Is a Career in Customer Service for You?

Nordstrom’s philosophy for hiring is to hire people who love to work for and help other people. They do not want to hire individuals who are lacking in the basic human relations skills of dealing with others. This is not something they want to teach to someone who comes to work for them. Rather they want people who are naturals when it comes to taking care of their customers. If you can do that, they may have a career for you.

In an interview with Fortune Magazine a spokesperson for Nordstrom said, “We want people who will have a relentless focus on helping us get better at taking care of our customers -- one at a time, each and every day. Understand there is just one rule at Nordstrom: Use good judgment in all situations.”

Colin Johnson, Nordstrom PR spokesman, gives this advice to people who want to work for his company, “Be real, be yourself and be motivated. We empower our salespeople to earn as much as they can sell. This is a place where success depends on your ability to help lots of customers and to make it your own business.”

If you like helping other people by providing a service or product, then a career in customer service, working at a company like Nordstrom, could be for you. Of course good human relations skills isn’t all you will need. One employee that was interviewed by Vault Inc. said that, "The corporate culture can be summed up in two words: customer service. "Specifies one insider, "We are absolutely devoted to customer service." Says another, "I attended a presentation that Bill Nordstrom, one of the company's co-presidents, gave. He pointed out something that made sense but that I had not thought of before - that Nordstrom is built on trust. When customers return products, we trust them when they tell us it was not satisfactory. Our customers trust us and we work very hard to maintain that."

Being good with people and being able to trust them, can go a long way in helping you succeed in most companies. Are you born with these skills or can they be developed? My answer to this question is both. Both nature and nurture will help develop trust in human beings. Some people seem to be born with the ingredients that can be developed and used in their interaction with others. If they are brought up in an environment that is mistrusting and uncertain they may have this inherent ability stunted. On the other hand, someone who is not naturally an open and trusting person can be raised in an environment that will encourage and grow that individual into someone that interacts with people sell.

All in all, a career in customer service can be for you, if you have the desire to help and trust others and can provide a valued service or product in which you believe.

Tom Borg is president of Tom Borg Consulting, LLC. He is a business consultant, speaker, coach and author. Please see more of his blogs at http://www.csjobsblog.com/ and http://www.manufacturingworkersblog.com/ To view additional job postings at https://www.nexxt.com/