Published March 2004

Managing workers on front line of customer service takes balance

For reasons that aren’t exactly clear, we are attracted to extremes. And one result is that we now have all sorts of extremes on television.

Surfing, skate boarding, skiing and snow boarding are just the ones listed under “s.” We can watch people’s appearance change on “Extreme Makeover.” And we can even watch the folks on “Extreme Makeover — Home Edition” completely remodel a house in seven days, something that would make most houses, and us, extremely happy.

What we don’t have is a program called “Extreme Management.” And that is because extremes in management aren’t very pretty, aren’t very effective and aren’t very entertaining. Certain types of human behavior simply do not lend themselves gracefully to extremes. (Extreme parenting comes to mind as one example, but there are many others.)

A good part of management involves motivating and leading human beings. And there, management at its best turns out to be an example of Aristotle’s “Golden Mean” — somewhere around the midpoint between the extremes. This explains why good management doesn’t seem very exciting to television writers or audiences, and it also explains why good management is often an undervalued skill — even in corporate America, which so desperately needs it.

There is no environment tougher than customer service, the “ER” of business. It takes a lot of skill, resourcefulness and endurance to deal with customers today, and an equal amount of skill to manage the people on the front lines. Fortunately, while we still aren’t likely to see it on television, many businesses are coming to realize the importance of these skills and to appreciate the need for balanced management.

Today’s customers are many things, but shy is not one of them. They are outspoken, and not inclined to accept anything less than full satisfaction.

They can be demanding, adversarial, irate and even belligerent on occasion. For some reason, an increasing number feel free and entitled to unload on service providers of all descriptions, from restaurant servers to phone-order representatives.

And while the overwhelming majority of customers are really wonderful to deal with, most of us are not equipped, psychologically, to deal with the ones who behave truly badly. We are unfamiliar, fortunately, with adults “losing it” over things that could easily be resolved. We remember their words, their insults, long after they have forgotten them. We bring them home with us at night, along with the after-effects of our elevated adrenaline levels.

In this environment, effective management of customer service operations requires not just skills but also an unusually high level of teamwork. The simple truth of today’s customer service environment is that nobody can stand up to this stuff alone. Without a team to back him or her up, a lone customer service representative will quickly fall to pieces — and either quit or become useless.

But, just as importantly, effective management requires balance — a kind of “Golden Mean” that Aristotle could appreciate.

There are two reasons why balance is needed in developing, training and backing up your customer service team. The first is that while supporting your team, you don’t want to instill an “us against them” spirit. There is a natural tendency for people to adopt this attitude when they feel they are under siege by unreasonable customers. But a competition between a business and its customers is, by definition, one that the company cannot win.

The second reason why balance is needed is that we need to find that middle range that allows us to find not just support from the team but also strength. We want the team to provide understanding and even sympathy for those who have experienced trying times with customers, but not to encourage whining. Just like a team doctor or a trainer on a football team, we want to help an individual to play, not provide him with an excuse not to.

In the ideal, balanced team, customer problems are viewed as a challenge, not a personal conflict to be won or lost. Sometimes it is helpful for customer service people to share their bad experiences with their teammates who understand what it is like to be on the front lines. A manager must set the tone for this, though, so that the team itself does not become too comforting, and transform itself into a comfortable nest for those who cannot handle the challenges of direct customer contact.

But, most of all, a good manager will balance an operation, providing understanding to those who need it, strength and encouragement to those ready to meet the challenge. Leading a direct customer contact operation is the toughest, and most personally rewarding, challenge in management. And the fact that businesses are coming to realize this holds real promise for the U.S. economy.

James McCusker, a Bothell economist, educator and small-business consultant, writes “Your Business” in The Herald each Sunday. He can be reached by sending e-mail to otisrep@aol.com.

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