Dealing With Stress as a Customer Service Representative

Numerous workplace studies have categorized the job of customer service representatives as one of the top ten most stressful today. The potential result of such poor positioning is that bad health problems may materialize since the effects of stress include damage to the heart, high blood pressure and other serious medical conditions. All of these issues not only jeopardize an employee’s health and life but also significantly increase medical costs for organizations. Those higher costs drain budget money away from equipment, facility, training, employee raises and other workplace factors.

A  myriad of factors contributes to stress in today’s customer service environment. These workplace stressors are anything that creates tension, anxiety or frustration for you during a given workday. They might be in the form of people, tasks, or elements of your job and environment.

The average customer service representative strives to come to work ready for his or her job activities and with a desire to deliver the best customer service possible. However, many arrive with anticipation of dread over what the day will bring and what types of customer interactions await them. Work is no longer fun for millions of employees around the world.

Some potential factors that may create pressure in your own work environment might include:

• The requirement to do more with fewer resources.
• Inadequate supervisory guidance or poor management.
• Job design where you have a heavy workload, get infrequent breaks, often do not have time for lunch, and have to deal with mundane tasks and rude people.
• A feeling that you have little input or control over your daily activities.
• The pressure to perform at higher levels without being adequately compensated or rewarded.
• Regular friction or conflict with co-workers and customers.
• Workplace turmoil or constant change that leads to high degrees of uncertainty related to expectations of you and your co-workers.
• Unsafe or dangerous work conditions or job assignments.
• Reduced levels of training to prepare you for job responsibilities.
• Fewer opportunities for career advancement.
• The constant barrage of negative news reports related to job security and cuts being made throughout many industries.

The good news is that you can do some things to reduce some of your own anxiety and maintain a professional attitude while providing excellent customer service. Do some Internet research to find suggested ways to reduce workplace stress. Some common ways are watching your diet, avoiding tobacco, excessive alcohol, getting eight hours of sleep per night, avoid overeating before bead and watching your diet.

For additional stress reduction strategies and ideas and information about stress and how to avoid it, get a copy of Please Every Customer: Delivering Stellar Customer Service Across Cultures and search the Internet for related topics.