What Tough Jobs Can Teach Us About Great Customer Service

Think about an air traffic controller staying calm while guiding planes through a storm, or a 911 operator helping someone in an emergency. These jobs might seem very different from regular customer service, but we can learn a lot from them about how to help customers better.

Customer service can be stressful, but some jobs take it to a whole new level. Let's look at what we can learn from people doing the world's hardest jobs and how we can use their skills to make our customer service even better.

Staying Cool When Things Get Tough

Air traffic controllers and 911 operators work under a lot of pressure. They have to stay calm and make quick, smart decisions. Here's how they do it:

1. Follow a Plan: These workers have step-by-step plans for different situations. This helps them know what to do, even when things are crazy. You can make plans like this for your team to help them handle tough customer calls.
2. Take Deep Breaths: Many people in high-stress jobs use breathing exercises to stay calm. You can teach your team to do this too. It can help them stay cool, even when talking to angry customers.
3. Focus on What's Most Important: In emergencies, workers have to quickly figure out what needs to be done first. Train your team to spot the most important parts of a customer's problem and fix those things first.

Talking Clearly and Kindly

People who talk to others in dangerous situations, like hostage negotiators, are really good at communicating. Here's what we can learn from them:

1. Listen Carefully: These workers spend more time listening than talking. Teach your team to really pay attention to what customers are saying before trying to fix the problem.
2. Be Understanding: Good negotiators quickly connect with the people they're helping. Encourage your team to find something in common with customers and show that they care about their problems.
3. Keep It Simple: In tough situations, there's no room for confusion. Teach your team to explain complicated things in a way that's easy to understand.

Being Ready to Change

Firefighters never know exactly what they'll face when they get to a fire. This skill of being ready for anything is really useful in customer service:

1. Think Quickly: Train your team to look at each customer's situation and change how they help based on what's needed. One way of doing things doesn't work for everyone.
2. Keep Learning: Firefighters are always learning new things. Make sure your team keeps learning too, so they know all about your products and new ways to help customers.
3. Work Together: Firefighters rely on teamwork to solve big problems. Encourage your team to work together and use each other's strengths to solve tricky customer issues.

Putting It All Together

By looking at these tough jobs, we can see customer service in a new way. The high-pressure nature of their work gives us good examples of how to handle everyday customer service better:

• Stay calm, even when customers are upset.
• Talk clearly and show you care to build good connections with customers.
• Be ready to change how you help based on what each customer needs.
• Work as a team to solve big problems and do a great job.

Using these ideas in your customer service team won't just improve your performance metrics. It will also make your team better at their jobs and happier at work. Your workers will feel more confident handling any problem that comes up, which is good for your customers and your business.

Remember, every time you talk to a customer is a chance to show how good your company is at helping people. By learning from those who work in the toughest jobs, you can make your customer service even better. So next time you're dealing with a tricky customer problem, think: "What would an air traffic controller do?" The answer might help you find a new way to give amazing customer service.