Stress is something that everyone deals with throughout modern society. Angela, a customer agent representative for an airline, states she experiences stress on a daily basis. This is due to the nature of her job. Since she works for an airline, she has to deal with all of the customers when their travel plans are delayed or cancelled. Due to the amount of customers who yell at her on a daily basis, Angela often experiences stress in both the workplace and her home.
The stressful event that is effecting Angela’s life is the fact that customers are constantly yelling at her for things that are out of her control. Angela does not attempt to deal with or manage her stress during the situation. Instead, Angela tries to oppress her emotions in order to do her job. In this situation, it might be beneficial for Angela to better process the stress in order to decrease how much the stress effects both her personal and professional life.
Managing stress is an essential part of any job, especially in customer service. It has been found that customer services representatives experience stress from two sources: repetitive routines and frustrated customers. According to Earl (2005), there are several ways in which customer service representatives can manage their stress in the work place. First, it is recommended that customer services representatives to not become a sponge when it comes to customer frustration. It is important for a customer service representative to remember a customer’s frustration has nothing to do with them. In other words, customer services representatives should not take what a frustrated customer says personally. Next, customer services representatives should understand that when a customer is upset, it is generally due to the fact that their expectations are not met. Under covering what the customer’s expectations are can help defuse the emotions behind the frustration. Thus, customer service representatives should remember to not take harsh words from customers personally and maintain proper problem solving skills in order to lower stress in the workplace.
One popular method of managing stress for someone in customer service is to keep a laugh diary. Anytime something makes an individual laugh, they should write it down in a laugh diary. Whenever that individual is feeling stressed or depressed, they should read something out of their laugh diary. This can help remove the negative emotions that stress can inflict on an individual. By being about to laugh and temporary take themselves out of the stressful situation, an individual is able to reduce the negative emotions that commonly occupancy stress.
Lastly, it is important to remember that stress has physical components as well. What an individual consumes can have a direct impact on how well that individual manages stress. It is recommended that an individual should consume food for mental alertness and low stress. Try avoiding sugar in the workplace. Sugar can leave an individual more vulnerable when it comes to emotional reactions. Several individuals have found that diets high in protein help keep them positive throughout the day. Overall, what an individual consumers can have a direct impact when it comes to how well that individual manages stress.
References
Earl, Donna. “Stress Management Tips for Customer Service Professionals.” Donna Earl Training, 22 March 2016. <http://www.donnaearltraining.com/Articles/StressManagementTips.html>.
