Key Factors to
resolving Complaints
1. Look past the fury
for friction
It’s a fallacy to assume that just because someone is
behaving wildly, his or her argument has no merit. Complaints, even angry ones,
can contain insight—it’s your job to seek out the friction.
Evernote CEO Phil Libin offers up one of my favorite truisms
on listening to feedback: “Feedback is great for telling you what you did
wrong. It's terrible at telling you what you should do next.”
Socratic questioning, whether to the customer or to
yourself, can help get to the source of the issue. Okay, the customer’s
angry—is this because we weren’t clear with our copy? Is our user experience
setting the customer up for failure? Did we drop the ball with our
communication?
It is tempting to dismiss complainers as cranky or overly
sensitive, but do that too often and you’ll ending up dismissing genuine
feedback.
2. Record and
organize meaningful complaints
Free customers always ask for more free stuff. Feature
requests often turn into product demands. While helping customers is always
right, haphazardly following their demands is always wrong.
Multiple messages from multiple customers with recurring
concerns is the beginning of a narrative. The volume of a certain complaint
only raises the red flag, though; you’ll have to carefully decide what to do
next.
You’ll need a simple way to organize this sort of feedback,
and here’s an overview of some options.
The key is to make it easy, and make it browse-able. “Hard
to do” leads to never being done. Give your team a meaningful way to make note
of meaningful complaints, and you can rest easy, because you will hear about
them.
3. Identify who you
are talking to
This study on customer complaints presents a strong case for
evaluating messages through a selection of common archetypes. Here are a few
notable personas that will make their way into your inbox:
The Meek Customer.
Generally averse to talking to you. He doesn’t want to be a burden, or he
doesn’t think you’ll care—either way, it’s your responsibility to inquire
deeper to get to the heart of exactly what is wrong.
The Aggressive
Customer. Outspoken and not shy about letting you know what’s on her mind.
Avoid mirroring this confrontational behavior, and instead react with firm
politeness that is pleasant but not submissive—your team needs to be treated
with respect, too.
The High Roller.
Perhaps your “enterprise” customer, who likely pays well and demands premium
support for it. While no customer is fond of excuses, this customer disdains
hearing them. Setting up a VIP Folder with Workflows is a simple way to cater
to the high roller’s needs.
The Chronic
Complainer. This customer will contact you a lot, but that doesn’t mean
that his issues should be dismissed. Patience is required here, but once
satisfied, this customer will have no qualms about singing your praises to
others.
The Barnacle.
Although the research identifies this as the “rip-off” customer, the barnacle
label to be more accurate. This person is never happy. She is not looking for a
satisfactory response; she is trying to get something she doesn’t deserve.
Nothing is good enough unless she’s getting a handout. Maintain composure and
respond as objectively as possible.
These are generally the ends of the spectrum. Most people
are reasonable, and most conversations are uneventful. Should you come across
one of the above, however, put those tried-and-true support skills to work.
4. Don’t be
passive-aggressive
“We’re sorry that you are having this problem” is an
infuriating phrase for a customer to hear. It is nothing more than the
deferment of blame.
Far too many use this sort of language by accident. The
attempt to apologize comes off as dismissive, all thanks to a misuse of tone.
Just say you’re sorry. Even when the customer is being
unreasonable, apologize outright and ask how you might help resolve the issue.
If you come across a lost cause, keep it friendly, keep it professional, and
keep it moving.
5. Transfer quickly,
but explain why
“Please hold while I transfer you. Your call is very
important to us.”
Terrible. While this problem isn’t nearly as bad over email,
introductions or handing someone off should be handled with care. Never miss an
opportunity to briefly explain to a customer why this movement will be to their
benefit. It’s nearly impossible to get anyone excited about being transferred,
but consider the two choices you have:
1. I’ll have
to transfer you for that. *click*
2. I’m going
to set you up with our specialist who will get that squared away for you right away. “That’ll work!”
Without this brief but relevant insertion, customers won’t
know that you are actually doing the best thing, and second only to doing the
best thing is letting people know you are.
6. Use supportive
questioning
There is a fine line between following up and inadvertently
swaying a customer to dwell upon his bad mood.
Let’s look at these two responses:
• “Is there
anything else wrong?”
• “How else
can I help you today?”
