Thankfully, only a few times in my career have I had a customer who actually made me feel down. Really down. Unfortunately, that happened recently.
In order to cope with that, I reviewed my career and went back to the beginning...
Many years ago I was an Oldsmobile Customer Service Rep working for EDS. My first job out of college.
The job consisted of taking calls from angry Oldsmobile owners and trying to make them a satisfied customer. This is akin to blocking Brian Urlacher and sending him back to the line with a smile on his face. I won't touch that.
There is a lifecycle of emotions and growth you have to work in this type of job. At any point there are divergent paths one could take. Thankfully, I was in the job for only 1.5 years.
In hindsight, this job prepared me to be a consultant. When I started the job, I was just out of college extremely excited to be working for EDS. I cared and wanted to make a difference for these owners.
A few months in of taking upwards of 30 calls a day and I was miserable. The customers were miserable. A few more months and I had build up my tolerance and learned how to control my voice and emotions. I didn't care anymore. Take a call and move on.
They weren't attacking me personally - sometimes. Toward the end I had learned to care again. I learned I could help the majority of customer and then there were a few that I could only help so much.
I saw that customers, our clients, have to want to help themselves.
It was my job on the other end of that phone to persuade the client that they were empowered to resolve the situation. I supplied the tools. Granted, sometime the tool was money and that is all empowering.
I still find that my job today as I meet a great many persons and personalities. It is about empowering the customer and showing them how to use the tools I support. When they feel that I have done that, they are satisfied.
Sometimes, you have that one customer that does not want to hear you, to listen, to agree, to learn. That is when you have to look within yourself and question, "Did I empower them?" "Did I listen?" "Did I give it 100%?"
If you can answer yes to these and other questions, you can look in the mirror and feel good about the job you have done.
On the phone, this consisted of letting the customer know that you appreciated them contacting Oldsmobile, letting them know what you did try to do for them, and leaving the door open. Professional, calm, and confident.
In closing, if you are feeling down, look in that mirror and ask yourself the hard questions. Answer them, if even only to yourself, and be confident. That customer who LOVES the work you do is probably the next one.