How to Stay Smiling in January
“You won’t sell any of those, love”, was just one nugget of advice imparted to me on the bank holiday weekend; along with “you can’t keep disabled people’s money” after the refusal to refund from a receipt that was four months old, and “I hope you appreciate the irony of Customer Service being on the top floor in the corner”.
The Christmas period is much like an excessively prolonged D-Day for those that work in retail (even for those of us who only work weekends!), however January can be just as gruelling. Nationwide grouchiness - thanks to a lack of any impending celebrations, self-imposed starvation (Must. Fit. Into. New. Jeans.), and constantly being rained on - can test even the brightest star trying to forge their promising career in customer service. I defy you, Daisy/Maisie/Tracey, to retain your sparkling smile after your fifth complaint from the elderly lady who just spotted another “weakness in the stitching”.
As a self-confessed grouch, it took a while before the relentless optimism and friendliness required in successful customer service took hold – if I’m having a bad day (nay, a bad month) why on earth should I be polite and helpful to people who appear convinced that I am the last remaining obstacle between them and the perfect top/dress/cushion/lipstick?
Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) describes multiple ways in which we can counter our thinking errors (which, by the way, are ridiculously common!) Trying to alter your negative thinking patterns can subtly (or even radically) change a day of war with disgruntled customers into a day where you just helped people. Here are 3 suggestions which might help beat the January slog:
- Focus on what you can do to cope with the situation – be it strengthening your relationships with co-workers (you’re all in the same boat!) or finding your own personal positive – if you help a customer, they have a good day, the world is a better place etc. Cheesy, yes, but strangely satisfying.
- Suspend judgement – believing all customers are rude and out to destroy you in one way or another will only worsen your day; not to mention leaving you blind to the many customers who say thank you!
- Smile - This is not a strict tenet of CBT and may sound a touch obvious, but humour me. Smiling tricks the brain into believing you’re happy, so it starts throwing out happiness hormones and then you feel…happy! Plus it’s infectious (see #1 about making the world a better place?)
So before you begin Blue Monday with a collection of over-generalisations and catastrophic statements about the state of society try re-programming your thoughts. And smiling. Don’t forget the smiling.
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