Am I bad at customer service?

Question

I am a 24 year-old with a Bachelor's Degree, and yet I seem to fail at customer service jobs. I've tried everything from retail to supervising at museums, and I just can't deal with the public. I don't understand this. When Im hanging out with my friends, Im happy and get along with them. And they all call me a funny and outgoing person. But at work, when customers ask me questions like "where's the bathroom" when its clearly in front of them, I cringe and have to force a smile. Recently, when customers ask me questions, I say "What do you think?" Or "It's obvious, why are you asking me?" My manager has had to write me up several times for bad customer service. Why am I so bad with the public when Im so outgoing in my personal life? How come others I work with seem to be able to smile at the customers even when they hate it? What kind of job can I get that doesnt deal with people since obviously Im not good at it? AND WHY AM I SO BAD AT IT?

Answer 1

If you have a bachelor's degree you shouldn't have to have a customer-service public type job. You could get an administrative position or something "behind the scenes". Customer service is a tricky one (the patience for it). Not alot of people can deal with the public. I am in management for a retail store and I even have my days too. When someone is rude to me; I do not stand for it. However, if they are just being plain stupid, you bite your tongue, smile and answer their question like it's not the most stupid thing you've ever heard. Save the stories for the back room for a good comic relief.

Answer 2

You'd be better off working in an office but you still need to adjust your attitude no matter where you work...you have to understand that many people just don't take the time to look and would rather ask first and others are just plain dumb, but there is no excuse to talk to people the way you have done. I feel the same way you do but I always maintained a professional and courteous demeanor when dealing with customers and the public.
I had my first job when I was 17 years old and I took a check and had to ask the customer for ID and she got really nasty and took all the credit cards and ID out of her wallet and threw them all in my face. I said nothing, finished the sale and that was that. Of course today I would not have been that meek, but you get the idea.
It's a matter of self discipline which I learned as a child and something you need to learn right now because you will need it all
your life, both in the workplace and out. You're bad at it because you have no self discipline and no patience, both bad qualities and ones you need to work on.

Answer 3

lol, wow you arent good at it, but hey its not or everyone...im actually very good at it. i worked at a book store and i liked it well enough, except the pay...lol,

you just have a lil more patience, as far as the smiling at customers when they hate it...i call that being fake, and i as a customer you can tell when ppl are doing it...to be good at it you have to be a geniunely nice person.

i think i only said something rude to someone once but it wasnt meant to be...the guy said there are so many books here...and i said uh yeah, this is a book store...he laughed but luckily he was cool, or he could have complained...lol

yeah, i just say change your attitude. your job is to help the customer, so if they ask a question, just be pleasant an d help, the answer may seem obvious to you, you do work there...you should know....they dont work there, they dont know. and lets face it...ppl cant read anymore in this day and age.....lol sure the bathroom sign is clearly displayed, but you always have those ones...lol

yea some of the customers are rude but ignor them...ive had customers say really inappropriate things to me, and the customer behind them would say wow, they were rude...they will notice the other person's rudeness....

just try to have fun with it...chat with the customer, dont be so uptight, and besides you have a degree, so you wont be doing it for much longer.....

now, even though im good at it i dont really enjoy customer service b/c im a lil shy...so thats why im going to engineering, where i can hide in my office all day...lol

i say you can do research in a lab, or computer engineering, or something liek that...

chai :)

Answer 4

You don't say what your degree is in - so it's hard to suggest any sort of career change.

It's not unusual to not be good with customer service at your age - 24yo's are often quite bright, alert, and haven't yet felt the need to develop patience with people who might not live up to their young impatient standards.

The folks who are standing in front of the bathroom asking "where is the toilet?" are probably distracted - thinking about how long they have until they have to pick up the kids, what they're going to make for dinner, who their husband's are having "lunch" with...

Until you learn some patience you should stay out of customer service so that you don't end up with a really bad looking resume filled with lots of bad references. Being outgoing with people your own age doesn't equate to wanting to help people. It's easy to get along with your friends, not so much with the general public.

You are bright - I'm sure you can figure out something that you can do that doesn't involve customer service. I have been a nurse for years (and years, it seems sometimes) and while I can take any sort of "stupidity" from a sick person or their family, I know I could never be good in customer service...

Good luck!

Answer 5

Borrow a copy of Miss Manners' Guide to Excrutiatingly Correct Behavior and read it cover to cover, including the captions beneath the highly entertaining illustrations. Then, at work, pretend that YOU are Miss Manners, that you teaching the world a better, more mannerly attitude by your shining example. Do NOT attempt to fake this; the Mannerly Way of Life is far to complex to undertake without extensive preliminary study.

After two or three weeks of this, read Miss Manners again. You will gain much more from the second reading since you will then have experience in applying the principle of "WWMMD?" to your every day work experiences.

If after all that, you don't feel that you have a major shift in attitude then learn to work around your limitations. Avoid jobs where customer service skills are vital.

Hint: be LESS funny and outgoing, more stuffy and formal. It can be hard to know where friendliness ends and familiarity begins. Being friendly is pleasant; being familiar is a form of aggression.

Answer 6

Who taught you to be so rude with people? It doesn't matter if you are in customer service or just having to deal with people in whatever career you wind up in, you have to learn how to be well mannered and polite. No one cares about your bad attitude. You get a life lesson and get it quick or there won't be a job for you. Whatever anger you have you need to re-learn your attitude and get your anger in check. At 24 you don't have the life skills to make yourself better than everyone else. People do ask what you consider dumb questions in any level of job you might take on. So get a grip and learn how to get along or you won't be working in any field.

Answer 7

I was like you until I changed. Good advice is to make the customers problem your own. What helped me was reading the bible and changing from the inside out. I was 33 before I ever read it. Still lots of jobs are non-public like: production, accounting, trade or skilled jobs. Today I have learned to love people, it took many years to do and still some people stink.

Answer 8

You have to remember things that may seem very obvious to you, are not to many other people. Treat them like you would your mother, or another loved one. Try emulating someone at work who is good with customers. Copy their mannerisms, words, everything. Other than that try something other than customer service, not everyone is made for it.

Answer 9

Remember when you're a customer, How do you want to be treated. Most of those customers havent done anyting to you and are just asking a simple question... You need to lighten up. Remember if you don't have customers you dont have a job! Work on it!

Answer 10

The United States Congress, I think followed by Direct TV