Customer Service training has been changing continuously since the BPO emerged in 1995. It started off by having western thoughts and ideologies put together in a structured manner and shared with Indian call center executives. Because it was so structured, employees ended up being more scared that knowledgeable. The training imparted was like a rocket science which people had to memorize and implement. Understanding in depth what one was doing was never given any credence. We were struggling then. You just had to do it. If you didn’t comprehend the laws, you were out.
In the process of understanding Meta physics and how our culture functions, I realized that there is no difference between customer service attitude and personal attitude. What was being taught was not really valid in the Indian context. Because being nice to strangers is something we have never struggled with. “Atithi Devo Bhava, Guest is God”. We have always welcomed guests. Some of them stayed on for 250 years. Irrespective of the British invasion, the freedom struggle, the British’s creation of the middle class and the subsequent exploitation of the word, “democracy”, we still continue to extend the generous and pleasant us. It’s in our DNA. So if it is so much a part of us, then why don’t we use it to the fullest? Why do employees of MNC’s dealing globally get scared and intimidated by a non- Indian? Why haven’t we gotten out of the awe of “white skin”? Why do we stammer and stutter when dealing with customers over the phone? Why, inspite of being good and honest workers, barring a few, we are not exceeding expectations of our management all the time.
The truth lies in the oblivion that most Indians live in. The truth lies in the illiteracy among the urban educated class. The truth lies in the social stereotypical conditioning of the Indian mind. The truth lies in the fact that we refuse to look deeply in three qualities that govern a person’s attitude: Sexual preference, Political inclination and religious beliefs. When I was being trained to be a trainer, my mentor cautioned me saying that these topics should never be discussed in a training environment. I listened to him and never spoke about the forbidden fruits for a few years. Till I realized that until people didn’t speak openly or till an environment wasn’t created where individuals felt comfortable in talking brass tacks, they will never get or want to know their own reality. And their reality is “theirs” which they logically deduct while mapping themselves.
Customer service, in an Indian context, is an extension of who we are, how we behave, whom we interact with, what we believe – our personal attitude. Our space has been such where we, at times, have forgone our convenience to keep another happy. We have slept on the floor and given our bed to a guest. Our parents stayed hungry, at times again, to keep their children full. Our social circle has always invited us to follow a path – belonging to whichever religion – that makes our life worth living. We work better in groups, as a unit, as a team, as a collective. Our identity lies with us, in our space, in our environment not a few thousand miles away.
India has always encouraged diversity. If you look at an Indian currency note, you will find 15 languages on the back and Hindi and English in the front making that 17. Which country in the world uses as many languages on their currency? Which country speaks these many languages and many more? Only ours! We communicate with different cultures speaking different languages, celebrating different festivals, following different faiths, eating different foods all in one country. Realizing and respecting this fact immediately gets me to be a lot more comfortable when I am speaking to people beyond our borders.
The purpose of this note is to ensure that individuals who choose to be in the service industry need to look at the next level of professionalism – super professionalism which translates to normality. How normal can you be, with what ease can you deal with a customer is the main goal. This note also aims at looking at the next level of customer satisfaction after customer delight. Customer exuberance. This note allows individuals to take ownership and responsibility of every task they do thus increasing their entrepreneurship quotient – a product of the sum of emotional Quotient (EQ) and Intellectual quotient (IQ). The next level. Passion Quotient (PQ) is catching up soon. 🙂
