"Everybody act medium"

In the course of developing a customer-service training program for a claims department, the manager I'm working with attended a customer-service training program in his hometown. I reviewed the handout he was given and one thing struck me.

It was a simple "saw" or saying that will stick in people's minds. The instructor gave a golden rule of customer service and cooperation. It's "Nobody act big; nobody act little; everybody act medium."

I'm not sure if that hits you, but it sure strikes me that there's a great deal of truth in that slogan. One of the problems in customer service is that usually due to one person's irritability, anger or rudeness, the other half of the equation gets his or her back up. Then, instead of solving the customer's problem, you have two angry egos scratching and clawing their way to nowhere.

If we can teach employees "not to act big" no matter how difficult the emotions of the person we face, we can resolve almost any problem.

When developing training, it's important to incorporate humor and anecdotes into your presentation. If you're relying on PowerPoint, it's simple to put speaker notes into each slide with one mouse click to remind yourself to conduct exercises, use a slogan, make a joke, tell a story, or even take a break.

I'd love to help you with your training needs. Call for a free consultation at (602) 870-3230. Until my next post, I'm going to act medium. How about you?