75 minutes (20 minutes for individual work; 20 minutes for small-group discussion; 35 minutes for debriefing)
Work M P, T
1. To discern personal values in areas affecting customer service
2. To identify specific customer behaviors (based on values) that will be most challenging
3. To devise strategies for improving customer service in areas that challenge one’s personal values
• A copy of Customer Service Self-Assessment for each participant
• A copy of the Customer Service Self-Assessment Scoring Sheet for each participant
• A copy of the Interpretation of Responses to Customer Service Self-Assessment Handout for each participant
1. Ask each participant to complete the “Customer Service Self-Assessment,” then to transfer her or his score for each item to the “Customer Service Self-Assessment Scoring Sheet,” and then to tally a total score for each subscale.
2. Provide each participant with an “Interpretation of Responses to Customer Service Self-Assessment” handout and give him or her a few minutes to read the interpretation for each subscale that corresponds to his or her score on that subscale.
3. Instruct participants to form groups of 5–7 or assign them yourself. Ask them to discuss
• anything they learned or had reinforced about themselves,
• similarities or differences (in the subscales) from others in the group, and
• possible ways they might modify their behavior with customers to increase effectiveness.
4. Invite participants to return to the larger group for debriefing.
1. Did you have any new insights? Any areas where your self-perceptions were reinforced?
2. How did you feel about values and behaviors you identified?
3. What values do you hold that might make your current job challenging?
4. What have you learned?
5. How can you apply this information to your workplace? Are there modifications in the job arrangements that could be helpful to your ability to work within your own value system? For example, can you take all or most of the customers who want personal attention while a co-worker manages most of the “back office research”?
1. Our values affect the way we prefer to offer customer service and what types of customers we might feel most comfortable with.
2. If there is an inconsistency between our values and our job requirements, it can create personal stress and reduce job effectiveness.
3. Teams can often rearrange work processes to help each individual work in ways that best correspond to his or her values.
4. Teams can provide support for each other in those areas where work requirements and personal preferences might be incongruent.
If the group is an intact work team, consider a discussion about ways in which the team might (a) reorganize their processes to allow each individual greater comfort in serving customers based on the individual’s identified values and/or (b) provide each other greater support in those areas where their values might make customer service difficult.
© Executive Diversity Services, Inc., Seattle, Washington, 1999.
Our personal values and work preferences can affect our responses to customers. This assessment is an opportunity for you to identify where some of those challenges might occur for you. Please circle your answer to the following questions based on your most frequent feelings or behaviors. Please note that N is neutral, not “don’t know.” Each item requires a thoughtful response for effective interpretation. Try to respond regarding your feelings generally as well as how you act in the workplace. Please think about people you serve both outside (external customers) and inside (colleagues, supervisors) your organization.
Note: This survey is for general self-assessment only. It has not been statistically validated. Do not use it for personnel decisions.
For each statement please circle one of the following: SA = strongly agree; A = agree; N = neutral; D = disagree; SD = strongly disagree.
© Executive Diversity Services, Inc., Seattle, Washington, 1999.
© Executive Diversity Services, Inc., Seattle, Washington, 1999.
1. Preference for working with others. Customer service is often provided by teams, or it may involve working with others to identify solutions to customers’ challenges. Customer service can also be provided in a solitary way between the customer and you. This subscale measures the degree to which you prefer either of these situations.
• 2–4 points. You indicate a preference for working alone. You may be most satisfied with work that allows you to meet the customer’s needs without consulting others. Referring customers to others or working in a team to meet customers’ needs may be less comfortable or even something you avoid. If you are required to work in a team, it could be helpful to identify solitary tasks and volunteer to do those so that you get an occasional “break” from teamwork.
• 5–7 points. You indicate no preference for working alone or with others. You can likely adjust to a situation that allows you to make autonomous decisions or one that requires you to work with a team of people to serve customer needs.
