By Mary Rae Floresca | Negosentro.com
I have no regrets in entering the customer service but I just hoped I knew better before I got in. It’s not easy, well, no job is. For those who wants to enter this industry, make sure you read this.
There are two ways to get into a customer service industry, and that is to put up your own start-up business or you get employed to a business. I majored in communications, basically, I was expected to be in Journalism, however, I chose to veer away from my stereotyped course. I just moved to a new city and landed a job as a sales coordinator. I work for food and beverage company. It’s where I learned all about customer service, but still I am learning.
I wish I knew how clients can be so unruly so I know how to put my guard down a little more. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t blow up in front of the customer, but I divert my emotions to the team I am with. Customer is always right as they say, I also really try to put myself on their shoes. There are different kinds of customers, old ones, millennials, busy people, moms. I wish I knew how to handle all of them before I got in. If you to be working on a front office, or the cashier, brace yourselves.
I wish I knew the company or team I was working with. Well, that is a challenge, you don’t get to know the people you get to work with before you are hired. No one is perfect but at some point you have to learn how to lead yourself and the staff around you to meet your goals. To do this, you should be able to adapt yourself to how they work. One must know how diskarte works in Filipino’s term. In my position before, I have to oversee the people around me, a lot, because there will always be discrepancies. But as much as possible do your tasks right so you don’t have to redo or revise again and again. Oh, and one thing that bosses and customers hate? -Doing the same mistake twice and more than that.
I wish I knew that customer service means being selfless. There are times that you sacrifice your free time or the bite of the burger you have in your hand. When the phone rings, you are obliged to pick it up in less than three rings. When the team needs more manpower to accomplish a task, you leave your comfy bed and rush to help them out just to satisfy the customers right away. I wish I knew how to perfect time management, because when I leave the office before, I still have some tasks to be done at home, not to mention I got scoliosis because I was carrying my laptop everyday!
I wish I knew how to be genuinely sympathetic. I admit I can be sarcastic at times, good thing I know how to fake an apologetic voice, I usually communicate with clients through phone. However, at times that I really make mistakes, I sincerely apologize and after the call, I cry my heart out as if I broke up with a special someone.
I wish I knew my capabilities so I can ask for a higher salary. This is a mistake of most Filipinos, we tend to feel that we are not good enough so why ask for a raise, we also get dragged down by other people and never get that higher position. Believe in yourself, be confident, challenge yourself that you can do better and even best. Never stop learning and sometime, somehow, you will get the position you’ve been wanting your whole life.
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