You cannot serve two masters at one time. As said. But yes, I believe on this as well. You cannot be a two faced person just to serve two people. You can be loyal as long as you can. And that is way much better.

And that's what I thought I should be doing for the rest of my life. Serving one master only. Not until I was endorsed to Tier 3 at my work.

I used to serve and assist one customer at a time. One call I receive at a time. The queue is high, but I should still assist one person. But it did change. The moment I was transferred to higher tier, I did not expected that I will be dealing with two customers at the exact same time, with different attitude, with different approach, and with different issue that needs to be solved.

And how did I deal with it?

I've been working now for 2 years and half of it is spending my time working with two customers at the same exact time. So how did I manage to do it?

At first it was unrealistic for me. Like how I should do it? I even have a difficulty in handling a single person because of the differences we have. I cannot even end a day back then without having a small fight with one person. That way back as much as I wanted to be having a blast with a person, I tend to do it with a group. So how I made it up until now and counting?

I will just give a small background again about my work for those who did not know. I am a Call Center Agent - Tier 3 Chat Organization. Handling two customers at the exact same time. Some of you may say that it will be easy as I am a Chat Agent only, but for real it is not. However, I am still proud that I made it this far and will make it farther.

So let's get to the point on how I deal with my customers at the same time.

1. FOCUS

Working at home due to the pandemic with gadgets around me is such a nuisance. I mean, there's a lot of factor that can distract me from having a focus on what I am working with. It was tough at first because I did not know how I should deal with it, however as days goes by I get used to it. I keep in mind that I should be more focus on what's more important than using my gadgets during work. I realized that it is important to be more focus so that I can do my work well and I will reach the goal I am aiming for the day, and that is to give the proper assitance to my customer and resolved their concerns. Having a tight focus as well helps me think way better on how I will give the correct resolutions on the issue. After all, it will be a win win situation, where in I can give the best assistance as I can, my customers will be happy, I made them happy, they will give me a good survey, that will make me happy, and that is a good point on my performance score.

2. KNOWING PRIORITIES

I am working nine hours a day, sometimes twelve. So for me to be able to deal with two customers even though it is hard, I always think of my priorities. In my work, my customers are my priorities. That means, I need to give them my full attention. No more, no less. So if I am almost getting distracted on using my phone during work, I tried hard to get back on my phase and think this way, "I will be done in this work in no time. Be patient, you know what will happen if you get distracted." That after my entire shift I still have a few hours to relax and use my phone and browse my social media accounts before getting at rest. And that helped a lot, not right way but slowly. After all, small progress is still a progress.

3. ASK FOR TIPS

We cannot serve two masters at one time, sometimes. But we cannot stand alone most of the time. I mean, for some instances it is okay to seek for help. With it, you will learn and you will grow. In my case, when I was just a newbie on Tier 3, I really do not know how I will make it. So the least I can do is to seek for help and assistance, and that make it great. Like, we have a lot of tenured agents that already has a lot of experiences and of course they already happened to struggle as well like me, so I really asked for tips on how they made it. There's a lot, but I was not able to apply it right away. It was difficult on how and when I should start, but still I tried my best to at least do it one at a time. Step by step. It is a process. At the end, the small steps I made will be bigger enough for me to say made it.

And now, I am proud to say that despite of the difficulties I experienced when I am starting on dealing with two customers, I can say that I made it this time. I will not deny that I will get still distracted with something but one thing is for sure that I will make sure to get back.

So here's the catch, we all know that we all started from scratch. Like, we born to have not known anything. And we just learned and that is why we are here right now. And it is okay to not know anything at first, what's not okay is not willing to learn, not accept teaching, and not aiming a goal. Sometimes, what you are aiming for will not come at hand right away, but with patience and perseverance it will come, for sure. No doubts. All success is really a product of blood, sweat, and tears. If it is still not coming until now after a long wait and you feel that the progress is slow, always think at the brighter side, and as I mentioned above, small progress is still a progress. Just keep going and do not stop. It is okay to rest, but make sure to bounce back and continue.

My point may not work to all, but I hope it will work for some.

-MissJo 💜

** image from Google