8 Lessons Learned during my time at LinkedIn's Global Customer Operations

On the 8th of July this year, together with 8 other eager students, I started my career at LinkedIn with the Business Leadership Program. This is a 6.5-month rotational program with the goal of showing us different sides of the business, develop ourselves on a personal and professional level and learn what LinkedIn is all about. 

Our first rotation was at LinkedIn’s Global Customer Operations (GCO). The objective of GCO is to educate, empower and engage clients so that they can leverage our products in the best way possible, and thereby further their mission. During this rotation we were placed in 2 different business lines: LinkedIn Talent Solutions and LinkedIn Sales Solutions. LinkedIn Talent Solutions helps clients attract and recruit great talent from the world's largest talent pool and LinkedIn Sales Solutions helps clients target, understand and engage leads in a revolutionary way. 

Here are my biggest lessons learned so far:

A complaint is not a bad thing, but a chance to strengthen the relationship 

This is a tip I heard from someone who has greatly inspired over the last years. In the past I would view a complaint as something I needed to fix in order to repair a relationship with someone, now I see it as an opportunity to improve the relationship by the way I handle and resolve the issue. There is something good in every situation, it is our job to look for it.

Providing a solution is not enough, people want to feel understood

I am a very task-oriented person by nature. When a client presents me with an issue, I want to solve it to the best of my ability and move on. However, I have come to understand that there is more to be done than solely helping a customer with their issue. A key learning for me was the big need for people to feel understood. Empathizing and resolving became my focus points during my first weeks, always making sure that I make the client feel understood before presenting them with a solution. This has helped me tremendously and has led to some very nice messages coming back from clients.

Empathy 

You can have all the knowledge and skills in the world, but in the end, people will not remember what you have told them, but rather how you made them feel.

Always focus on Added Value

After a few weeks, I came to understand that emphasizing with the client and providing a solution is the baseline. The many great coaches at LinkedIn taught me to always focus on added value in everything I do. For instance, to give the client a tip on how to leverage our products even more or provide them with a helpful article beyond the scope of their query.

InItWithOurCustomers

At LinkedIn, we are In It With Our Customers. From day 1 we are taught that we are on the same team as the client and that we need to be excellent team players. We work with the client to resolve issues, not for them, and this makes all the difference. 

Personalization

The highest rating we can get from our coach regarding the quality of the interaction with the client is going “above and beyond”. When I asked how I can improve my interaction with the client to this level my coach answered: “personalization”. With personalization, he meant tailoring each and every interaction I have specifically to the client and thereby consciously avoiding general answers/sentences. 

Standard of Excellence

At LinkedIn, the bar is set high in everything we do. This is something that I have come to love because it keeps challenging me to become better. The lesson: do it to the best of your ability, and do that the first time.

Keep it simple

Always know who you are talking to and use simple to understand language. After receiving many hours of detailed product training I am aware of many technicalities regarding our products, but I can not expect our customers to be. 

I can already see how this rotation has greatly impacted both my communication and interpersonal skills and I will take these lessons with me in both my professional as well as my personal life. To end, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the amazing people at LinkedIn who have welcomed me IN and guided me during the first 2 months of my career.