You have just received a customer call while your team members are joking around. What is your best course of action?

Choosing to ask your team members to quiet down before answering the phone demonstrates a strong commitment to professionalism and respect for the customer. By addressing the distraction, you are prioritizing the customer's experience and ensuring that you can focus fully on their needs. A quiet environment is critical for effective communication, especially in a customer service role where understanding the customer's concerns is essential.

This approach also sets a positive tone for your team, signaling the importance of maintaining a professional atmosphere even in a casual setting. It helps to create a culture where customer interactions are valued, leading to better service outcomes.

In contrast, answering the phone despite the noise can hinder your ability to listen effectively and deliver quality service, while ignoring the distraction may come off as unprofessional to the customer. Joining in the conversation briefly might also project a lack of urgency or seriousness about the call, which is not ideal in a customer service context. Overall, by prioritizing a distraction-free interaction, you are demonstrating a best practice in customer service.