As much as some businesspeople like to pretend that everything that is important in business boils down to numbers, no rational being can escape the reality that business is first and foremost a human undertaking. One of human nature's most debilitating habits, which has a consistently negative impact on our ability to "do business" is the almost universal denial of things we find uncomfortable. Because of this, a Politically Correct world is created in which we pretend certain things don't really exist or at the very least relegate discomforting ideas to the far corners of our consciousness. As an antidote to a PC world, one of the most liberating exercises in personal and business life is to be honest with yourself about what you are denying for convenience's sake, to look the devil straight in the eye and stare him down.
In the world of Customer Service (due to platform limitations, referred to hereafter as CS), there are some very non-PC realities that need to be addressed in order to bring out the best in a CS team.
Non-PC Reality #1 - CS employees very often have weak and reactive personalities. Someone who has a strong personality simply doesn't want to spend their day solving someone else's problems. Certainly we have all run into the CS rep who appears to have a solid ego when facing a customer, but nine times out of ten, when you back this person into a corner they'll fold over like an overcooked noodle.
What does it matter? It matters a lot! If you have an assertive personality and look for someone like yourself to work in CS (projecting is an equally problematic business issue), you're going to end up with the world's most expensive revolving door. Finding someone who is an intelligent, aggressive go-getter may be great for sales and engineering, but they'll quickly tear their hair out in frustration as they deal with 50% of all calls generated by customers who are unwilling to read a manual or unable to follow basic written instructions. CS isn't usually a good fit for dynamic and highly imaginative personalities.
Because most CS Managers rise from the ranks of their field, you also have an issue with a potentially weak leader. The personality of someone who is effective and successful as a front line CS employee doesn't always align with the personality required to be an effective manager. Instead of reactive, which almost all of CS work is, a manager needs to be proactive. Most CS employees are born "pleasers". However, sometimes a manager has to take hard decisions, disappoint people and stand firm against individual behavior that can damage a whole team. These are actions which don't come easily for pleasers.
A specific risk a CS manager faces is not being firm in their convictions. This opens the door to hiring "border-line" employees. Someone who looks great on paper, is willing to work for your wage scale, and has all the right answers to your interview questions, but leaves you with an uncomfortable feeling after the interview. Socially maladjusted personalities can find their way into the team and eat away at its very heart, with the manager being too wishy-washy to make the hard call and remove an otherwise high performing member.
As a result, one of the most important tasks in selecting and developing leadership in CS is to address the individual's self esteem and self image, openly and directly. If your rising star is not open to the topic and cannot address self esteem head-on, then you need to move on to your next candidate.
Non-PC Reality #2 - CS employees very often have hero complexes. While a hero complex in itself is nothing bad and is certainly helpful for someone who is "saving others" all day long, it has limiting aspects when it comes to developing these individuals as managers and leaders.
Someone with a hero complex usually lives in a very granular and short term world - ideal for the front line of CS. They love to define the issue, determine the root cause and solve the problem, then move on to the next challenge. The challenge is that if the buzz of success is stretched out too far into the future, then this person's motivation and performance is going to falter. What do you need for good management and leadership? People with vision that stretches to a distant horizon and who can work towards the long haul! Most heroes lack the required emotional stamina.
Non-PC Reality #3 - CS has a very poor public image. This is perhaps the most damning of all issues in CS. Although well over 50% of the GDP of developed countries is derived from Service industries, be it hair salons, airlines or call centers, should you try to find an educational institution offering a degree in CS, you'll end up with a list of options that can be counted on one hand, even after you chop off half your fingers.
When we're kids we want to be airplane pilots, movie stars and fire fighters. As we grow up we want to be fighter pilots, engineers, doctors and CEOs. Almost nobody has a dream of being in CS. CS is not the profession of choice for the top graduate. Where's the challenge? Where's the notoriety? CS is usually not even considered to be a profession, rather is relegated to the status of a "job".
As a direct result, it is almost unheard of to find someone who has a passion for excellence in CS. Almost everyone who has worked in CS, myself included, has done so because it was something a bit better than the other options presented at the time. Poorly managed CS often has a very high turnover, with most individuals viewing it as a "short term" situation to be exited at the next opportunity. Thus, they never invest in their CS skills and they never develop a strategic mindset for CS. And then we wonder why most companies deliver CS that is best described as "the minimum possible"!?
There's a great upside to this, however. If you consciously decide to have a deep passion for CS, to excel in your art and be a leader in your field, you'll find that you've got no real competition. It's an open field with almost nothing between you and the end zone. Instead, the field of contenders is so small and so limited that it is more a united brotherhood than a competitive playing field.
Care to join us?!
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