4 effective ways customer service professionals can stand out

One of the toughest challenges to face in the workplace is to not be seen. Even worse when you’re in the customer service profession and that’s because of the multitude of people who happen to be your co-workers. They exhibit distinct characters and possess different level of skills which you may or may not have and that just makes it so hard to literally shine. And if you recently joined a company that has scaled, it can be even more intimidating to stand out.

No one likes to be one who’s never acknowledged nor sought in the workplace. But simply disliking such a situation wouldn’t stop it from happening to even those with the most potential to be great, unless they begin to focus on their organization succeeding, and take the necessary steps to build a personal and professional reputation in the workplace.

As intimidating as it can sometimes be to work in an office filled with skilled customer service champions, your primary focus should be on your team and business succeeding.

How then can you leverage your focus on your team and organization’s success to stand out amongst your co-workers? Here are 4 effective ways to stand out and rise to the top as quickly as you possibly can.

1. THINK DIFFERENT

What makes it easy for some people to stand out in the most crowded and competitive workplaces like a typical contact centre is because they have positioned themselves to think differently from their colleagues. When you analyze the common topics of discussion in the workplace, particularly among customer service teams, you’d find that the conversations revolve around “annoying & difficult customers”, “not being compensated enough”, “being made to work extra hours” or the “quality monitoring team cramping their style”.

When you think differently in a way that would improve existing processes, policies or culture that affect the customer experience, your conversations would naturally differ from the rest of your team and you’d begin to gain attention from the people who are influential to your success within the organization.

It is absolutely okay to rant and purge yourself of negative emotions emanating from unfavourable work conditions, but understand that there is a time and place for such conversations. As a customer service professional, focus more of your time on conversations and actions that help you and your organization grow. It starts with your ability to think differently.

2. THINK AHEAD

You may wonder if there’s a difference between thinking ahead and thinking differently. The former is more about orchestrating success, whether it’s concerning the company you currently work for or it’s about your professional advancement. Thinking ahead of your peers automatically sets you up for success which if done right, your colleagues, in the next 3 to 5 years may still be struggling to attain the level you sailed through a couple of years back.

At some point in my career, I became frustrated because I felt unseen and stuck in a particular level and although I had the potential to move up, I wasn’t taking the opportunity that could advance my career by planning my professional growth and following through with it. It was until I started to think deeper about how I could contribute differently to the organization’s success and what plans and actions I needed to take at that moment to gain more knowledge in the customer experience field, that I began to stand out and create more impact in the workplace.

As a customer service professional, being known as one who’s exceptional is to first picture your career beyond its current level or circumstances, and then act on your plans to stay on top of things.

3. VOICE YOUR OPINIONS AND SHARE ACTIONABLE IDEAS

Having directly managed over seventy employees so far in my career, I’ve discovered that people who are introverted, sometimes struggle to voluntarily share their opinions unless being asked directly. As an ambivert, I sometimes experience this challenge and understand how people with that personality fight within themselves to speak up but just can’t muster the courage to raise their hands or blurt out a single word which might give them audience and sometimes, the thought of everyone giving them attention is also what could discourage them from speaking at all.

One thing that’s worth noting however, is that some line managers do not make efforts to learn the temperaments of their team. Some don’t care to know, they only care about results and would focus their attention on the employees that are more vocal. So, understanding your line manager is also an important step when trying to stand out. Irrespective of your personality, the business that pays you depends on your spoken or written opinion as well as ideas to improve. If you care enough about the company’s success, find means that’s most comfortable for you to air your views and share ideas about how your organization can operate better or how internal processes can be improved on. Whether it’s in written form to your line manager, what can also help you stand out is being consistent with sharing feedback and ideas that can be implemented.

Regardless of your personality, nobody, including your line Manager would know and be able to vouch for your work abilities until they can see a beneficial impact of your feedback, opinions, ideas and most importantly, actions on the team and overall business.

4. BE A PROBLEM SOLVER FOR YOUR CUSTOMERS & COLLEAGUES

My second job ever was working as a client service executive. Initially, the job seemed difficult and my line manager at the time had strict standards. Even though the team was small, it was extremely difficult gaining ground. I felt like I was sinking because of how often my mistakes were brought to my attention; most times in a derogatory way. But that didn’t discourage me; rather, it challenged me to be better. I finally found an opportunity to show what I was capable of when my manager went on vacation. I told myself that by the time she returned, she was going to see a completely different Bukie, one who every other employee would depend on for quick fixes and to resolve the most difficult client problems and that was exactly what happened when she returned. That singular decision I took to become a problem solver changed her initial negative perception of me and gave me better growth opportunities.

How are you meeting the needs of your team? Are you one of the first to find solutions to problems and immediately share or are you one who finds the solution but keeps it to yourself until “the right time” so that you look like the smartest person in the room? While the latter will be a conversation for another day, it is essential that you become a service professional who’s described as dependable, focused and one whom your team and manager would obviously call for help without a second thought.

The solution to standing out in the workplace is not “one size fits all” because of the peculiarity of industries and the culture which could differ across organizations. However, the key to becoming an exceptional customer service professional is to first care about the business that pays you. When you care about your organization beyond its benefits to you, you will naturally develop ways to help the company succeed and that’ll require you thinking differently, thinking ahead, sharing innovative ideas and solving problems around you, whether big or small.