Assisting Customers When You’re in the Foulest of Moods

Uh oh… You’re in a bad mood.

Maybe you woke up on the wrong side of the bed; maybe you’ve experienced a series of unfortunate events this morning; maybe Murphy’s Law is paying a friendly visit. Whatever the reason, the clock is ticking and your shift starts in 5 minutes. So what can you do to ensure you’re not passing along your bad mood to your customers?

Here are a few simple steps to help you help your customers, bad mood or not.

1.     Smile!

If you’re on a phone shift, the moment you pick up your handset (or headset) to answer that incoming call, smile! Wearing a smile on your face may not affect your mood all that much, but what it will affect is your tone when you’re on the call. You can hear when someone is in a foul mood over the phone – by smiling, you are changing the tone of your voice, and that translates over a phone call. Even if you go to your sad, frustrated, or angry look the moment the phone call is over, you’ve still gone that little extra step to help the customer out.

2.     Breathe!    

Take a deep breath before answering the phone. Visualize yourself breathing in fresh mountain air, breathing in the smell of the ocean and the crash of the waves on the shore. Wherever your happy peaceful place lives, breath in a big old lungful of THAT air before you speak with the customer. What you’re doing is giving yourself a little bit of – well, let’s call it perspective. While you’re on the phone call with that customer, whether it’s a good phone call or a bad phone call, you’ve temporarily elevated yourself to a better place.

3.     Play!

No, seriously!  I always have something I like on my desk at home. Whether it’s a pair of Chinese stress balls (the metal ones that make a barely discernible “clang” as you move them in your hands), a tiny stuffie with soft, soft fur, or something cold, I have always have something fun and creative to make run around on my desk when I need to mentally escape and smile. Place something on your desk that helps you stay in a good mood – an item with a nice smell, a tactile stimulant, something – so when you ARE in those bad moods, you’ll have something happy to put your hands on.

And that’s it! These three things have helped me immensely in still providing high quality customer service whenever I’m in a foul mood. Hopefully they’ll help you out as well. 🙂

Ashley Wilson
Project Manager