Top 10 Skills You Need for a Career in Customer Service

Top 10 Skills You Need for a Career in Customer ServiceYou may think customer tafelgeschirr jobs are a breeze, but if youve never had one, you might be in for a bit of a shock. There is actually a great deal of both hard and soft skills involved. googletag.cmd.push(function() googletag.display(div-gpt-ad-1467144145037-0) ) The hard skills speak for themselves and are usually a no brainer with any experience. Can you talk to people? Handle transactions, etc.? Then youre probably just fine. The soft skills are the ones youll need to work on.Here are the top 10.1. ResilienceYou need to cultivate the ability to let things roll right off your back. That means interactions with rude customers or hostile clientsor even stressed-out bossesneed to elend impact your overall disposition. Try elend to take things too personally. Take responsibility when things are your faultand work to fix them. Dig deep, build your resilience, and succeed.2. ConfidenceThis is probably important in every job, a s a foundation for so many other qualities, but also crucial for customer service positions. Why? Because if youre confident, your customer will have confidence in you (and, in turn, the company).3. PatienceThis is probably part of resilience. But you will encounter slow people, rude people, old people, and every kind of inane question. Having the patience to roll with whatever comes your way and not letting a few little things overwhelm you or throw you off your job performance is key.4. Communication SkillsTalking to customers, as well as communicating with your managers and co-workers, is crucialeven moreso in customer service positions. If you cant make this skill one of the jewels in your crown, forget it.5. TeamworkEven though a lot of the job is interfacing with clients and customers, you will have to function as part of a team. Try not to slack off or only attend to your own tasks. Think of yourself as a part of a teamthe team being the entire company. Do this by building yo ur emotional intelligence, or EQ.6. ListeningA major part of communicating is listening. Try to work on active listening make eye contact, nod along, repeat important things back to show youre taking in whats important to your client. Ask clarifying questions to prove you understand their situation. The important thing is to make your customer feel heard.7. PositivityThese jobs can involve long hours and not a huge amount of salary, not to mention troubleshooting, merchandise, and dealing with disgruntled people. Try to keep a positive outlook and focus on what you can do to make the experience betterfor your coworkers, your clients, and yourself.8. AssertivenessThere are some situations in which the customer isnt always rightand you will have to say no. Dont veer into being aggressive or demanding, but do learn how to make your voice strong and steady and clear when it needs to be.9. EmpathyRemember that customers are people too. You dont necessarily know what theyre going through or what they have waiting for them at home. Try not to treat them like annoying robots taking up so much of your time and energy. Put yourself in their shoes as often as you can.10. HumorIf you bring nothing else to a customer service job, a sense of humor will steer you in the right direction. Defuse stressful situations, endear yourself to bosses, colleagues, and clients alike. And be charitable laugh at others jokes, even if they arent as funny as yours. Laugh with people, not at them.

