We expect a lot from frontline employees.
They’re the face of the brand, the ones who absorb customer frustration, and the first to handle tough moments—often with little training or emotional support.
After reading a comment on my recent car rental blog, one line stuck with me:
“Forget about your ego. Just take responsibility, fix it, and take care of it. Work with your ego, not against it.”
That sparked an idea: what if we gave employees a simple model for managing stress in those moments?
Have you ever been in a situation where a customer’s frustration felt personal? How did you handle it?
Introducing E.G.O.
Exhale. Ground. Own.
Think of it as “Stop, Drop, and Roll” for CX situations—a quick reset tool when emotions are high and patience runs thin.
It’s simple. It’s memorable. And it can help employees pause, refocus, and respond with clarity instead of emotion.
Exhale.
Take a deep breath before responding. A pause might sound small, but it breaks the emotional spiral and gives your brain a second to shift from reacting to responding. That breath can be the difference between escalation and empathy.
How often do we rush to fix the issue before we’ve even taken a second to breathe?
Ground.
Get centered. You’re not being attacked—you’re being given a chance to help.
When you remind yourself, “This isn’t about me, it’s about the customer,” you move from defensiveness to service.
How might our frontline teams show up differently if we all learned to ground ourselves before jumping into the problem?
Own.
Even if you didn’t cause the problem, you can own the fix. Ownership builds trust, diffuses tension, and shows customers they’re in good hands. When someone takes responsibility, frustration turns into relief—and often, into loyalty.
What would change if every customer-facing employee felt confident owning the outcome, even when it wasn’t their fault?
The Bigger Lesson
We can’t eliminate stressful moments, but we can prepare for them.
When employees have simple, memorable tools like E.G.O., they show up with more confidence, grace, and emotional control. That’s how you transform stress into service—and service into loyalty.
At SATISFYD, we help equipment dealers empower their teams to handle feedback and tough customer moments with confidence.
Let’s talk about how to give your employees the tools to turn tense interactions into trust-building ones.