• 8–10 points. You indicate a preference for working with others or being around others. Customer service provided in a team environment will be most enjoyable for you. You may be less satisfied with a customer service job that requires you to serve customers in a solitary fashion, such as work in telephone service centers. If you are in this type of assignment, you may want to identify a team, task force, or other group activity required by your organization and volunteer for those opportunities that might give you the group contact that will feel more satisfying.
2. Preference for an active, stimulating work environment. Many customer service situations involve a very public work space that is surrounded by customers and considerable activity and noise. Other customer service situations allow you more control over your personal work space, where things are a bit quieter and more orderly. This subscale identifies which of these situations will be most satisfying for you.
• 2–4 points. You indicate a preference for a quiet, orderly work environment. Customer service situations that are noisy and have constant interruptions and a lot of stimulation may challenge you or make you nervous. For example, the presence of a lot of noisy children, loud music, or constantly ringing telephones may interfere with your assisting customers comfortably. You may also have conflicts over how to handle situations where you are required to serve both in-person customers and telephone customers, sometimes simultaneously. You could find it helpful to identify how you might reduce the stress of this work environment. For example, can you trade some tasks during the day that will allow you a break from the public customer service work? Is it possible to introduce music that is more soothing? At a minimum, identify quiet places to spend breaks and lunches so you can regenerate your energy.
• 5–7 points. You indicate no preference for either type of work environment and can likely work in either an active and stimulating environment or one that is more quiet and orderly.
• 8–10 points. You indicate a preference for a working environment that is active and stimulating. You will do quite well in an open environment where many things are happening simultaneously. You are likely to be most challenged by settings that are quiet and orderly, with very little customer contact or stimulation. If you are working in a quieter setting, consider identifying ways to increase your time in a more public customer service setting.
3. Preference for doing things for others. Some customers are indecisive or lack confidence and want you to help them make decisions or take care of their needs without a lot of involvement on their part. Other customers are fairly independent and decisive—they simply want you to help them take care of what they already know they need. Or they may want you to teach them how to use a “system,” for instance, library searches or Internet orders, so they can take care of themselves in the future. The items in this subscale identify the degree to which you prefer to work with one of these types of customers.
• 3–6 points. You indicate a preference for doing things for people. You are likely to be most comfortable with customers who want you to help them identify what they need. You may enjoy helping customers make decisions. On the other hand, you will often be challenged by the customer who wants very little help from you. You may also be uncomfortable with customers who want you to explain how to do something. You would rather serve people and play a significant role in helping them than teach them how to serve themselves. You might remind yourself that the customers you are teaching to handle their own needs in the future will free up your time to work more with those who want you to take care of them.
• 7–11 points. You show no particular preference for customers who need quite a bit of help versus those who want you to teach them how to serve themselves. You will feel equally comfortable working with either of these types of people.
• 12–15 points. You show a preference for customers who know what they want and don’t require a lot of attention. You are probably also most comfortable with customers who want you to show them how to use systems so they can serve themselves independently. You may be challenged by the customers who have no interest in helping themselves but want you to do things or make decisions for them. Consider explaining to the more dependent customer that you want to be helpful to him or her and that you must serve others as well, so you don’t have much time. Establish time limits if possible. Also remind yourself that this customer is a challenge for you and that serving this person’s needs is your opportunity to enrich your own behavior.
4. Preference for doing multiple tasks simultaneously. While most customer service situations are fast paced and require multitasking, some allow more opportunities to complete one job at a time before moving to the next. This subscale measures the degree to which you are comfortable balancing multiple tasks simultaneously.
• 2–4 points. You indicate a preference for doing one task at a time. You will be most comfortable in customer service situations that allow you to focus on one customer’s needs at a time. You will be most challenged by customer service situations where you are consistently being interrupted and asked to manage several customers simultaneously. For example, public desk areas that require you to attend to customers in line as well as those who persist in asking “a quick question” outside of the line, while also answering telephones, may be difficult for you. You are likely to most enjoy those times when customers are approaching you in a relatively slow though steady pace. If you are in a multitask situation, seek ways in which you can get short breaks from the public area. Volunteer for those behind-the-scenes jobs that most customer service areas require so that you can get some relief from the constant demands of multitasking.
