Helping clients with content development always provides me with interesting stories to tell. Here’s how to deal with the good and the bad when it comes to the ecommerce support industry.
Presentation and first impressions are everything in the support industry. The ability to adjust your tone and inflection when speaking with clients and writers will yield successful results with customer retention. It can be difficult to stay chipper when you’re tapped out or just having a plain old bad day, but I’m going to discuss a few ways to fake it ‘til you make it.
Put a smile on your face –I’m well aware this sounds ridiculous, but put a mirror on your desk. Stare at yourself while you’re on the phone with a difficult client. Show those pearly whites. The person on the other end of the phone will disarm themselves when they feel like they can trust the smiling person on the other end of the line. The physical act of smiling wide will earn the trust of the person on the other end of the phone. Changing your non-verbal communication will be heard in your verbal correspondence with the client.
Breathe in, breathe out – Yeah, you’re going to need to relax. Easy to say, as it’s hard to do. You can’t be the friendliest human your client has ever encountered if you’re sitting at your desk about to hyperventilate over an order that didn’t go well. But you have to be. In order to do so, get a stress ball, or go on Pinterest and find new recipes, or look at videos of cats walking on pianos. Doing such will allow you to collect yourself; hopefully you won’t take an hour watching videos like “Charlie Bit Me.”
Squeeze your toes – This works for me and to be honest, I have no idea if it’s going to work for you, but it’s worth a shot. When you squeeze your toes, it helps you channel all the negative energy downward. Helping you focus on solving problems quickly and efficiently without getting bogged down by stress. For instance, if a client thinks that their revision request was spot on, but it in fact completely changes the focus of the article requested, squeeze those toes before you give a response. It will stop you from saying the first thing that comes to mind and you’ll think about what you say next; which adds a level of strategy to your discussion.
From my perspective, the thing that has helped me the most, is a positive outlook and a bubbly personality. When you see the silver lining when working in customer support, it’s easier to reach a successful outcome. If all else fails, grab another cup of coffee. Stay calm, cool, and collected, and you’ll keep them coming back for more.
Alicia DeLuca is an Account Manager at WriterAccess. Contact Alicia on Twitter @adeluca89 or by email Alicia (at) WriterAccess.com.
