October, 2009

Seek out and thank your "Isabels"

By Barbara Burke. October 5th, 2009

“Serving customers, I believe is a noble calling. In fact, I think we have the most important job in the company — caring for our customers. Not everyone is suited for the job. But those who are, are richly rewarded.”

– Isabel, the wise service rep in The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey.

A colleague recently told me about a new contact center he visited that is using a misguided approach to filling their 100+ seats: they are hiring “overqualified” reps who after a stint in the call center, transfer out of the center to take positions more consistent with their career goal.

Frankly, I think that’s a colossally bad idea on many levels. If they were my client I’d suggest that instead of hiring employees who view their customer service job as the cost of admission for getting a “better” position in the company, they should hire as many “Isabels” as they could find. While I can see some advantages to using the call center as basic training for other jobs, I’d make that percentage no more than 25% of the total.

“What are the qualities of an “Isabel?” I believe that Chris Keyes, a CSR at Madison Gas & Electric shares many of Isabel’s qualities.

Chris wrote me an email last week to let me know what a difference The Napkin, the Melon & the Monkey had made in her life and to share how excited she was that her peers would be reading the book as part of their Customer Service Appreciation celebration this week.
Chris went on to explain how she approached her job as a CSR — a philosophy typical of the Isabels I have known:
“I take great pride in providing customer service and consider it an extremely important role.  Every single day is a challenge and every single day is another opportunity to help someone.  I work full time and almost exclusively taking incoming calls. … I want to make a difference and I challenge myself every day to learn something new, share some type of tip with another rep, somehow cheer up another rep, and ALWAYS strive to be a positive influence to the other reps and my co-workers.” (photo of Chris)

This week as we celebrate the contributions of the fine people who work in customer service, take a minute to identify the Isabels in your organization. Make a special effort to let them know how important they are to you. These extraordinary men and women offer living proof of what a difference kindness and generosity can make in the lives of others.

May you take the opportunity to celebrate each other this week — and every week.

And, Chris thanks for allowing me to sing your praises.