For about 15 years, I worked in customer service.
Like a lot of people, I learned how to answer questions, solve problems, calm frustrated customers, and move on to the next interaction.
Or at least that was the expectation.
What I noticed was that we didn’t always move on.
One difficult interaction had a way of following me into the next one.
Sometimes I was still replaying the conversation in my head.
Sometimes I was mentally preparing for another difficult customer.
Sometimes I simply had less patience than I did an hour earlier.
Nothing dramatic had happened.
But something had changed.
Over time, I realized this wasn’t just happening to me. I saw it in coworkers too.
A difficult customer could quietly affect the interactions that followed.
That’s when I started thinking about what I now call The Carryover Principle.
The more I thought about it, the more I noticed it everywhere.
One difficult call can make the next customer sound more frustrating than they really are.
A sincere thank-you from a customer can completely change the tone of the next conversation.
An encouraging supervisor can improve the interactions that follow.
Carryover isn’t always negative.
Positive experiences carry over too.
The point is that interactions don’t always end when the conversation ends.
Sometimes they stay with us.
Customer service has taught us a lot about solving customer problems.
We’ve become very good at measuring things like handle time, service levels, quality scores, and customer satisfaction.
But I’ve often wondered if we’ve overlooked something that’s happening between the interactions themselves.
What happens after one conversation and before the next?
That space may be shorter than a minute.
Yet it can influence everything that comes after it.
I don’t believe emotional carryover is a sign that someone isn’t good at their job.
I think it’s part of being human.
Recognizing it is the first step.
Learning how to intentionally reset may be the next.
Over the coming months, I’ll be sharing more observations, stories, and ideas around The Carryover Principle and exploring what it might mean for customer service teams and leaders.