Lessons I Learned From Working In Customer Service
By: Rita Alexandra
Tags: Jobs, Work, Life Lessons, Self Improvement, Self

Lesson 1: Put in the effort, you will be compensated

I know this is well-known to everyone, but my personal experience had me believe otherwise. I was always an A+ student, and my parents never congratulated me on it. I worked on relationships, on keeping friends, on making people feel good, and barely got a ‘thank you’ for it (in fact, a lot of times, I got backlash instead).

I struggled with putting effort and getting no compensation or validation for it — or so I thought. I was so focused on my emotionally unavailable parents not appreciating my grades, that I had forgotten the grades themselves were the actual validation that I needed. Or the fact that the real compensation of making people feel good was just that, them feeling good. So, it wasn’t until I started working that I understood that it is all a matter of perspective and personal choice. No, seriously. You choose what is more important: your absent boss not acknowledging your work or the customers leaving thanking notes at the reception for your service.

Lesson 2: A tip doesn’t always mean good work

It might just mean that people understand you.

I wasn’t the perfect waitress. In fact, in the beginning, I was quite lousy. I can’t even describe the number of times I dropped trays full of drinks. Most of the time, customers would laugh, and my superiors would say, “it happens.” I even spilled wine on a lady’s bag, she yelled at me for 10 minutes straight, and her husband left me a tip and a note saying, “I’m sorry, I understand.”

Customers and coworkers often saw beyond my actions, and they realized I was just not having the best of the days instead of thinking I was incompetent. We have to remember that people are not perfect, and they are going to mess it up. Sometimes, they will need punishment, and other times, they need a little understanding. The way people handle these taught me to be more humble and comprehensive.

Lesson 3: Empathy towards customer service workers (and others)

Is the food taking too long? Is the plate not clean? Are the drink doses ridiculously low? Are people talking about something that makes you uncomfortable on the table next to you? Is the food undercooked?

Not the waiter’s fault.

Is that new TV malfunctioning? The payment for your phone did not come through? Your online order never arrived?

Don’t blame the person on the side of the phone.

I get it, you’re upset. But people who work in customer service usually do everything they can to satisfy your needs. Most of the time, it is something beyond their control. If anything fails, make sure to file a proper complaint rather than yelling at workers. This will help the company understand where the service is malfunctioning and better their services.

Lesson 4: Remember when they said, “fake it until you make it”?

Well, they were right. As depressed as I could be, I still had that drive in me. I needed to be and act professional. If not for me, for the people I was serving. Because nobody deserved to be welcomed with an “I hate this, I hate you, I wanna go home” attitude.

So, I’d put on my best customer face, and I’d make myself smile. I would pretend my life was full of positivity, and that was all I had to offer. I was faking it, and although I didn’t quite make it, I must admit, it did improve my mood, and I started being more outgoing.

Lesson 5: Stress management

When you work in a 5-star hotel, you will realize that most people forget that we are humans and expect perfection from everyone. But we are not perfect. Our service also has flaws and, even though we try our best to obstruct these flaws, things might not go as planned. It happens; it’s life.

In these environments, it’s easy for both customers and the staff to drive you crazy because of one minor mistake. I wasn’t one to publicly act on my anger, but I did cry in front of my coworkers more than I ever wanted. I would get so angry, and I would want to punch walls because of complaints, the yelling, what I did wrong, or what I didn’t do wrong, but I had to hear about it anyway — many reasons that I’m not proud to say.

Thankfully, I changed. With time, I learned to listen, nod accordingly, move on, and forget about it if it made me angry, instead of retaliating or sit back and cry.

Lesson 6: Communication really is the key

Communication was vital for excellent service. Most of the failures as a team were due to the lack of it. Communication was just as important for the way that we handled upset customers. My coworkers and I have saved the hotel from several complaints just because we knew how to communicate.

Although I was always a huge fan of communication, I still had (or have) my moments where I stall. At work, I truly learned that talking out my feelings or thoughts, and discussing them, was the best way to deal with certain situations.