Customer Service Week is all about how we treat other people, and you already know how to treat your favorite caller. You remember what they like, you’re patient when they’re having an off night, and you’d never dream of making them feel like a burden. Now picture extending that same courtesy to the person who answers your phone. Yes, you.
What Is Self-Compassion?
Self-compassion is treating yourself with the same kindness and patience you’d offer someone you care about, especially when things go wrong.
It isn’t letting yourself off the hook. It’s declining to be meaner to yourself than you’d ever be to anyone else.
Why Flirts Are Often Harder on Themselves Than on Callers
You hear every stumble, every awkward pause, every call that didn’t go the way you planned. Callers hear one call. You hear the whole back catalog. Working independently also means there’s no coworker to share the blame when a shift goes sideways, so it all lands on you.
Three Ways to Give Yourself “Regular” Treatment
- Remember what you like. Keep a short list of what actually recharges you, the same way you’d remember a regular’s favorites.
- Be patient on off days. A bad shift is a bad shift, not a performance review.
- Check in on yourself. Ask how you’re doing the way you’d ask a caller, and then have the decency to listen to the answer.
What Changes When You Stop Being Your Own Toughest Critic
Flirts who treat themselves kindly tend to last longer in this work, and their calls often get better, not worse. It’s hard to sound warm and relaxed with a heckler living in your head. Evict the heckler.