Attitude

[Maximillion]

For those of you who don't already know, I have an issue with my temper at work. When I take orders in drive-thru, my tone tends to become angry without me even noticing it. e.g: SC asks me what drinks do we have (as if there isn't a menu outside for reference) I tell them as nicely as I can without letting them know how stupid they're sounding, but someone ends up telling me that I'm being mean.

I need help with controlling my tone of voice and attitude altogether...Could anyone be so kind as to help me out please? -pouts-

[lordlundar]

Shock therapy perhaps?

Sorry, goofy mood today.

[Mighty Girl]

This won't always work, because let's face it- some people deserve to be yelled at.

Try to remember that everyone is somebody's mother, sister, brother, father, daughter, whatever. And everyone, at some point, will have a brain fade.

[Maximillion]

-nods- Sounds logical. I'll try it tomorrow. ^^ I don't know if shock therapy will help but it's a good suggestion.

[Kiwi]

sorry this is such a long reply, it just struck a cord with me!

Act it, pretend like your an actor playing the happy employee, believe me your acting skills will improve 1000 times

and keep this in mind, in the case of your example, remember not everyone can read, Im dyslexic and usually ask just to make sure if im at a chain for the first time because menu board just swim with letters, there are people with bad eyesight, people are lazy or tired or have had a bad day or maybe they arnt that comfortable with english yet...

I used to work at a craft store and would get asked the same question ALL FREAKING DAY, so I had to keep in mind, that while the answer was so freaking obvious to me, it could be the first time one of the customers had ever thought about it... customers dont know you ask the same questions time after time after time

to the customer, they are the only customer.... hmm do i want diet coke or root beer...well...hmm...for lunch I had a root beer, but I feel like orange soda, do they have orange soda, I dont know, hmm, well johnny doesnt like root beer so if I get rootbeer he will throw a tantrum...hmmm...trantrum that reminds me, my boss wants that report tomorrow morning, thats a late night...I should get coffee...but I want orange soda.....

"do you have orange soda?"

as I have said before, alot of customers suckyness is born through ignorance, a customer doesnt pull up to the drive through thinking, gee I wonder how many hundreds of times Max has been asked for drinks this week....he must be really sick of that

retail is not easy, its a hard and draining job with alot of mind numbing repetitiveness. it is unfortunely just a part of the job....

maybe if your having that much of a hard time, you should check, is it just at work or is it in every part of your life... if its just at work, maybe consider a factory job (I did one for 6 months when I was ready to jump over the counter and strangle the next customer I served) however if your anger is more than just at work....it could be a bigger problem.

just remember.... no one says you have to mean it, you just have to LOOK like you mean it (have a conversation in your head that lets off steam) or better yet, come here and vent to us. We get it!

[Zombi]

My mother always quotes 'Strictly Ballroom' - "I've got my happy face on!". When you put your happy face on, nothing can upset you. I often find myself repeating that phrase through gritted teeth as I try to avoid beating someone senseless with a roll of $2 coins.

[MystyGlyttyr]

When I worked the drive-thru, this was usually what you could hear from me in the back room, minus all the censoring.

*headphones ping*"
"GOD F*****G D****T PIECE OF S*** B**** WHY THE F*** J**** C***** DO THEY COME TO THIS S******E STORE???" *kicked over bucket*
*turns on microphone* *cheerfully* "Hi, welcome to McDonalds, how can I help you?"

My manager even asked me once "Are you sure you aren't bipolar?"

But I got away with this because A) our headphones would NOT activate unless you flipped a switch AND hit a button, and B) I had a manager who didn't care that I threw a tantrum so long as none of the customers could hear it. But getting all the rage out before the call usually helped me stay rational during, heh.

[friendofjimmyk]

Act it, pretend like your an actor playing the happy employee, believe me your acting skills will improve 1000 times

MY SENTIMENTS EXACTLY! There's a saying in the program (12-steps) that it's easier to act yourself into a new way of thinking than to think yourself into a new way of acting!! Has worked like a charm for me. I just pretend to be an actor playing a role where I need to exhibit characteristics that I am lacking or need work on and sooner or later, a change has come about in me.

[wagegoth]

*headphones ping*"
"GOD F*****G D****T PIECE OF S*** B**** WHY THE F*** J**** C***** DO THEY COME TO THIS S******E STORE???" *kicked over bucket*
*turns on microphone* *cheerfully* "Hi, welcome to McDonalds, how can I help you?"