• 5–7 points. You show no preference for focusing on one task versus managing multiple tasks simultaneously. You can adapt to whichever type of customer service environment you find yourself in.
• 8–10 points. You enjoy working on multiple items simultaneously and will enjoy customer service situations that allow you to work with more than one person or task at a time. You are likely to enjoy the busiest times of the day or year, when you need to serve several customers at a time. You are most likely to be challenged by situations or times that are less busy. During those times, you may wish to identify how you might help others or complete projects that will add value to the customer service of your organization.
5. Preference for flexible rules. While some customer service situations have very fixed rules that require (or allow) you to make virtually no decisions, others ask that you make decisions for each customer based on your best evaluation of the situation and the customer’s needs. This subscale identifies the degree to which you prefer a fixed rule that treats every customer the same or flexibility that allows you to decide the best solution based on individual customer needs.
• 2–4 points. You indicate a preference for fixed, predictable rules. You are likely to be uncomfortable with flexible rules that require you to make customer service decisions based on the situation. It may feel unfair to you. You are likely to prefer rules that are applied equally to each customer. Remember that no rule can cover every situation. As long as flexibility does not create undue hardship on other customers or the organization, try to think of each situation as unique. You will provide much more effective customer service by doing so.
• 5–7 points. You have not shown a clear preference for flexible or fixed rules. You are likely to feel comfortable in settings with the flexibility that allows you to make situational decisions or with fixed rules that require you to handle each customer situation the same way.
• 8–10 points. You indicate a preference for flexible rules that allow you to consider the situation and respond to each customer based on your assessment of what is best. You will be most challenged by rules that allow you no options to accommodate individual customer needs when you believe it would be good customer service to do so. If you are in a situation that does not allow for such flexibility, remind yourself that there may be a benefit to consistency. If you interpret the rules differently in too many situations, you may create a customer service problem for another employee or create unequal customer treatment. You may consider acknowledging to customers that you would prefer a more flexible system but that you understand the need to be consistent in order to avoid unequal treatment of customers.
6. Preference for working with people who are different from yourself. Customer service work typically allows you to work with a wide range of people. Face-to-face work usually involves the greatest range of different encounters, with telephone contact providing other potential differences. This subscale asks you to consider how comfortable you are with people who may look different from you, communicate differently from you, or conduct business differently from you.
• 3–6 points. You indicate you are most comfortable in working with people like yourself. The more different someone is from you, the more challenged you may be. Language or other differences that require you to struggle to understand the customer may be an irritant. Using empathy by asking yourself how you might feel if you were trying to get assistance from someone who could not understand you or who might get impatient with you might help you maintain patience and take the time necessary to leave these customers feeling well served.
• 7–11 points. You have indicated no particular preference for working with people who are either similar to or different from you, and you will likely approach each customer with the same level of interest and service.
• 12–15 points. You indicate a preference for working with people who are different from yourself. You may find these customers interesting and stimulating. Those people who are most like you may seem less engaging. You may benefit from watching the degree to which you show preference for those who are different from yourself, which could potentially result in less quality service to those most like you. Consider playing an anthropologist: when working with people who appear to be most like you, try to identify ways in which they are really not like you at all. This will not only make them more interesting to you but will also sharpen your observational skills.
7. Preference for completing tasks. Most customer service jobs require serving as many customers as possible. Balancing the completion of tasks (usually identified as the number of customers you serve) with developing effective relationships with customers so they will return to you is one of the greater challenges of customer service work. This subscale identifies the degree to which you prefer to complete tasks as quickly as possible versus spending time developing relationships with customers as you complete the task of serving them.
• 2–4 points. You have indicated a greater preference for developing relationships with your customers than for just getting the job done. You are likely to prefer the customer who wants to talk for a bit before getting down to business. Customers who are not interested in visiting with you—if only briefly—may appear rude to you. Remind yourself when you have these customers that serving them as quickly as possible will make them happy and will allow you more time to develop a relationship with the next customer you meet.
