Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro _ EBook

Manage Customer
Complaints Like A Pro

Liz Taylor

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Introduction

As a service professional the last thing you would welcome is an unsatis ed customer. Ideally every customer
should leave your organisation having had a superlative customer experience. But sometimes no matter how
much you try something goes wrong; and we [or our organisation] fail to deliver what we have promised our
customers.

When we fail to deliver on our promises, it is a Service Failure.

It is our responsibility to x the Service Failure as soon as it is identi ed. If we are lucky, we x it before the
customer notices. Unfortunately, this doesn’t often happen in reality. Most times, the customer identi es the
Service Failure and complains.

Depending on the magnitude of the Service Failure, the customers’ complaint could by mild, irate and emotional
or absolutely raging.

No one wants to be at the receiving end of emotionally charged complaints.

My Experience

“You people scammed me!”

“Your bank has stolen my money!”

“Why did you people do this to me?”

I heard these rather distressing words from a retired lady – I reckon she was in her mid-sixties. Her voice raised,
she was obviously emotional and distressed.

What cut me to the quick was that despite her obvious anger, there were tears in her eyes. And she was looking
at me as though I had orchestrated her misfortune.

Before her I was like a deer caught in the headlights of a fast approaching car – I was tongue-tied and felt
helpless.

This wasn’t the rst time I was the recipient of a complaint, but this was their rst time I was on the receiving
end of such an emotionally charged one.

Up to that point no one had ever taught me how to step up to the challenge of diffusing an emotionally charged
complaint. In this instance, I had to ‘wing it’.

I fumbled at rst, but I was able to identify the root cause of the problem and solve it in a mutually satisfactory
manner to the delight of the customer – who thereafter asked me to call her ‘mom’!

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

It is very unfortunate that like me, many customer facing service professionals are not actively receiving
[ongoing] training on how to diffuse and resolve emotionally charged customer complaints.

For startups, they say they don’t have the financial resources to train their customer facing staff.

Bigger firms would rather invest in technical rather than soft skills training.

Again, some rms don’t train at all, believing that they are equipping employees to leave them and secure better
jobs.

Also, sometimes management really doesn’t know how to teach their teams complaints management as a
discipline. They believe it is intuitive and the inspiration to solve customer problems will ‘come to’ the service
professional ‘in the moment’.

If my experience is anything to go by, this rarely happens.

It’s hard enough remembering your training when you are trained to solve customer problems when faced with
an emotionally charged or irate customer.

The unrecognized fact is that ongoing training (team learning) is a foundation of a Learning Organisation.
A learning organization [a term coined by Peter Senge) is a company that facilitates the learning of its members
and continuously transforms itself through what it learns.

No organisation in the 21st Century can survive if it is not a Learning Organisation.

All of these reasons are why I am penning this eBook. To help give organizations a ghting chance to solve
customer complaints. And most importantly to help service professionals know what to do when they are faced
with a raging customer with a complaint.

What Makes Customers Unhappy

This is a big question. It is also a difficult question to answer – as there is not quick or easy answer.

Everything and anything can make a customer unhappy with you, your organisation, your product and or your
service.

As different as our faces are, that’s how different our temperaments are. One thing that would excite one
customer could be the most annoying thing in the world to another customer.

For instance, in most African cultures where respect is a really big deal, you nd service providers referring to
customers in deferring colloquial terms. They use words like ‘Oga’, ‘Uncle’, ‘Mummy’, ‘Daddy’, ‘Sister’, ‘Aunty’ etc.

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

In one instance there are millions of people who revel in these reverential appellations. Some would even insist
on it.

Then you have people like me who totally abhor these appellations and their derivatives.

When a service professional calls me ‘Mummy’ I do not like it – it makes me unhappy. And I will complain – if
only to let the serving professional know that not all people expect or respect such verbal groveling.

Some customers are sensitive to time, while others aren’t. Where a 10 minute delay would make one customer
go nearly berserk with disappointment and impatience, another customer sees the delay as an opportunity to
finish a book, catch up on emails, go shopping etc.

Lesson: Never paint all your customers all with the same brush.

