Customer Service

“Nobody cares what you know, until they know that you care”

– Anonymous

BASICS

Breathe   - Prepare to take the call. Get into the mindset.
Answer    - The phone in 2-3 rings
Say       - Say your name and team. Ask theirs.
Indicate  - What will you do?
Courteous - Sound concerned
Smiling   - People can hear your smile!

Q-TIP

Quit Taking Things Personally

Never ask a Customer to calm down.

You may have been asked to work a network outage. This might be one of the worst days of this customer’s professional life. They might be fired after this.

If the customer is getting more and more agitated, remember, the problem is solved or it isn’t. This is a team sport, many people are involved and we don’t always know the stakes.

As the call heats up, get others involved. Let your team know what’s going on. Make the problem visible.

If the customer starts to vent, do not stop them, it isn’t about you, it’s about the problem. They will feel catharsis getting it out.

If they are rude or unprofessional, once the problem is solved, they will understand the lapse in their own behavior and apologize.

Why do customers complain?

1. Projection of “can’t do” attitude
2. No one listened
3. No one went out of their way
4. Someone was rude to the customer
5. They didn’t receive what they were promised or expected

Why complaints are good

• Every complaint represents about 25 other people
• If someone complains, they typically won’t buy from you again
• If you impress a complainer, you can actually get new business

Basic strategic objectives

1. Pace the customer’s emotional state

Speed up if they are agitated, slow down if they are relaxed. Respond to the call’s urgency.

2. Communicate that you understand

Use empathy statements like ‘I understand’, ‘I see …’

3. Gather the information you need

Ask, “Can I ask you some questions?”

4. Transition to your agenda

Get consent, “May we begin troubleshooting?”

5. Offer solutions and solve the problem

“I want to try this, here is the impact.”

Improving listening skills

If you are writing things down, you are probably listening. What to listen for:

• Dates
• Times
• Events
• Conditions
• People
• Vibe

Pen and paper is silent and cannot crash.

Pen and paper can make good topology diagrams, and occupy your hands.

• Listen for ideas
• Delay evaluation
  • Just listen
• Find an area of interest
• Avoid spending time getting read to talk and only listen
  • Do only one thing at a time
    • Only listen
• Keep your mind open

Advanced listening skills

• What are they saying?
• What would they like to say?
• How does their emotional state influence their emotional state?

Consent

• “How do you feel about the Action Plan?”
• “Do you understand our next steps?”
• “I can get a summary email out by close of business, is that OK?”

What creates “hard-to-please customers”

• Using the word “policy”
• Monotone
• Too fast
• Interrupting
• Lack of interest
• Lack of empathy
• Excuses
• JADE: justify, argue, defend or explain

Magic words and phrases

• Acknowledge the seriousness of the situation
• Make empathetic statements
• Acknowledge how their emotions are valid
• Use their name
• Give personal assurance
• “I apologize”
• X will happen on Y

Mute

Use it sparingly.

The customer wants to know how you are spending their time. It’s safer to stay audible and say things like …

• “I’m doing some research”
• “I’m seeing if this is a common problem”
• “I’m letting my team know what’s going on”
• “I’m looking at possible bugs”
• “I’m finding internal documents”
• “I’m finding the deployment guide.”

Long mutes are dangerous and hurt sentiment.

Profanity

“I’m having a difficult time hearing you because of the profanity being used. If we could discontinue using those words, I could help you to get the results you want much quicker. Is that OK?”

Accents

“I’m having a difficult time understanding you, could you speak slower?”

Bad connections

“I’m sorry, do you have a different phone you could use? It’s very difficult to understand you.”

International call etiquette

Avoid Idioms.

Case handling

“In order to save time I’d like to ask some questions to scope the problem. They might seem basic, is that OK?”

Bathroom visits

“I’m going to step away for a few moments, I’ll be right back.”

References

Customer service - Wikipedia