Customer Service Tip – Rory McIlroy’s PGA Tour Lesson for Business

Here’s a great customer service tip: doing more with less means keeping existing customers. So lately I’ve been delivering Customer Service keynotes and workshops more than any other subject! What separates a master from an average customer service rep? Their ability to hear and respond graciously to personal criticism, rudeness, and insane rants, and then– SHAKE IT OFF—and go on to the next.

Once again, my favorite world– sports –gives us the ultimate example. I was glued to the US Open Golf Tourney on Sunday, rooting with the rest of the world for Rory McIlroy to win! Why? Well, it’s just about the biggest comeback, shaking it off example EVER! It was just 2 months ago, in April, at The Masters in Augusta, where he choked big- time, hitting shots into the Clubhouse, scoring embarrassingly high numbers. And, then, after experiencing shame in front of millions, he COMES BACK last weekend to win EVERY round by many strokes. Voila!

How is that possible? Because humans have the capacity to compartmentalize, which, in my book Necessary Roughness, I urge you to do. Losing does NOT make you a loser; an unthinking action or remark does not brand you insensitive. My sister calls it “thought-stopping,” and we humans can blow our internal whistle, stop the negative thought mid-thought, and not beat yourself up. Practice with your spouse, or friend, or child—they will LOVE you for it!