I’ve been in customer service for years now. As my team has grown, the number one piece of advice I give is to be your damn self.

I know it sounds simple, but sometimes simplicity really is the key to the outcomes you want.

In most customer service training, you learn scripts and phrases. You learn to say "I understand your frustration" and "I appreciate your patience" and "let me escalate this to my manager.” 

But when everyone is saying the same thing it starts to sound kinda robotic.

And in the age of tech, leaning on your humanity is your superstrength.

When I was working in a call centre for a private insurance company, I knew the pressure of making one wrong move or misleading statement. I learned to read from approved responses like my job depended on it (and sometimes it actually did). But it was always important for me to treat customer interactions like actual conversations with actual humans, within the bounding lines of what was reasonable.

Now that I lead CX at Quickli, this approach is ingrained in our team. 

It means simply recognising that the person on the other end of the phone call or email is probably stressed, possibly confused, and definitely looking for someone who gives a damn about solving their problem.

So when someone messages in frustration because something's not working, I don't open with "I understand your frustration and apologise for any inconvenience." That's white noise. Instead, I might acknowledge "That's annoying. Let's figure out what's happening here." Same empathy, zero robotic corporate speak.

Of course, we still follow processes and use tools like FAQ templates. Otherwise we wouldn’t be able to maintain the CSAT scores and response times that we do with our user-base-to-customer-service ratio. But there will always be personalisation and real connection built into every interaction. It takes an extra 20 seconds and makes all the difference. 

I post memes and act a little loose on our company social media sometimes. It brings a personality to the brand and shows there are actual humans behind our amazing technology. It breaks down the wall between "customer" and "company."

And people respond well to it! They engage. They remember. And when they need help, they're talking to someone who feels like a person, not a department.

Don’t be so risk-averse that every interaction feels hollow. A support function where employees are so constrained by approved language that they can't actually connect with the people they're trying to help can create a sterile, very “corporate” experience that customers don’t enjoy.

Instead, remember, these are people who have chosen you for a reason.

So stop reading from the script. Talk to people like people. Be yourself, even when it feels risky.

Your customers will thank you. And you’ll probably enjoy your job a whole lot more too.

Jimmy Hyde is Head of Customer Success at Quickli, Australia’s leading technology platform for mortgage brokers.