When Business and Personal Issues Collide

CSR training encompasses all aspects of interacting with customers. Having excellent telephone skills and being articulate when speaking with others is extremely important, but so too is being able to be professional at all times. Also vital in customer service and sales communication is being able to relate on a personal level without becoming emotionally involved.

Keeping personal issues at home is often easier said than done, but as with all pieces of customer service training, perfection comes with experience. Learning how to handle emotionally trying times in one’s personal life takes practice, and may also come easier for some than for others. Personal issues can cause hardship for anyone who is striving to focus in a professional environment. From newly hired, entry level staff to fully vested upper-management, personal concerns can wreak havoc if not kept in check.

Following are five simple tips that can be used by customer service professionals, sales agents, or anyone having to navigate the workplace while facing a personal crisis of any type:

1) Learn to Breathe
Each time you feel the thoughts of your personal life creeping in during your work day, take a deep breath, count to ten, and attempt to put the problem out of your mind while exhaling. By practicing this breathing exercise, you can train your mind and your body to let go of stress.

2) Find Your Focus
Many customer service professionals find that focusing on the task at hand fully and completely can occupy their minds so fully that they have no time to worry about the hardships outside of work. Focus on your customers, paperwork, or even seek out new projects to get your mind off of your outside woes.

3) Make a Move
An easy way to de-stress is through good, old-fashioned sweat. Of course, unless you work in a gym, working out during the work day is unlikely and unwise. On the other hand, you can choose to take a walk during breaks, stretch at your desk between projects, or even devise a workout regimen during lunch or before/after work.

4) Visit Your Happy Place
Plenty of professional business people use a ‘happy place’ to distract themselves from their daily troubles. This is not necessarily an actual location, but is usually represented in the form of a photograph, a postcard, or even an amusing cartoon. If you can find an acceptable distraction that can put a smile on your face, you are wise to utilize it when you are particularly stressed.

5) Know When to Say No
Sometimes, the best option is to take a personal day to sort out whatever crisis may interfere with work performance. By explaining the circumstances to a superior, you should be able to take some time off to take control of the situation. However, you must take caution not to overuse personal crises to not appear in the workplace lest you be left with yet another issue: the lack of employment.

Customer service training and sales training is offered to businesses of all sizes and from all industries through Molloy Business Development Group, LLC.