"But I thought I had to be professional. I didn't know I could comfort them."
What a great moment when a coach gets to help grow CX strength in others. It's even more delightful when we get to break down false notions from the past and rip apart myths of how we can't bring our real selves to work.
I had the opportunity to participate regularly with a team of coaches (team leads) during call listening sessions. One call will always stick with me...but more importantly, what happened during coaching (yes...real coaching...not just corporate-speak language for criticism) after the call.
Customer - "I know you said you needed those documents but...well...my uncle just passed away unexpectedly. We were just so close. I can't believe he's gone and then with all the arrangements and family and travel...well...I just didn't get to the docs. Can I get them to you this week?"
A pause of maybe about 5 seconds occurred (that's a near-eternity on a call...sit silently for 5 seconds right now and see how long it actually is!). Then the agent spoke...
Agent - "Well, if you can get those docs into me this week, we'll be able to move forward."
Those of us listening to the call gasped! It felt so stilted, so cold, so distant! We were shocked. What an opportunity missed to connect with the customer! "Oh, no. I'm so sorry to hear that. Please know that the docs are secondary. Take your time with the family. Would you like me to put the process on hold or is there any other way we can help you here?"
The coach met with the agent and they listened to the call together. After that moment, the coach asked why the agent didn't take that moment to connect. That's when the agent said, "But I thought I had to be professional. I didn't know I could comfort them." The light bulb went off for the coach and for the leadership team as a whole. The agent didn't know they could be human and was living under old assumptions about how business should be run. That's not the agent's fault.
The fault wasn't the agent's. The fault was with leadership. The teams needed to know not only could they be human, the company wanted them to bring their humanity to work with them...being professional included being human.
Certainly many on the team already exhibited this in how they connected with customers. Yet, for the rest, the fault sat with leadership by not emphasizing this with the entire team.
After coaching, this agent delivered some of the most customer-connection filled calls we'd heard. Of course, if after coaching the results didn't change, then the ownership certainly pivots to the agent. But before holding them accountable, the company needed to train and establish a culture of what was not only allowed, but expected.
I loved being a part of that opportunity to watch this person's career trajectory completely change.
Empathy and Professionalism are NOT Opposing Forces.