Customer service implies that there is one goal: serving the customer. But I would argue it’s bidirectional. You also take something away from the interaction. Make sure you are taking time to document your learning and share it with others. If you had a conversation with a student about an incident that occured, write some notes after. What stuck with you? What wording or phrases were successful, and what did not go well? Share those notes with your team. While every conversation is different, we all benefit from the learning.
I’ve observed that most people are hyper-aware of learning through experience in the first couple weeks or months of a new job. Everything is new, and as such, you want to prove that you can learn and not ask the same questions again. Why don’t we continue this behavior our entire career? It would seem likely there would be fewer of those memorable moments- so less work to document. I would guess the answer to this from most people is, “I don’t have time.” I get that. Who has any extra time when you work in Residence Life? Sure, writing down these moments will help you remember them in the future, but you can use them for so much more. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a bank of transformative experience or learning moments to draw upon when:
- Developing case studies for training
- Prepping for a job interview
- Writing a transition report
- Developing performance evaluations
- Talking with other customers or colleagues in similar situations
I hope I’ve convinced you to harness the power of your learning. Take a minute now, open up Microsoft Word, and start the document. Write down what customer services experiences you’ve had in the last day, week, or month. Maybe they’re when you were serving a customer; maybe they’re when you were being served—it doesn’t matter. What matters is what you took away. What you would do differently, and what you would try to replicate? I’m confident you will find benefit in the long run.
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