It’s crunch time for retail! The holiday season may bring out the best in humanity but holiday shopping can also bring out the worst. We’ve all seen the “Black Friday Brawls” as shoppers play tug-of-war with the last doorbuster sales item.No matter your business, people can become – let’s call it – frayed this time of year. So here are a few tips I’ve shared with sales/customer experience professionals for a number of multinational retail brands to help their people work through a service challenge or customer complaint. I hope you find value in these tips as you seek to make this a peaceful and profitable holiday season.
1. Listen more than you talk
Not only is this important in helping customers communicate their needs but it also enables them to vent frustration and feel heard. Tis the season for listening without judgment, defense, or interruption.
2. Empathy wins
Listening helps with intellectual understanding, empathy helps to connect with the human condition. In other words, listening tells you the what and empathy tells you the so what. It is your effort to understand why something matters or how something feels to a customer. Acknowledge the feeling, so you can help the customer
engage in solutionsthat meet their needs.
3. Let them know you are there to help
If an apology is in order, make it and move on. Often a simple “I’m sorry” or “That shouldn’t have happened to you” will suffice. Frequently, a statement like “Let’s see what I can do to help” serves
an important transition to resolution.
4. Co-create a solution
When taking a corrective action as a parent, I would ask my children, “What do you think your punishment should be?” Similarly, as a service provider, I like to ask, “How would you like to see this resolved?”As you negotiate toward a mutually workable solution, focus on what is possible and avoid talking about what you can’t do. At this point, you should be saying things like, “Of the solutions you suggested, here’s what we will be able to do to make this right for you.”
5. Express gratitude for the opportunity to fix the situation
If you enjoy listening to customer complaints – you’re in rare company. Even though complaint management is not a desired activity it is an important one. We know that for every customer that complains there are a myriad who have left our business quietly dissatisfied.I’ve found that complaining customers come in two types: the chronically dissatisfied and the I wish I didn’t have to be saying this group.The chronically dissatisfied are experts in things that are dissatisfying. Their expertise can make your business better.The I wish I didn’t have to say this group are people who wanted you to deliver a great experience but uncomfortably choose to tell you that you came up short. Their willingness to work through their discomfort should be appreciated.In both cases, their complaint is your gift this holiday. Unwrap it and use it for their good and the good of other customers.Related:
Human Experience Requires Gratitude 6. Next Customer Up
It’s important to remember the next customer has no connection to the last one. The customer in front of you now deserves the very best of you. So, let go of the last encounter, take a breath, and start anew.
7. This Too Shall Pass
When faced with angry, tired,
financially stressed, time-pressured throngs it is easy to lose perspective on the temporal nature of a complaint. It’s also difficult to remember that complaints are not indictments on your character or worth.I encourage you to step back and activate your amuse system as opposed to a fight or flight response that compromises your immune system. Think about the things that really matter this time of year (and all year long). Hopefully, your thoughts will go to family, friends, spirituality, and gratitude.I am certainly grateful to you for your readership this year. If you find value in these messages and have a moment to spare. I hope you’ll consider going to
globalgurus.org and on the Vote Here tab scroll down to
Customer Service. Once there, I hope you will consider voting for me. Otherwise, the best to you, as you make the final push for the holiday season.