Other things that annoy customers include:

Feeling disrespected/slighted
Not delivering on a promise
Being treated like a liar or thief
Being taken for granted
Inaccuracy in service
You may have others to add to the list. Think about it for a minute and update this list based on the type of
customers you deal with on a daily basis. Think about customers you know, what sets them off…?

Fortify Yourself

I’m often asked by clients to manage the recruitment of service professionals. One of the rst traits I look for in
anyone I interview is ATTITUDE.

In my 2017 book ‘The Spark of Service: Ten Actionable Strategies for Customer Service’ I asserted that
organizations must ‘ r st hi r e for atti tude ’. Without a positive attitude, employees cannot successfully serve
customers.

Within the positive attitude we seek is the mindset that lends itself to success in managing customer emotionally
charged complaints like a pro.

This mindset is summarized in the 4 C ’s Mi ndset:

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

1. Calm
2. Compassion
3. Confidence
4. Competence

7 Step Prompt For Managing Customer Complaints
It is very easy to forget your training at the moment of truth – when you are confronted with an emotionally
charged customer complaint.
We believe learning these prompt will help keep the service professional grounded and anchored so that he does
not lose his cool and can efficiently resolve the customer complaint with speed.
Listen |Empathize |Ask Questions |Offer Alternatives |Apologize |Solve it| Compensate
To remember this, try this mnemonic

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

“Lightheaded Engineers Always Offer Apologies Softly Crying”
This is how it works:
Li sten : Most times many of us assume we know why the customer is complaining or the reason for his/her
angst. We don’t! Before jumping into conclusions, LISTEN. When we really listen we hear both what the
customer is saying and what the customer is not saying. It’s easier to get to the Root Cause of the matter when
we hear the customer out.
Quick Tip: Take notes of pertinent points the customer makes, especially issues that are repeated in the narrative
and or reflect strong emotions. They are a pointer to the trigger.
Em pathi ze: Do not just sit like a robot and hear the customer out – waiting for him/her to run out of steam. Do
use nonverbal cues to show that you understand and empathize with him/her.
Empathy is one of the most powerful tools in any employee’s arsenal. Your genuine empathy will show your
customers that you care about their concerns
A sk Questi ons : Asking pointed and relevant questions shows that you are concerned and that you are actively
listening to the customer’s concerns. Questions also help you arrive at a diagnosis quicker.
Quick Tip: Use open ended rather than close ended questions to elicit a narrative response from the customer.
Open ended questions are questions that do not elicit a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer; rather they will compel the customer
to respond in a sentence. For instance, ‘Tell me what happened when you gave our staff your slip’; ‘What did he
say to you after you raised your hand?’

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Offer A l ternati ves : When attempting to resolve customer issues, you may need to negotiate alternatives of
mutual satisfaction. To do this, you may need to offer options of solutions. In addition of being a quick way to
come to a consensus, offering alternatives gives the customer a sense of empowerment in what could be a
disempowering situation. Be prepared for the customer to dismiss some of your alternatives, but keep moving
forward and think outside the box.

Quick Tip: Try to offer options that appeal to your customer. Treat your customer like an individual with options
and the luxury of choice.

A pol ogi ze: Many people nd it dif cult to apologize. Most will not apologize if they think the mistake wasn’t
theirs personally. We need to own the fact that when we are dealing with customers, we are the company they
see. So if a customer in anger accuses you, don’t take it personally; but do remember that they are referring to
the organisation. And as a representative of the organisation, the burden rests on you to apologize.

Quick Tip: Apologize without laying blame on anyone. This will better position you to act in a manner your
customer perceives to be in their best interest.

Sol ve i t: Use everything you have learned about the situation and the customer to solve the problem quickly
and efficiently.

Quick Tip: Sometimes you cannot solve the problem on the spot. What to do here is to give the customer a
realistic promise on what you will do and how long it will take to solve the problem. Rule of thumb: always under
promise and over deliver.

C om pensate: In customer service practice, it is always advised to offer the customer a token as a sign of your
organizations regret for the inconveniences experience. This could be a low cost: high effectiveness service
recovery strategy.

Quick Tip: There is no need to compensate the customer with anything overly expensive. The basis of your
compensation is ‘VALUE’. Every organisation has something of relatively low cost to them, but of immense value
to the customer. For instance, when an airline passenger experiences a service failure the airline could offer a
25% discount on their next ticket, a free upgrade to First Class. The idea is that neither of these will put the
organisation out of pocket, should the customer cash in his 25% discount it will not hinder the operations of the
airline. To the airline this is a low cost strategy while the customer has received tremendous value.