• 5–7 points. You have not indicated a clear preference for customers who want to visit a little to develop a relationship or those who want to get their business with you finished and leave as quickly as possible. You will easily serve each of these types of customers.
• 8–10 points. You have indicated a greater preference for getting the job done than for visiting or developing relationships with customers. You will be most challenged by those customers who want to visit a little before they begin to conduct their business with you. You may be particularly comfortable in a faster-paced customer service setting that allows very little time to visit and requires that you keep moving on to the next customer. Remind yourself that people are your task. Identify a few relationship-type statements or questions that can allow you to leave this customer feeling good while also getting the task done. For example, “I would enjoy having the time to visit with you, but I have three other telephone lines holding for me and I want to keep all of our customers happy. Please allow me to take your order as quickly as possible so I can be helpful to the others as well.”
8. Comfort level with conflict. One of the most difficult challenges in customer service is serving the person who is dissatisfied or angry. The items in this subscale allow you to identify the degree to which you are comfortable handling conflict, helping the customer who is angry, or denying a customer’s request.
• 8–19 points. Your answers indicate that harmony is important to you. Customers’ frustration or anger and conflict situations make you uncomfortable. You may have difficulty denying a customer request, even if it is unreasonable. You are also likely to be ill at ease with the customer who is demanding—even if you understand it is not about you. Be cautious about what you agree to do for a customer; you may run the risk of agreeing to something that violates good judgment, fairness, policy, or your own boundaries. Review such decisions with a co-worker who can help reinforce good decisions and provide you with feedback about other ways to handle uncomfortable situations.
• 20–27 points. You have not indicated either a clear discomfort or comfort with conflict, frustration, or anger. A customer’s negative feelings are generally not a source of discomfort for you. Although you may not be comfortable with the negativity, neither do you feel a need to avoid it; instead, you handle it when the situation requires.
• 28–40 points. Your answers indicate that you are generally comfortable with conflict in customer service situations. You recognize that the customer’s feelings are almost never about you, and you are able to hear and respond to his or her concerns in an effective manner. You are usually able to disagree with a customer and stand firm on regulations, even if the customer responds negatively. Try to be cautious about your disagreements, though. You may have a tendency to disagree more quickly than necessary, sometimes in situations where your ideas or opinions are not necessarily helpful. Ask yourself whether your behavior is really appropriate in this situation. Review these decisions with a co-worker who can provide feedback and reinforce your good decisions.
9. Self-awareness and tolerance. People providing customer service always bring their own attitudes and biases to the job, which affects how they respond to customers. The customer who is “difficult” for one person will not be for another. Understanding your own behavioral preferences is helpful so you can identify what type of customer situations are most likely to be troublesome for you. This allows you to watch for those situations and handle them more effectively.
• 8–19 points. While you indicate a clear awareness of your own preferred behaviors and biases, customers whose behaviors you find offensive, or who are very different from you, may challenge you. Begin looking for two or three alternative ways to serve people whose behaviors you don’t like. Look for positive explanations for such behaviors.
• 20–27 points. Your customer service skills could probably be improved by taking time to reflect on your own attitudes and biases to identify areas where you might become more flexible. You might also have some difficulty identifying why you are challenged more by some customers than by others. Ask yourself after each “difficult” exchange why it was difficult for you. Focus on your own feelings, not on the customer’s behaviors. Identify the behaviors you have most problems with and then look for a couple of alternative strategies for handling those types of customers when you are working with them.
• 28–40 points. You have a high level of awareness regarding your own attitudes and biases. You work hard to empathize with customers and to be flexible in meeting their needs. You are likely to be effective with most customer populations—or at least to be aware of which situations are challenging and that you may need to work on or, if possible, refer to others. You will generally have an easier time than others in serving customers who exhibit behaviors you don’t care for.
10. Comfort level with ambiguity and/or change. Customer service work often involves changing situations, changing products, or changing customers. Such changes can often leave the people providing customer service with situations or people they don’t understand and/or with the need to change how they are operating. This subscale looks at how comfortable you are with changes or situations that are unclear or new to you.
