My manager and I have had some discussions about career advancement, and she feels I might be a good fit for an escalation role. And I agree.

I’m very good at making clients feel heard. I don’t get overly defensive when RBC makes a mistake, and I have no problem making it right to the best of my ability.

I also don’t make my clients feel judged when they make the ordinary human errors that we all make. (For example, not reading a disclosure properly). 

And because I’m really good at making clients receptive to advice, i’ve never had to be coached on doing too many credits. I know it’s going to be a one-and-done situation - which actually saves the bank money.

But there is one type of interaction that is my kryptonite, and I’d love some feedback from people who actually work in escalations, where you would encounter this type of client way more often than I currently am.

You see, one of my core values is being authentic. And one of the things I take a lot of pride in is the work I put into becoming as articulate and as clear as possible.

So, when I know a client has understood everything I explained, even after they have asked me to explain it in several different ways, and that client has blamed RBC for everything, accused me of giving them the wrong information or lying to them, that RBC is the worst bank in the world, and they’re going to take all of their business elsewhere, well, that conversation gets under my skin more than I would like to admit.

And I’m concerned that if I get several of those over and over as part of my role, that my inner dialogue might slip out and become my outer dialogue.

“Hey, buddy, you know what you did? You absolutely did that. Those fees are your fault. And at this point, I don’t particularly care if you leave RBC because you’ve taken up an hour of my time that I could have spent helping clients who actually listen to me.”

Obviously, I can’t be that blunt.

So, for those of you who have worked in escalations or currently work in escalation roles, how supported do you feel that you can be professionally blunt? And what does professionally blunt sound like?

And how do you suppress your ego so that you are able to do what it takes to salvage a relationship, despite the client being 100% wrong? 

Career Paths : Escalations - who has worked in a role where escalations are a primary responsibility?