Avoiding Automotive Customer Service Burnout
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One of the things which separate human beings from animals is our ability to feel emotions. Our emotional health is a very complex thing, perhaps equally if not more complex than our physical health. This health is challenged daily through our interactions with other human beings and in dealing with the things that happen in our lives, but this is even more true when it comes to working in automotive customer service.
Being in automotive customer service is a very unique role. The automotive business that you represent, along with all of its hard-working employees are separated from their customers, clients, and the outside world by one thin line; and that thin line is YOU, the customer care representative.
On a long enough timeline, the effects of dealing with customers can take a toll on your emotions and cause you to burn out. To avoid that, here are a few tips for you to keep your head above water while continuing to do the job that you love:
Take Care of Yourself
First and foremost, you must take care of yourself. No matter how stressful your automotive customer service jobs become, you must make sure to take care of the basics: eat well, stay hydrated, get plenty of sleep when you go home at night, and of course maintain your personal grooming.
These things seem obvious, but when you are working in customer care dealing with customers, some of whom will be difficult to keep happy, there is a risk that the stress will drive you towards burning out. When a person burns out, they start to neglect themselves. For example, skipping meals due to a lack of appetite, which leads to low energy levels, which leads to reduced performance at work.
Before following any other advice, you must make sure that you are taking care of the basics!
Build A Support Network
Know that you are not alone. Remember what was mentioned in the introduction to this article: you are representing the automotive business and all the teams within that business. You have colleagues, and its important to make sure you develop good and healthy friendships with your colleagues and even your management team.
These people are the ones who understand your struggles the best because they’re there with you when you experience challenges dealing with customers who bring in their automobiles, motorcycles, and other vehicles into the business. Some of these people will help you by lending an ear so you can share your work problems with them. On top of that, sometimes all you need to shake off the stress of working in automotive customer service is to share a laugh with the colleagues you spend most of your time with.
Remember the Big Picture
After you’ve taken care of the basics and also developed a strong support network with your colleagues and team members, then it would help to start looking at the big picture.
Try to think back to the reasons why you chose to sign up for an automotive education, and why you then chose to get a job in automotive customer service. Chances are that you did that because you love automobiles and the overall automotive lifestyle. Perhaps you chose this path in life because you wanted to be surrounded by these things on a daily basis, and also because you loved meeting new people and helping them solve their problems.
Once you’ve taken care of the basics, thinking about the big picture can help you get through the day-to-day challenges of working in your industry.
Maintain Boundaries
At the end of the day, the sun goes down and the day ends. What that means is that no matter how difficult things get at your automotive customer service job, remember that you do not have to take your work home with you, so you can leave your work-related problems at work.
This is what they mean when they say ‘work-life balance’. Once you walk out of the automotive business’ office at the end of the day, you are your own person; go see your friends and family, go and enjoy your hobbies.
Tomorrow is a new day, and no matter how difficult today may be at work, tomorrow is a new chance to have a great day in the industry you’ve chosen, the automotive industry!