019 – 8 Ways to know if Serving Customers is Your Calling

Summary: Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net 8 Ways to know if Serving Customers is Your Calling   The mountains are calling and I must go. --John Muir The opposite of being “called”  is often referred to as being "driven".   Driven people think they know everything, are typically caught up in the pursuit of acknowledgement, and are competitive to a fault.    That is not to say that being driven is all bad but being overly driven can be destructive to you and your relationships. Called people are different, they behave differently and think differently.  So here are 8 ways to know if Serving Customers is your Calling. 1.  You are humble.  You are humble with your knowledge. Called people understand that they don’t know everything.  There is still much to learn and they are open to new concepts and ideas.  Being called is about learning and realizing that you will get better by additional experiences and education.  Reading is always a great way to improve and expand your knowledge base.  When you are called you operate in your sweet spot and gathering information is energizing and rewarding.  On the other hand driven people believe that they know everything, are not open to new ideas and concepts and always think they know what they are doing. 2.  No Guarantees.  You realize that your relationships are on loan, your job is on loan and your position is on loan.  Called people have a tendancy to not take relationships, jobs, and position for granted.  They understand the importance of them and work to nurture, develop, and gain from them.  As a provider of customer service, you treat those relationships tenderly and attempt to meet the customer's needs in a productive manner. 3.  You know YOU.  You know who you are.  Called people know exactly who they are. We do not need to craft an identity, we already have one. We are beloved, no matter what we accomplish.  Knowing who we are takes some deep reflection. We are never as good or as bad as we think people see us.  Called people value relationships and grace-filled approval over any amount of applause. 4.  You are relational.  You seek genuine relationships. As a matter a fact, they perceive their identity as part of genuine relationships.  I asked one of my employees recently why she felt she was called to customer service and she responded by saying “I love customer service because I get to have a genuine relationship with other people.”  She didn’t hesitate in her answer.  It was so natural for her, as part of her calling. 8 ways to know if Serving Customers is your Calling. 5.  You are a teammate.  You get to be a part of a team.  If this is exciting and gets you fired up, then you are called to serve.  I recently asked another employee the same question, "How do you know you were called to serve?"  With a huge smile on her face and excitement in her voice she responded, “I feel called to be in customer service because I get to be a part of a team.”   Driven people think that being part of a team means you are in their way. 6.   It’s a stewardship.  Called people understand stewardship.  They see it as their responsibility to take care of the resources entrusted to them, their job,  position and customers for example. Their job is to shepherd and safeguard the value of relationships.  When driven people lose status it’s a crisis, when called people lose status it doesn’t change anything. 7.   Have a sense of purpose.  Called people possess an unwavering sense of purpose.  They are able to say "no" to that which is not their purpose. Called people do a lot more listening than talking…a lot more reflecting than speaking.  Called people choose their time and priorities according to their purpose.  The ability to say “no” is one of the keys to a person who has been called to customer service.  We say “yes” to the things that accomplish our purposes, and “no” to the things that distract us. 8.  Unwavering commitment.