nd last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is

So, you are dropped from a spaceship, told to infiltrate and await a signal from the Home Planet. In order to live, you have to get a job. Your space boss tells you “Get a job in Customer Service.”

You suddenly have to acclimate yourself to a new environment, find a job with no skills and blend in so you are not discovered.

Sometimes in Customer Service we look around and see that person working next to us, don’t we? They have no clue as to what Customer Service is (or isn’t), poor or non-existent skill sets, they look strange and have difficulty communicating.

Sound familiar? Maybe the guy or gal next to you is an alien! From another planet! Sent to lay the groundwork for the destruction of your Customer Service Department!

If you are from another planet, or looking for the top 10 things to learn in order to pass for human and work in Customer Service, here they are.

1. Communication skills. This means being able to effectively pass a set of ideas or thoughts from you to another person and receiving that other person’s ideas or thoughts in return.

2. Observation skills. This is the skill of looking with unfiltered eyes and seeing what the other person is communicating non-verbally.

3. Listening skills. This is the ability to shut down your internal voices long enough to hear another person’s ideas and thoughts completely without bias.

4. Writing skills. This is the skill of putting ideas and thoughts into a concise, coherent and complete sentence.

5. Speaking skills. This is being able to formulate a concise, coherent and complete thought and verbally deliver it in a manner that the other person can understand it.

6. Position skills. This is understanding the position you work in. From beginning to end and all the duties between.

7. Organizational skills. This is having the vision to be able to take tasks and put them in sequential order so that a larger project gets completed.

8. Time Management skills. This is making sure that the tasks are completed on time to finish a larger project.

9. Finishing skills. Making sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed. No job is complete without the paperwork.

10. And last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is g

ficulty communicating.

Sound familiar? Maybe the guy or gal next to you is an alien! From another planet! Sent to lay the groundwork for the destruction of your Customer Service Department!

If you are from another planet, or looking for the top 10 things to learn in order to pass for human and work in Customer Service, here they are.

1. Communication skills. This means being able to effectively pass a set of ideas or thoughts from you to another person and receiving that other person’s ideas or thoughts in return.

2. Observation skills. This is the skill of looking with unfiltered eyes and seeing what the other person is communicating non-verbally.

3. Listening skills. This is the ability to shut down your internal voices long enough to hear another person’s ideas and thoughts completely without bias.

4. Writing skills. This is the skill of putting ideas and thoughts into a concise, coherent and complete sentence.

5. Speaking skills. This is being able to formulate a concise, coherent and complete thought and verbally deliver it in a manner that the other person can understand it.

6. Position skills. This is understanding the position you work in. From beginning to end and all the duties between.

7. Organizational skills. This is having the vision to be able to take tasks and put them in sequential order so that a larger project gets completed.

8. Time Management skills. This is making sure that the tasks are completed on time to finish a larger project.

9. Finishing skills. Making sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed. No job is complete without the paperwork.

10. And last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is

skills. This is the skill of looking with unfiltered eyes and seeing what the other person is communicating non-verbally.

3. Listening skills. This is the ability to shut down your internal voices long enough to hear another person’s ideas and thoughts completely without bias.

4. Writing skills. This is the skill of putting ideas and thoughts into a concise, coherent and complete sentence.

5. Speaking skills. This is being able to formulate a concise, coherent and complete thought and verbally deliver it in a manner that the other person can understand it.

6. Position skills. This is understanding the position you work in. From beginning to end and all the duties between.

7. Organizational skills. This is having the vision to be able to take tasks and put them in sequential order so that a larger project gets completed.

8. Time Management skills. This is making sure that the tasks are completed on time to finish a larger project.

9. Finishing skills. Making sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed. No job is complete without the paperwork.

10. And last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is

person can understand it.

6. Position skills. This is understanding the position you work in. From beginning to end and all the duties between.

7. Organizational skills. This is having the vision to be able to take tasks and put them in sequential order so that a larger project gets completed.

8. Time Management skills. This is making sure that the tasks are completed on time to finish a larger project.

9. Finishing skills. Making sure that every i is dotted and t is crossed. No job is complete without the paperwork.

10. And last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is

nd last and certainly not least is Social Skills. The art of being Friendly. And not only is it an "Art form", it is a behavior.

If you notice the first five is what would be considered “soft skills.” And they are all “Communication Skills.” However, if you tell the extraterrestrial next to you that he/she needs to improve their “Communication Skills” they may only work on one area and not really improve anything.

For example, ET works on his speaking skills but fails to improve his listening skills, and what do you have? An alien that is great at alienating everyone (you knew this one was coming didn’t you?) because he can’t shut up long enough to let his ears do most of the work.

The next four have to do with “hard skills”, the areas of knowing your job, how to do it, organizational skills etc. These are all the nuts and bolts of the Customer Service position.

The last skill is really not a skill per se, more of a personality trait or behavioral style.

The art of being Friendly comes from within. If you are not a Friendly person, and you are in Customer Service, most people would view you as an alien.

It’s a requirement to be friendly in Customer Service. (Even if you are from another planet.)

Here are the top 10 skills for any person, or alien, who is looking to improve in Customer Service. Hope you get the job. Just don’t blow up the planet, ok?