CUSTOMER CARE: Dealing with our personal emotions

I traveled last time and met again Peace, this flight attendant who was as usual all smiles. It’s always a joy meeting her on board as she is always very friendly. She will have a pleasant word with most passengers especially during long hour flights. During one of our chats, she explained to me that she is a mother of two children. That fateful day, one of her kids was not feeling well when she was leaving home. When I asked her how she manages to smile and be so friendly, her response amazed me “this is me at work and I have to carry on my job with a smile even if I am sad inside me, when I finish here, I will take back my role as a worried mum but for the meantime my passengers have paid for my smile” Recently the whole nation went through a mourning period. Genocide survivors are still passing through a difficult moment while remembering lost ones. I particularly have a deep thought for all Rwandans but most especially for customer facing working people This is a challenging period for service people who are supposed to be friendly, enthusiastic, smiling and excited as requires their job. Yes we all in one way or the other have been affected by the loss of people or friends and this period of mourning is a sorrowful one. This month, many will be sad, worried, devastated, shocked or angry. Others will be scared, confused, cheated, destroyed, guilty, exhausted, physically and emotionally traumatized or simply just empty. Obviously, no word could ever describe the pains that most people have gone through. But life continues and in any encounter with clients, service people can chose to remain sad by allowing the horrible past pull them down. They can also chose to deal differently with their emotions by looking forward and doing things that can improve and build Rwanda. Building Rwanda will need us to build today a positive thinking that will create positive attitudes in us. If we decide to think positive this month, our mindset will become positive and so will be our attitudes. Let our words and actions expand and extent to positive attitudes. The powerful thing about our mind is that, it is like a bank account. If we deposit in it positive thoughts, it will help us move forward. Remembering the past is painful, yet the bright future of Rwanda lies in our hands today. Dealing with our emotions is not a simple matter. But we can handle our emotions professionally if we are able to make a difference between our personal lives and the role we are playing as service people. Actors have what they call their “concentration time” before going on stage. It is a psychological gymnastic whereby they are able to picture themselves in the role and completely forget who they really are. This helps them to leave their personal problems and emotions somewhere in the corner of their heart so that they can adopt a new mindset for the role they need to play. Take the decision this month to start your day with Peace, spend it with Peace, fill it with Peace and end it with Peace. Let’s remember that most of the people we are serving this month have also their own emotions to deal with. Offer them today a smile and you can be sure that they will appreciate it as goes this quote “If someone is too tired to give you a smile, leave one of your own, because no one needs a smile as much as those who have none to give”. www.sheiconsulting.com