Question: As the COVID pandemic is approaching the two-year mark, we are finding the overall stress level among our customers seems to be increasing. Do you have any suggestions as to how our company can better handle angry customers?
Answer: As this article publishes in February, we should reflect upon Valentine’s Day and the love of customers and employees!
We received some valuable advice with regard to angry customers at one of our first PSAI Nuts & Bolts educational conferences in the late 1990s. It was to “develop a company plan to handle all aspects of your business, including unhappy customers.” Here are some suggestions shared with us and that we are happy to pass along:
Cross training
Each employee should have general knowledge of other employees’ jobs. Knowing all the job tasks your company performs is important for teamwork and to provide outstanding customer support. Becoming familiar with all aspects of your company, all employees can better serve customers, especially when they are upset.
Our experience shows that having administrative and sales personnel spend a day riding with a route service technician is extremely beneficial. Observing proper servicing of restrooms, holding tanks, sinks and other rental equipment is invaluable in providing good customer service.
Equally important is experiencing the many challenges technicians face in the field. These include traffic delays to finding units that may have been relocated on site, dealing with units that may be blocked to meeting and communicating with construction superintendents, homebuilders and other contacts on a variety of customer job locations. These experiences are valuable for office personnel to further excel in their own job responsibilities. Office and sales personnel spending time with yard personnel and pickup and delivery drivers is also advisable.
Route service technicians spending time in the office is beneficial, especially if confronted with a customer issue or complaint while on route. Having familiarity with both the volume and the wide range of customer inquiries that come through the office can provide the route service technician with information that may help in a complaint situation.
The value of complaints
Becoming aware of, and eventually resolving, customer complaints further strengthen your company’s level of customer service. In addition, for every customer that angrily complains, there may be others who may have the same issue but merely choose to silently leave your company as a provider and to move their business to a competitor. Always keep in mind that it’s better to be informed about a problem and have a chance to rectify it rather than never hear from an angry customer and lose an account.
Develop, adopt and constantly review your company “complaint procedures”
With all employees having basic knowledge of all positions and responsibilities in the company, basic guidelines and procedures can be established. Here are some suggestions that to incorporate into company training:
1. Employ active listening
Concentrate on everything the customer is saying. Human nature is to hear some of what the person is saying and to begin formulating your response before they are finished with their thoughts.
We completed the Steven Covey The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People class several years ago and Covey has a statement that had a profound influence on us personally and professionally: “Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.” Only by absorbing the complete nature of the complaint can you begin to work together on a solution.
2. Apologize and empathize
“I am sorry you had this problem. We will do everything that we can to help.” Phrases like this can let the unhappy customer know you and your company take their problem seriously and that the goal is to successfully resolve the issue.
3. Take responsibility
“It’s not my job” is a phrase that can make an angry customer even angrier. As a result of cross training, each employee can put forth some information, even though it may be general in nature, to begin the path to resolution.
As an example, a route service technician could say “I do know that our billing department confirms that all new deliveries are made before sending the initial invoice. The billing department can provide more details and I will let them know of your concern right now.”
4. Do not be confrontational
Your company’s goal is to make an angry customer a happy customer. We tried to use phrases such as “we will work together to resolve this situation” and “we appreciate you bringing this to our attention.”
Even if we knew that the customer was mistaken in some part of the complaint, we did not come back at them with “that could not possibly happen” or “you are wrong.” Letting the angry customer convey all their concerns gives them a sense of accomplishment in being able to fully express themselves.
5. Work within the company to resolve in a timely fashion
Have the appropriate company personnel work together to explore practical options and decide on a course of action. Communicate this to the customer in a timely manner and, if possible, in person.
6. Upon resolution, follow-up later
This simple action demonstrates a commitment to the previously angry customer that your company values their business and their satisfaction with your company.
7. Analyze the complaint
Upon the successful resolution of a customer issue, are there any “lessons learned” in terms of new procedures or policies to implement within your company? We believed in the old adage, “learn from your mistakes and don’t make the same one again.”
While all these suggestions were made from the perspective of either in-person or phone communication, written complaints via social media are prevalent. We would recommend the same general principles be implemented in those cases.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Our business is to provide a necessary service to our customers. The overwhelming majority of our customers are satisfied, and we constantly work hard every day to maintain and to improve upon that standard. When we do have angry customers, our objective is to make these accounts as satisfied as the rest. Often, we will find that these once unsatisfied customers become some of our most loyal customers.
