Maybe it’s just me, but it seems that I’m surrounded by people that have extremely short patience lately. I know I’m guilty of losing my temper occasionally too, but it really got me thinking that maybe we all need to collectively take a deep breath and count to ten before biting someone’s head off about something that really isn’t worth the trouble.
We all go through stuff, and we have no idea what kind of “stuff” the person on the other end of the phone (or on the other side of the counter) is going through. Since we’re getting to that time of year where stress levels are on the rise, I think it’s a good idea to talk to your employees and just give them a reminder to count to ten before snapping back at an unhappy customer. It’s not easy, and dealing with the public is not an easy job. It takes a special person to defuse an angry customer. The first thing we have to realize is that chances are, it’s not a personal attack when someone starts yelling at us. If we can take a step back from the situation and realize that there are probably a handful of unfortunate events that led to this outburst, then it makes dealing with the situation a little easier.
There are a lot of stress relievers that you can suggest to your employees to help them get through this stressful time of year, but the easiest suggestion is to just breathe. Yoga is great, but it’s time consuming and can be expensive. Breathing is easy and it’s free! The next time someone screams at you, honks at you, cuts you off on the road, take a deep breath and remember that it’s their problem, not yours. Just be nice!