Recovery

After you encounter with the customer is done it is recommended that you take a minute to recover from the
episode.

When you recover, you:

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Stop the cycle of pain
Dissociate yourself from the uproar you have just walked away from
Look at the funny side
Reaffirm your worth
Exhale
These are particularly important if you were unable to nd a mutually bene cial resolution for the customer’s
angst.
Even when irate customer encounter ends well for all involved, a recovery and evaluation time gives you time to
relax, recharge and reassess your experience.
Ideas to facilitate recovery include:
Go to somewhere quiet (the restroom, breakroom, parking lot etc.) and exhale. Take a few deep
breathes/wash your hands etc.
Take a quick stroll, take a bathroom break or head out to get a drink.
Walk to a colleagues office and share a laugh for about 3 minutes
This separates you from the situation and gives you a chance to breathe. Most importantly it gives you the
opportunity to process what happened and learn from it.
You may want to explore to nd out what action/activity helps you recover your equilibrium after an
emotionally charged customer encounter.
Worst Case Scenario
The worst case scenario when dealing with an emotionally charged customer complaint is that the customer
leaves irate and unsatisfied in spite of your best efforts.
In this case…

This is what you should DO and what your DO NOT do...

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Conclusion
How complaints are managed at any organisation is a ‘moment of truth’. Your value as a service provider is
etched in the customers mind at this experience. This is the point where the customer will decide if they
continue doing business with you or defect.
It is therefore not advisable to leave the complaints management process to chance.
It is imperative that everyone in your organisation knows what to do and how to engage with customers to
resolve the complaint satisfactorily.
It is also imperative that customer service training be offered to every team member (from top to bottom) to
ensure that your people are equipped to take care of your customers at each and every service point.
Finally, it is utterly important that Management give each customer facing staff their full support and empower
them to make on the spot decisions to turn around every customer impacting situation.
To schedule Customer Service training for your team, email us at [email protected] or nd us on
Facebook or Instagram @Lizspire and send a request for more information.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro

El i zabeth Tayl or is an experienced Facilitator, a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, Service
Quality Institute Certi ed Customer Service trainer, leadership mentor and Certi ed
Executive/Life Coach.

She is passionate about knowledge, excellence, personal development and leadership.
With over 16 years professional & leadership experience in nancial services,
management and consulting specializing in personal development, service strategy
formulation and execution, operations management etc. Liz has rsthand facilitating,
managerial and leadership expertise.

Liz is certi ed to anchor all Service Quality Institute programs. Her experience as a Trainer/Facilitator and
Service Strategist ranges a wide array of subjects including Customer Service, Service Strategy courses,
Leadership Development (including Core Leadership modules, Building High Performing Teams etc.) and
Personal Development (Presentation, Selling Skills, and Business Etiquette etc.). As a Life/Executive Coach &
Public Speaker, Liz covers a lot of ground relating to Goals Alignment, Stress Management, Health, Lifestyle &
Personal Management, Success Habits, and Professional Development etc.

Liz is an alumnus of the Wharton Business School and is an Arch Bishop Tutu Fellow (African Leadership
Institute). She has an MSc in Knowledge Management from the Aberdeen Business School, as well as various
other academic accreditations.

One of her greatest passions is helping people identify and develop their latent potentials and living the highest
expressions of their lives. She is Life Strategist and Counsellor on the successful weekly radio program Jela’s
Clinic which airs twice a week in Abuja on WE-FM 106.3FM. Liz also runs “Save Nigeria’s Voice”, her community
project that collects and distributes used books to orphanages and schools in rural Nigeria.

She is the author of the well-received ‘45 Reasons Not to Be Ordinary’ (2014), ‘Contemplations: Echoes of the
Deep—Vol 1’ (2015); ‘The Spark of Service: Ten Actionable Strategies for Customer Service’ (2017). She is the
creator of the wildly successful Daily Goals Tracking Journal.

You can catch up with Liz on her blog at www.Lizspire.com or social media @Lizspire

Manage Customer Complaints Like A Pro