How to get your team to embrace a roaring customer.
Customer service providers need a toolbox of skills and knowledge they can dive into everyday. When they combine those skills and knowledge with ‘on the job’ experience, it empowers them to not only delight customers, but just as importantly, it will help them to enjoy their roles.
One of the tools they need ‘sharp’ and ready to go is the confidence and the language to interact professionally with angry, upset or roaring customers.
I was an angry customer recently, but I didn’t roar at the business - but I did do something (more on this later) .
Everyone I know wants to do something when, as a customer, they feel disrepsected by a business. Understanding why we have this urge is key to helping your team to apply the right response.
The first step is to ask your team this question:
‘Why do we feel the need to share our bad customer service experiences?’
Below are a few answers you may hear;
We want to warn co-workers/friends/family about a 'bad' business
We want to 'punish' the business and talking badly about them seems OK
We need to get it off our chest before we can move on
We think it won't make a difference if we tell the business, but we need someone to know
We need others to agree with us to justify our frustrations.
Understanding what drives us to want to roar, is how we develop empathy for our roaring customers. Once staff view cusotmer difficult behaviours with empathy, we can then move towards improving our service.
The next step is to ask this question;
‘How easy it is for our customers to complain/offer ideas of how we could do better?’
This is great time to review your customer service standards to ensure that the business is making it not only easy, but also welcoming of customer feedback - the good and the bad.
Remind less experienced staff that although it can take time to build the confidence to embrace angry customers, support is there to help them.
If everyone in the team isn’t skilled and willing to embrace customer complaints (even if they are from a roaring lion) the business won't know how to do better.....but someone will and it could be your competition!
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So how did I repsond to the business that made me want to roar? I asked to speak to the Manager. I calmly explained my disatisfaction with both a product and the poor service. The Manager defended the business by saying they are understaffed and very busy and then suggested I plan my visits outside of their peak periods.
Will I be shopping there again? No.
By Cate Schreck - Author of The A - Z of Service Excellence