The 5 C’s of Citizenship in an Answering Service

 Nearly two decades ago, Marci Hewlett decided she wasn’t willing to allow negativity to rule in her answering service.  She is the person who developed the 5 C’s of citizenship for our industry – of course, it works for any industry!  And it truly does create a more upbeat, positive atmosphere in which to work.

Let’s look at what they are and what they mean.

No negativity EVER toward

A Caller – Callers, especially upset callers, can be tough to handle.  We need to remember we aren’t walking in their shoes. First they called someone they needed to talk with - but got the answering service.  They may have a sick child, an overflowing toilet, or something worse.  They might get testy – but we can’t, and we can’t call them names after we disconnect the call.

A Client – Our clients pay well for our service, we are their employees, and when they feel they are not receiving what they’re paying for, they’re going to tell us.  Sometimes they will complain to Customer Service, and sometimes they will bark at us.  We need to take it in stride and give them our best – with no venting later.

A Co-worker – We work close together every day and caring about one another gives us the best working conditions.  That late agent might have been dealing with horrific traffic or a child’s tantrum.  The guy who just paged the wrong person, might have sick parents, none of us can be 100%, 100% of the time.  Show empathy; the next time it might be you who needs some compassion.

A Competitor – Bad mouthing a competitor is always wrong.  None of us is perfect and we will all have times when we aren’t at our best.  To criticize another answering service makes us all look bad.  Any potential customer will have an especially low impression if we take that approach, even if they are the ones complaining.  The best approach is to say you are sorry they have had a bad experience and move on to give them your best.

A Company (including your own) – Hopefully this last category covers all the rest of the entities we could make negative remarks about.  The point is that saying negative, unfriendly things about anyone will inevitably bring down the morale of the entire company.  Coworkers overhearing the remarks will be affected, clients or others hearing negative remarks will think less of the speaker, and their employer.  Everyone will be happier, more confident, and more trusting with their coworkers if they know that they will not hear or be a victim of negative comments.  A company with a positive atmosphere will always be more successful.