Can You Take a Punch?

In the world of boxing, the fighter must have the ability to take a punch. They have to endure or ignore the pain. They get used it. It hardly bothers them. It’s part of the job. But what does this have to do with customer service?
I recently had the honor of working with Francisco Partners, a private equity firm. They invited me to address the leadership team of the companies they’ve invested in about customer service and experience. Mike Kohlsdorf, their president, met with me for breakfast to talk about the speech and he commented that when you’re on the front line, you have to be able to take a punch.
Obviously, the punch is a metaphor. In customer service, you aren’t going to be physically punched out by your unhappy customers, but you can expect to get hit with some verbal jabs.
I’m always impressed by how amazing customer service professionals