These are the Most Common Work Issues that Keep People Up at Night

These are the Most Common Work Issues that Keep People Up at Night Work stress is causing a lot of workers to toss and turn at night, according to a new study by global staffing firm Accountemps. In fact, 44% of respondents said they lose sleep over work-related issues either very often or somewhat often. So, whats keeping them awake?50% are overwhelmed with work volume/hours48% cant get a geschftsleben problem out of their head20% have at least one strained coworker relationship18% are worried about losing their job16% have a nightmare boss7% listed another reasonAs business demands increase, so do employee workloads, according to Karen Warren, district president for Accountemps, a Robert Half company. Stress on the job can cause a domino effect, and might prevent workers from getting the recommended seven to nine hours of sleep per night.Its a view shared by Jayne Mattson, senior vice president at Keystone Associates. Everyone has challenges they are facing in their job, she explai ns.Workloads have increased with less resources to do the work, telecommuting is common so having hallway conversations to resolve issues is not an option, and employees are working longer hours.By bedtime, Mattson says many employees are still thinking about work. They cant shut their brain off, and instead mull over a deadline, a situation with a coworker, or something they need to do when they go to work the next day. However, bedtime is for sleeping and thinking is for being awake, Mattson says. That sounds so simple and it isnt for many.The dangers of work stressors following employees homeSome level of work-related stress is normal, and its no surprise that ansicht concerns dont stop when you leave the workplace. Even if youre not physically working on a project after hours, its likely that youre still thinking about it, according to Stacey Engle, EVP at Fierce Conversations. Most of us spend half our waking hours at the office, so it isnt surprising that at times this carries over to our personal lives, Engle says. Some amount of work stress at home isnt a call for concern. However, when it starts negatively affecting your relationships, sleep, and other commitments, its a problem.Mayo Clinic advises adults to get 7 to 9 hours of sleep each night, and even if you feel that youre well rested without following these recommendations, research reveals that this is not the case, and your performance will be negatively affected especially when you need to perform complex mental tasks.Warren agrees with the recommendations, and explains, It is difficult to perform at your full profil if you are always tired at work. She says that failing to get enough sleep can cause a variety of problems, from reduced concentration and reaction times to decreased memory and poor judgment.In fact, Warren says respondents in another Robert Half survey admitted to or heard of others making the following work-related mistakes due to a lack of sleepDeleted a project that took 1 ,000 hours to put togetherFell asleep in front of the boss during a presentationAccidentally paid everyone twiceTalked about a client thinking the phone was on mute . . . it wasntOrdered 500 mora computers than were neededExposed executive compensation to the entire firmAnother study, this one by Erik Gonzalez-Mul, Ph.D., assistant professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources in the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, provides even more alarming results of work-related stress. Those in high-stress jobs with little control over their workflow die younger or are less healthy than those who have more flexibility and discretion in their jobs and are able to set their own goals as part of their employment, Gonzalez-Mul tells Fairygodboss.You might think that hes referring to firemen, police officers, air traffic controllers, and those with jobs that we routinely view as high-stress occupations. However, Gonzalez-Mul says his study included workers in a variety of professions, from schlussverkauf people to executives to farm workers. What we found was that stressful work, in terms of having a large workload, high concentration demands, and time pressure, results in an increased likelihood of death when paired with low control over the work.By control, he referring to the workers ability to prioritize their tasks, set their own goals, and decide how they get to do their work.Avoid/reduce workplace stressThe good news is that there are ways to mitigate your stress levels. Theres no one-size fits-all solution, so our experts provide a variety of options. While its not always easy, try to check your work stressors at the door when you get home, advises Warren. If you need to check emails after hours, set boundaries, such as a time limit, so you dont spend the rest of your evening focused on work tasks.She believes that its important to take breaks at work instead of intently focusing on finishing the task especially if youre feeling fatigued. P ushing through to get work done isnt effective if youre tired, Warren warns. The occasional break can you help you feel recharged when you return to your desk.Also, if fatigue is affecting your work, she recommends talking to your manager about prioritizing your workload.Engle is also a believer in acknowledging your stress and sharing this information when necessary. One key to handling stress is to know when it is catching up with you, and having the skills to manage it, she says. This may mean communicating with your manager that your workload is too high, or having that difficult conversation with a co-worker youve been putting off.Recognizing what triggers your stress allows you to mitigate it through conversation, according to Engle. Even if the action isnt immediately taken, the mere fact that youve addressed it head-on lowers the power it has on you, relieving at least some of the anxiety associated with it.A FlexJobs survey reveals that only 30% of respondents are satisfied with their work-life balance, and 37% of respondents are stressed by their level of work-life balance. Stress and work often go hand in hand, leading to many challenges, according to Rachel Jay at FlexJobs. However, she tells Fairygodboss that flexible work can help workers avoid such high stress levels. Flexible work typically leads to increased job satisfaction, more control over your schedule, the ability to easily handle personal tasks, and a less distracting work environment.In fact, another FlexJobs survey reveals that 78% of respondents believe they would be healthier and 86% felt they would be less stressed with flexible work.This is consistent with the findings of Gonzalez-Muls team. Even if employees cant work from home, having some degree of control and flexibility produces a positive result. We also found that having high control can make stress beneficial by reducing the likelihood of death, he says. We believe this is because stress can have an activating effect that causes us to work harder and pursue difficult goals that, when paired with high control, allows people the resources to achieve those goals.Gonzalez-Mul compares it to trying to learn a new sport. It can be difficult and time consuming, but you have total control over how to go about doing it, so the process is likely to be fun and energizing rather than miserable and taxing.However, not all employees are afforded a high level of control and flexibility. For these workers, Mattson offers the following four tips1 Write down your to dos for the day (knowing you will have many interruptions) and prioritize 1, 2 and 3 as must do/need to do/dont want to lose sight of. This will help you get the work out of your head and onto paper. At the end of the day, cross out what youve done and revise the list for next day.2 Decide whats stopping you from completing your priority items is it a certain co-worker, meetings, managing staff, processes that arent working that require additional time. If you dont stop and look at what you are doing, how are you ever going to change?3 Communicate, communicate, and communicate, to your manager what you have on your plate, and when someone asks you to do something that adds to your list, respond with before I say yes, let me landsee what else I have on my priority list that I can move to help you, or I am currently working on a project thatison a tight deadline so is this a priority?4 Lastly and most importantly, practice self-care you are the priority to care for first. During your lunch time, remove yourself from your office environment. Giving yourself that time to recharge will allow you to take a deep breath, let go of the morning frustrations and return ready to tackle the afternoon.Personal reflection is crucial for avoiding/relieving stress. Dr. Susan Smith Kuczmarski, cofounder of Kuczmarski Innovation, and co-author of Lifting People Up The Power of Recognition, tells Fairygodboss that listening to yourself can result in gre ater self-awareness.She provides seven ways to listen to your inner voiceRise early, take a long walk and fuel the self with exercise, nature and reading.Reduce stress by reminding yourself you dont need to make everything perfect.Be present and positive.Catch the sunrise, take a swim or hike a mountain at some point during the weekjust get outside.Find energy from spending meaningful time with family or a close friend.Use healthy food, music, and travel to fuel renewal.Reach outwards to do some community service work.--Terri Williams is a business, higher ed, tech, and finance journalist with bylines at The Economist, USA Today, Yahoo, U.S. News World Report, About.com (dotdash), Realtor.com, and Business.com. Follow her on Twitter Territoryone.