Can anyone give some tips on how to deal with anxiety at work when it comes to talking to people? I struggle badly with social anxiety. Don't get me wrong -- I have worked with the company for 6 years, and have many good relationships with regulars, so I know that I am capable of talking to customers. But I just feel that whenever an issue arises or I have a more difficult situation that I have to try to explain (especially to angry people), I sometimes stammer or struggle trying to get my words out smoothly and explain things clearly. Given that I work in the pharmacy, some issues like insurance can be fairly difficult to explain. I get tense, have nervous mannerisms, repeat myself, and sound unsure of myself or like I don't know what I am doing. In reality, I am very knowledgeable at what I do. However, my uncertainty and lack of confidence causes customers to not be convinced by me, so then any difficult situations tend to get even more out of hand. I feel so embarrassed, and I think even more so because of my experience -- after 6 years I really should not struggle! I so badly want to improve my speaking abilities and confidence, but I think that I am SO lacking that I could never be on par with my coworkers.
Please, if anyone can relate, what can you do to overcome this?
I used to be the exact same way, If conflict arose I would steer clear of it and let a manager handle the situation - however, once i moved stores, I knew more than most. I also had a great teacher who had a good retail personality.
I got put on anti-anxiety medicine this year. It's funny because I didn't realize I had it until I started working in retail. Now I can control it. If the customer is being ridiculous, I will stand up to them and tell them if they'd like, I can call a manager, but they're just going to say the same thing) Most don't want to get a manager involved anyway and say "just forget it"
And if they're right, i'll offer them the scanrite code for the trouble (unless you're being a real dick, then **** off)
It'll take time to practice, just be assertive and sure of yourself. If you have a lot of knowledge with what you're working, and what you're doing, you'll be able to respond faster/nicer/safer. I got tired of being pushed around by customers who are off their rockers so I started being more assertive and strict.
Oh, and also, ALWAYS trust your instinct first and foremost, when you have a bad feeling like something isn't right, it probably isnt.
This has happened to me very recently, more than once, when I went against it. I knew something was fishy because I documented everything that happened with receipts - turns out I made a huge mistake.
Instinct, it's there for a reason and has also SAVED me in one certain transaction where **** just kind of went crazy. I had a bad feeling I needed to leave immediately, and I turned out to be right.
Try not to care. It turns out that it doesn't actually matter. The downside is that customer service will suffer. However, the trick there is also not to care.
You could sue for mental damages. I'm very similar I never had anxiety, panic attacks and ptsd from working with Kroger over 7+ years. My ADA rights were recently violated and I'm filing a petition with the state as I think the manager should have put up a red flag an realize that I am not the type of individual the **ch of a customer made me appear and made me look like the bad guy.
