Customer Service (CSA)

creation of

Customer Service (CSA)

other thoughts to add to

• To learn and say their name

• If we are unhappy make sure that we say 

  • The the CS name 

  • Or if it's the company.

12 steps

 A 12-step recovery program for those who get mad at customer service over the phone

Step 1: We admitted we were powerless over our temper when calling customer service—that our calls had become unmanageable.

Step 2: Came to believe that a power greater than our ego could restore us to calmness.

Step 3: Made a decision to turn our tone and our tongue over to the care of kindness and clarity as we understood it.

Step 4: Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of our triggers—hold music, transfers, accents, scripts, and feeling unheard.

Step 5: Admitted to ourselves, to another person, and to the customer service rep we screamed at, the exact nature of our wrongs.

Step 6: Were entirely ready to let go of the belief that being right justified being rude.

Step 7: Humbly asked our higher self to remove our condescending tone, our sarcasm, and our need to win.

Step 8: Made a list of all the reps we verbally assaulted, hung up on, or emotionally overwhelmed—and became willing to make amends to them all.

Step 9: Made direct amends wherever possible, except when doing so would overload their already understaffed call center or cause more trauma.

Step 10: Continued to take emotional inventory during each call and when we were wrong—paused, took a breath, and said, “Let me rephrase that.”

Step 11: Sought through silence, sighs, and sipping water to improve our conscious contact with inner peace, praying only for patience and understanding before the next call.

Step 12:  Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to other frustrated callers and to practice compassion in all our conversations.

13th Step Safeguard

Warning: Do not use this program to become emotionally superior to others still struggling. Do not shame, mock, or coach customer service reps while pretending to be serene. True recovery means service, not surveillance. Let no step be used to manipulate or condescend.

12 Traditions

1. Our common well-being should come first; calm connection depends on mutual respect.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a spirit of peace and clarity.

3. The only requirement for CSSA membership is a desire to stop losing it on the phone.

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other callers or companies.

5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to restore peace to the customer experience.

6. A CSSA group ought never endorse, finance, or lend our name to complaints or rants.

7. Every CSSA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining emotional overdraft.

8. CSSA should remain forever non-professional, but always emotionally responsible.

9. CSSA ought never be organized, but we may create systems that foster serenity.

10. CSSA has no opinion on customer policies; our silence preserves our peace.

11. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than reaction.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our steps, ever reminding us to put courtesy before character assassination.

12 Promises

1. We will intuitively know when to pause and when to speak.

2. We will remember that the rep is a human being.

3. We will feel peace even if the issue isn’t resolved right away.

4. We will learn to press buttons without pressing people’s buttons.

5. We will stop rehearsing arguments before the call.

6. We will breathe through the hold music instead of resenting it.

7. We will laugh at ourselves instead of yelling at others.

8. We will gain patience, even with robotic voices.

9. We will stop taking incompetence personally.

10. We will understand that resolution doesn't require rage.

11. We will stop asking for managers and start managing ourselves.

12. We will become the kind of customer we’d want to serve.

Slogans

• “Pause before you press.”

• “Principles over volume.”

• “Breathe, then speak.”

• “Hold your peace during hold music.”

• “Let it go before you let it fly.”

• “Empathy is always in stock.”

• “Don’t escalate—de-escalate.”

Acronyms

PEACE

Pause Empathize Articulate calmly Choose kindness Express needs, not anger

🧘‍♀️ Step Prayer (Optional Use Before a Call)

Higher Self, grant me the serenity to face this phone call with grace,

 The patience to breathe through delays,

 The wisdom to know the difference between a script and a soul.

 May I speak clearly, listen fully, and hang up with dignity—

 Whether I get what I want or not.