What Customer Service Providers Can Learn from The Actors Studio
© Holly Stiel
Teamwork
Actors, even big stars totally understand teamwork. Jennifer Lopez talked about being young and working with Jack Nicholson. She said, “The biggest lesson he taught me is that real artists want everybody to be great.”
Morgan Freeman says he learned a great lesson from Denzel Washington who told him you can’t ever be better than the person you’re working with. Tom Cruise talks about movie sets as a group creation which means everyone contributes or the film doesn’t happen. He says, “It’s not about me, it’s about us. If it’s not about US, then it’s not working.”
Actors understand that each of them is a small cog in the wheel, with the wheel being the entire experience and everyone playing their part, each person serving the story to create and complete it.
The actor’s job as well as every service provider’s job all boils down to creating emotional connections, whether that is with your audience or your customer. Actors understand what is required to have an emotional connection occur. They realize that an important aspect is to learn how to take care of yourself so you can truly be of service to others.
Actors believe that relaxation is a requirement to be good at their craft. By relaxing you can then be available for the emotional currency required on the job. The emotional currency is what is needed to make an emotional connection and it is in the emotional connection that service is actually delivered.
In essence, learning to behave like professional actors allows us to break the fourth wall. While a stage has three distinct walls, every stage actor is keenly aware that the audience constitutes the fourth wall. It is incumbent on the actor to break through the fourth wall and connect with the audience. Therein lies the core and essence of the craft. The true art is in the connection.
The core, the essence and the artistry of customer service is based on absolutely the same principles. It is the customer who represents the fourth wall and it is each service provider’s responsibility to break through that wall and make an emotional connection by using the hallmarks of acting.
Listening, empathy, context, being present, personal growth, and teamwork. We can all make meaningful connections in a matter of moments, scene by scene, moment by moment by taking these lessons from professional actors.
Customers feel served, repeat business escalates, service providers experience pride, employers experience better retention and everyone’s environment is enhanced.
So, next time you go to work, think about these ideas and put them into practice. For service providers, there is no dress rehearsal. Put on your costume be it nurse, barista, hygienist, bellman, stylist, hostess, host, clerk, server, ticket agent, retail sales associate, etc.
Remember, your success as an actor or as a service provider are dependent on the choices that you make. So choose to look at your job through this lens. Christopher Reeve says a film is only as good as the collection of magic moments that occur. May you all experience many magical, connected moments.
Lights, camera, action.