ON MONDAY, I attended a capability building seminar on how to become an effective and responsive worker. I appreciate that it reminds me of the basics that sometimes we forget, especially in handling the customers of the service we render. Customers are always the priority, after one’s self, like save yourself first before saving others-the emergency rescuers guide when on the field. It means, be healthy in all aspects first before facing your clients, otherwise, you won’t be able to satisfy your expectations in dealing with them.
Being healthy here doesn’t mean to just be alive. Aside from physicality, it includes spiritual, personal, family-related, relationship triggered, and occupational outlooks in life. Having a problem, thus, requires fixing before engaging with the clients. Efficiency in management is greatly affected when bothered by such instances.
The effect of not being healthy sometimes triggers unsolicited responses in an individual when being asked. The most prohibited answer to a client, for instance, is easily said without any reason. Just to share with you, the two-word answer “no” should never be an option as an answer. However, when not healthy, employees resort to it to finish conversations. It won’t end, though. It will only start arguments eventually then, disaster in the workplace.
On the contrary, having a healthy soul, mind and body before facing a client will help give direction on the proper management of customers. Good health will not use “no” for an answer. “Yes” should be considered with some conditions however, for the requests which cannot be addressed immediately.
In my experience, especially in conducting pieces of training and seminars, these statements are true. I tend to not find proper words to explain my presentation when bothered by external concerns (at the office) while I am teaching. And when it comes to the question and answer portion, arguments rise because client satisfaction is not attained. It’s a very different situation when I am free of concerns from such a situation.
I have a strategy to share when arguments rise like nobody else is in the room. It was taught in the seminar: Do not resort to the famous quotation “an eye for an eye” for there are no empires at war. What you can do is listen! Open your ears and let the mind digest what brought you there. If you think your statement would answer the query, then do so. If it won’t, stop! Park the query, analyze it later and answer properly as asked. Then there shall be world peace!
I really hope all workers in frontlines of clients are healthy. Not just in offices but even outside, in pieces of training, during rescue operations, and similar engagements. And client, in this statement, is not just stakeholders, or citizens of the community, but co-employees in the workplace too. When the mood is not as good as you think, please do not engage. Take a break for a while, assess yourself, make a healthier you, and lower the elevation. After all, we are working for the same goal. Or are we?