OMG, Mysty, that sounds like me when I worked in a call center. Sometimes I just HAD to put someone on hold while I pounded the desk. I also mimed strangulation, stabbing and shooting if I couldn't put them on hold. The supervisor loved having me sit outside his office because he would end up laughing several times a day. I can also cross my eyes. Occasionally entertaining.

Maximillion, acting does help. You don't know this person, they don't know you, you're just a voice. An old trick, but it works, is to always smile as you're talking. Even if you don't feel it, it affects the way you sound to the customer.

[AirHostess]

The plane is a theatre, I just smile a lot and make jokes. Then we go in the back galley and have a good moan.

I try and remember that you don't know what is going on in people's lives to make them act how they do, we call it the Iceberg Theory.

[flybye023]

I agree with what some of the other posters have said. It is not a requirement of the job that we like every customer, only that we be polite.

Your talking over a mike is similar to the job some of us have of talking over the phone.

Smile as you talk. For whatever reason, it does come through in the voice. Even if you don't feel the smile. If that doesn't quite work though, and the tone is still harsh, try and feel the smile. If I'm having a bad day on the phone, the next time the phone rings I physically force myself to relax. Sometimes you don't notice the tension building up until you relax. Then I think of something that makes me smile: my cat, my nephew, the roses in my garden, something funny I heard on t.v., etc. Then I let myself smile at that, pick up the phone and answer. It sounds complicated but really only takes a few seconds especially if you line up your "happy thoughts" before your shift starts so they're easier to remember.

[Brighid45]

All good suggestions. I would only add that learning to sound more friendly is one of those things that comes with practice. The more you practice, the better you'll get.

Also, don't beat yourself up if you have a bad day and struggle. We all have those. Be gentle with yourself and keep practicing. You'll get there.

[CrazedClerk]

At Wal-Mart we were trained to smile before answering a phone on the basis that it would make us sound friendlier. Not too sure if that worked well or not because I can answer friendly but when I hear an SC immediately start bitch and cussing at me, "Friendly" goes out the window.

[Maximillion]

Tonight I was in drive-thru just taking money so when I'm just doing that, I'm relaxed. Normally whan the customer gets to my window, I ask how they are and if they had a nice day or whatever and 9/10 of the time they actually launch into a discussion about a shopping expidition while I'm cashing out their order. This puts me in a friendlier mode. Even when I'm really tired or my mind is elsewhere, depending on the customer, I make an effort to smile now because I've noticed that customers relax a little.

Also, I did have to take a few orders and I noticed that I'd change my tone a little bit. Like if I say my usual "Welcome to Burger King how may I help you" and the customer says something like "One whopper-with cheese" in a less than friendly tone, It was difficult to keep the friendly tone going because I knew that it would only make things worse. I think I'm gonna write down all of the suggestions so far and take them with me to work if that's okay with everyone? I really think they'll all help in some way or another. ^^

[FastFoodFlunky]

I work at Wendy's and boy do I consider the button that lets me click on and off the drive-thru speaker a godsend. I basically do a replay of Mysty whenever a car pulls up during a mad rush.

To keep myself under control, I also think of the whole "actor" thing, and pretend that I'm simply playing a role in a movie. It actually works.

Also, I just keep reminding myself that customers aren't trying to annoy me personally (well, most of them anyway ). They just want to order food from the restaurant, nothing more, nothing less. If one customer pisses you off, just remember that the ones that come after them have NOTHING to do with them, so giving them an attitude isn't fair to them.

Also, and this applies to drive-thru especially, ALWAYS be as polite as you can be (as difficult as it may be to do so at times) because you NEVER know who you're talking to at the speaker. It could be your grandparents coming to visit, your district manager testing you on your level of customer service, or perhaps it'll be that one customer that calls the corporate 1-800 number to compliment the friendly service you gave them. You just never know. Once I decided that I wasn't going to let any drama that goes on in the workplace affect the service that I give to customers, I started receiving many compliments along the lines of "Wow..you're one of the friendliest employees I've come across." And simple compliments like that will get you through the day.

It doesn't kill to be polite in even the worst circumstances...it's actually a skill that can be developed.

Good Luck!
Chris