Opportunities to practice this skill seldom provide advanced notice—they occur unexpectedly. Suddenly you find yourself in an uncomfortable meeting or call with a customer and immediately upon completing that discussion, it’s time for an appointment with someone else on an unrelated (and calmer) matter.
The stress that may have accumulated during your first customer contact must be compartmentalized for the time being. You will have to deal with it later while you give the second customer your full attention. Achieving this level of self-control is a sign that you are reaching Service Maturity.
Service Maturity. The Perky Button, Thick Skin, and Instant Shift will never appear in a company’s training curriculum or policy manual. But together they provide service professionals with a kind of frontline armor that protects against burnout, deteriorating attitudes, and uncontrolled reactions to customers. Applied in appropriate combinations, they can result in Service Maturity.
Simply stated, Service Maturity is your ability to be pleasant and effective around people who are being unreasonable and rude. Age has little to do with this brand of maturity, although some years of experience do seem to be necessary to reach this pinnacle of service ability.
Service Maturity is about staying in control—including your tone of voice, your body language, facial expressions, and the words you say. Your mind may be thinking “lethal injection,” but what your customer sees is unflappable professionalism. Service Maturity is reached when all the aforementioned service skills are up and running.
Many of us are able to demonstrate Service Maturity on occasion. Few of us operate at that level all the time. Forgive yourself when you miss the target, learn, and move on. Service Maturity is a Zen-like condition for which we strive. When you reach that level of performance recognize the achievement and enjoy the moment!
Carol Smith offers customer service assessment, consulting, and training programs for home builders. She can be reached at csmithhomeaddress@att.net.
