simple plan, it would be to tell that sentence to the customer and then ask for help from your colleague.

You can also think about what you would do if your colleague wasn't there at the time. Having these sort of backup plans greatly reduces my anxiety in situations like these.

 

[Sacrament]

Good on you for not giving up when it gets tough. It's a matter of exposure and getting used to the job, really. With time, you learn what to say in situation x or y, and at the same time you learn to build an outer shell where things don't necessarily stress you out but you're able to handle it just fine, in a way that is calming to the other person and at the same time helps you.

 

[SilentAndShy]

Something that helps me dealing with that sort of anxiety is having a backup plan. Basically, what should you do once things go wrong? It seems that in your situation it would be asking your colleague for help. Think of what you would say to the customer before asking for help (like "I'm sorry, I am not certain on how to deal with this issue, let me ask my colleague for his opinion" or whatever you think is appropriate). Try to memorise it and recall it from time to time, so that when it happens it sort of pops into your head and you can just follow the steps you planned. In this case, it would be a relatively simple plan, it would be to tell that sentence to the customer and then ask for help from your colleague.

You can also think about what you would do if your colleague wasn't there at the time. Having these sort of backup plans greatly reduces my anxiety in situations like these.

Thanks Ithior.

My colleague sits across and she overhears my conversation at times so does jump in when she can see I'm struggling. I did used to ask my colleagues when I was new in the job but as I've go on, feel hesitant to ask unless they think "Gah, he should know by now!".

I actually prefer dealing with people on my own. Because I don't feel the sense that someone is "watching" me as I deal with a customer; secondly, I think well at least if I say something wrong and it comes back to haunt me then there's no witnesses lol.

 

[SilentAndShy]

Hello.. Bumping this as recently finding I'm struggling with face to face work again. I'm on edge and I more anxious when my colleagues, who sit opposite me are in the office, and I'm dealing with someone fearing I'll say something which is wrong and they'll jump in to correct me which they have done a few times, but to assist, or neither have they admonished me for it. But I feel more relaxed when I'm on my own - just always feel on edge when in the presence of others.

I deal with people, like today, who have mental health problems and my voice lowers, abit hesitant, indecisive - probably I fear they are going to start shouting or their unpredictability makes me nervous..!

Help!