• 3–6 points. You indicate a preference for predictability and may be more challenged by customers you cannot understand or by frequent changes in your work environment, including new technology. Remind yourself that those things you are comfortable with were new to you at one time. To the degree possible, limit the new things you are learning at one time. Ask co-workers to help you understand or identify ways to manage changing schedules and new issues, products, or people.
• 7–11 points. You indicate no particular preference for change or stability, so these issues may not affect you.
• 12–15 points. Your responses indicate comfort with change and flexibility. You may enjoy new types of customers, services, and technology. You may feel bored if your work becomes too routine or predictable. You may have a tendency to create changes because you like them. Be careful not to overwhelm your co-workers who are less comfortable with change than you are. You may also be a coach or mentor for those who are struggling with changes in procedures, customers, or technology.
11. Preference for feedback. Some customers provide considerable feedback (both positive and negative), some only give you feedback when they are satisfied, some only let you know when they are unhappy, and some never provide any information about how your service has helped them. This subscale helps you look at your own preference for receiving feedback.
• 4–10 points. You indicate that you prefer to come to your own assessment of your performance and have no need to hear feedback from others. You may even feel annoyed by customers who give you “helpful suggestions” or positive acknowledgment, even though you believe they mean well. When someone provides you with feedback, simply say thank you and move on. You may also want to consider whether you are giving others feedback. If you don’t need feedback, you may not be giving it, which may leave your customers feeling that you are not serving them well.
• 11–13 points. You indicate no clear preference for feedback and are likely to hear it if it is offered but not miss it when it is not.
• 14–20 points. You indicate that you enjoy getting feedback from others. Even negative feedback is welcomed because it allows you to know how others perceive your work and to improve. You may be more challenged by customers who never provide feedback; you have no idea whether you have met their needs. If you want more feedback from customers who don’t usually provide it, consider asking them to give you information about whether you have been helpful. Be sure to ask this question in an open-ended manner. For example, “How else might I be helpful?”
12. Preference for status and formality. Some customers are from cultural backgrounds where they learn to be comfortable with status differentiation and formality. They are likely to address you (and wish to be addressed) by formal titles such as “Mrs.,” “Mr.,” or “Dr.” They are also likely to expect problems to be solved by the individual with the highest status, such as a manager. They may also treat customer service employees as inferior in status. Other customers will be from cultural backgrounds that encourage informality and equality. These individuals are likely to address everyone, and prefer to be addressed, by their first names. They will allow anyone to help them because the status of a manager is relatively meaningless to them. This subscale allows you to identify your own preference in the area of status and formality.
• 4–10 points. You indicate a preference for informality. You are likely to address others—and prefer to be addressed—by your first name. Customers who address you by title may appear distant, unfriendly, or cold to you. This can lead customers who prefer formality to experience you as inappropriately familiar or disrespectful. You are likely to have a strong preference for equality, so customers who expect you to serve them without common courtesies or respect (for example, saying “please” or “thank you”) may seem rude to you. Customers who treat you as if they expect you to serve them are often from cultures where people have very specific role responsibilities, and the individual being served would never presume to become too familiar with or even acknowledge the server.
• 11–13 points. You show little preference for either formality or informality. You are not likely to be concerned with (or about) whether customers address you formally or informally. Nor are you likely to react to customers who demonstrate neither an expectation of nor appreciation for service.
• 14–20 points. You indicate a preference for greater formality as demonstrated by use of titles. You may feel the customer who uses—or even asks for—your first name is being disrespectful. You are also likely to address customers by their title, which may feel cold or distant to those who prefer informality. You may appreciate role differentiation and not be bothered by those customers who treat you as if they expect to be served and show little appreciation for your assistance. Customers who don’t want to deal with you but who ask to see the manager or the person in charge don’t upset you. Remind yourself that most people are acting in ways that they feel are respectful and appropriate and that if the customer’s preference is not the same as yours, it is not likely intended to be disrespectful. You might also listen to how the customer talks to you and match the level of informality.
© Executive Diversity Services, Inc., Seattle, Washington, 1999.
