Do you have an example of a customer service experience that left you with a very rewarding feeling? Sometimes you get this feeling when you have gone above and beyond or worked through a difficult challenge. Other times, you didn't have to go through a challenge, but someone showed immense appreciation for your guidance on something routine and you felt it.

We should share these examples, either from the perspective of someone on the front line or as a manager supporting people on the front lines.

As a manager in my particular setting, I don't handle a lot of customer service issues hands-on, but there are some cases where I do. An example of a rewarding feeling I had is a situation in which a user of a website could not find the results they were accustomed to. It took me several weeks of liaising with the parties that could help with the situation, and I finally got somewhere when I presented comparisons between one website user experience with that of another. It took an intimate understanding of how this website is used for this comparison to be drawn. Finally, the questions and the repeated follow-ups resulted in a solution, and the customer thanked me for being a genius. Well, I wasn't a genius, and I didn't fix the problem directly, but I took the customer's experience (one day they had one thing, another day they didn't) to heart and persisted with the parties that were not altogether "speaking the same customer service language" on day one until I got what I needed for the customer to call me a genius. That was a rewarding feeling, and I shared the feedback with the people who had been part of the solution.

As a manager in a customer service context, I have felt a rewarding feeling in a couple of different ways in the last 6 months. One was by looking at an employee's salary and pushing to have it increased (no one had looked at this person's abilities for quite some time prior to them reporting to me). I got the person's salary increased, and I don't think they would have received it without my having been in the picture.

Another example of a rewarding feeling from a management perspective has been bringing employees from different areas of concentration--this is, roughly speaking, bringing together people from sales support and supply together--into one team and watching them find the necessary ways to work together and support each other.

What examples of rewarding customer service or management experiences exist out there?

ayaree,

One occasion that always sticks in my mind is when I sold a holiday apartment to a family. As they were buying overseas they were unsure of the process and did not speak the language. I understood their concerns as I had bought overseas as well and was able to put their minds at rest. I think because I could identify with them as customers I could serve them better.

The family who bought the apartment still keep in touch and have invited me for holidays....I guess I must have done something "right".

John

I have lots and lots of examples.....they all run together now after all these years, but I can just stop and think about any one of them and a smile comes to my face, I feel good and know I had helped someone.

Its a good feeling, and I agree with you Ayaree- we need to talk about these...we always talk about the angry one, the horrible ones, the ones we need to forget....but we should remember the good ones - because there are so many out there.

Time sure did fly by since I proposed this topic. (I'm sifting through the forum for ideas on a topic, and I discovered this.)

Sorry I didn't come back quickly on your replies. This is the kind of topic that should be revived, in my opinion. Anyone have anything they want to rave about either as a customer or as a provider of customer service yourself or as a manager of a CSR?

I've been proud of quite a few things through the first half of this year - after starting it out in the utter dumps in terms of morale - and I have actually jotted down a list of things that make me proud and kept that list within easy access, so I can re-digest it. Looking back, that little exercise was probably one of the smartest self-help things I could have done.

I'll share an example of a success I liked, as an update from me, and I hope others will be interested in chiming in with their example.

I have a CSR who was encountering a lot of challenges in coming through for their customers, because internally there had been a series of things that would cause the CSR's customers to take a lesser priority than others. Many things internally outside the CSR's control (and outside his team) were being done improperly or too slowly.

This CSR came to me to express how worried they were. Within a couple of weeks, the worry proved to have been a good prediction. Complaints galore came in, and our efforts to be heard and to instigate improvement across other departments had not gained a sufficient reaction in time. The CSR caught wind of the fact that more than one customer was referencing the CSR as the source of the problem, and this weighed down with even further discouragement.

I explained to the CSR that we know what the internal truth is and we can allow the personal feeling to slide away. I went on to explain to my CSR that the fact they were perceived as the source of the problem only showed how very important their role is. Whatever the perception is (good or bad), the CSR can create a lot of impact on perception, as a result of their actions, their handling of information, etc. I pointed out how they had already begun to make a difference... and this CSR would need to continue with the same efforts every day to show what our company has to offer (to customers but also internally, so that others would decide to emulate the caring this CSR was demonstrating).

Another few weeks of uphill battle and things outside our team began to improve (many a meeting where I observed and supported the CSR and exercised some influence in his aid), and along the way, a written compliment was sent in to describe the top notch service my CSR had provided to this new customer. I posted that on the CSR's wall and on my own and shared it with many others as a collective success. The letter specifically mentioned the CSR and how they represented our company well. And improvements elsewhere in the company continue to happen and these support the CSR. This CSR continues to instigate attention in a positive manner for their customers. (That one written compliment was a drop in the bucket of efforts this CSR has brought to the table.)

There had been at one point a pretty yucky picture (especially for my team member), but there was more than one silver lining to it. One was that the CSR got to see the end of the tunnel and learn valuable things that can be used in the future and to shine. And the one for me was that I got to gain a greatly rewarding feeling from coaching and supporting and watching the CSR's success. (I have heard many complimentary comments this CSR has said about me and which have made their way back to me, and of course that adds to the rewarding feeling.) The task and reward in managing people continues to be the defining ingredient of my job that I do love and why I stay with it.

Enough from me! Thanks for reading.