Asking a customer a leading, negative question such as #1 is
asking for a negative outcome. Conversely, inquiring how you may be able to
further assist shows that you are ready and willing to address anything else
the customer needs.
7. Time is of the
essence
Inbox zero often causes us to envisage an assembly line
environment of productivity. The truth is that catching up to the queue grants
you time for the most meaningful conversations. A quick reply will never go out
of style.
In the case of an unhappy customer, a speedy response goes
from nice to necessary—complaints are a different beast that benefit from being
resolved as soon as possible.
A customer leaving a feature request won’t sweat the fact
that it took you a day to respond. Customers who are in a “pulling my hair out”
situation want a resolution yesterday. Make responding to them a priority.
It can be useful to set up a Folder separate from the main
support queue where you can filter less-than-ecstatic messages. Here, the team
can see immediately which emails are from customers who need help right away.
Get the answer right the first time, but know that if there
is ever a situation where speed takes a priority, it’s in turning the
metaphorical frown upside-down.
8. Verify the
resolution
Have you ever submitted something through an online form,
and after you hit submit there wasn’t a single confirmation on whether or not
anything had happened?
It’s incredibly frustrating. You don’t have a clue where
your issue—and any hope of resolving it—stands.
The same principle applies when communicating with
customers. You want to be absolutely sure that the customer is clear on the
resolution that occurred and that it met his or her needs. If you’re not ending
your responses with an inviting question, you may be creating unnecessary
trouble.
"Let me know if there's anything else I can do for
you—I'm happy to help!"
That’s a good place to start. Even a simple, "Are you
all set?" will do.
9. Treat customers
with genuine respect
Customers want to be treated with respect. The day you stop
talking to them like regular people is the day you lose touch and relevance.
After that, you start losing customers.
So don’t talk to them like a corporate stiff—this is a
conversation, not “correspondence.” However, also avoid the flipside, which is
pandering through pleasantry. It’s disingenuous to act like you can force your
good mood down an unhappy customer’s throat. Worse yet, it’s downright creepy.
Please — spare me your insincerity.
Providing great support means finding a demeanor comfortable
to the people you are serving, no matter the situation. Justin, our support
lead, describes it as such:
• We do not
offer up platitudes. We are not obnoxiously bubbly, cheery, or “zestful.”
• We don’t
wage a campaign of aggressive happiness. We do not offer foot massages or roll out the red carpet for people who treat our team members poorly (it’s a two-way
street).
• Help
Scout is fond of the Ritz-Carlton principle, to be “Ladies and gentlemen
serving ladies and gentlemen.” We hold doors, offer a strong handshake, and
will pass on the last piece of pie—unless it’s pumpkin.
We care about the customer experience, top to bottom, but
that doesn't mean we behave like a caricature. It means being consistently
helpful and unquestionably genuine.
10. Don’t drag out a
lost cause
If a customer wants to cancel his account, do it right away.
Nothing makes for a bitter departure quite like running your customers through
the gauntlet as they try to leave.
Winning customers back with exceptional service is
fundamental, but when people already have one foot out the door, you’re better
off letting the parting be as frictionless as possible. Learn what you can, see
if there is a way to resolve the issue, and accept the outcome if there isn’t.
Customers aren’t necessarily gone for good just because they
cancel their accounts once. Hassling upon exit, however, will assure they never
return.
11. CARP Diem to
resolve complaints
A really useful method for consistently handling upset
customers can be found in Robert Bacal’s book, If It Wasn’t for the Customers
I’d Really Like this Job. Bacal’s practices are known as the CARP method, which
consists of:
• Control
• Acknowledge
• Refocus
• Problem
solve
In other words, take control of the situation with language
that shows you are ready to handle concerns and don’t intend to play games.
Acknowledge that you completely understand your customer’s concerns and won’t
be brushing them off.
Next, refocus away from the customer’s emotions to the
solution at hand, outlining how you’ll take care of it. Finally, solve the
problem, confirming that everything has been resolved to the customer’s
satisfaction.
Take your customer complaints seriously
You deserve no more respect than you are willing to give
others…except in customer support, you’re the professional. You do have to
learn to be the rock for your team. In turn, your team needs to look out for you.
Sometimes support needs support, and sometimes you just need
to remember that not every customer can be made happy. Stay positive; the next
pleasant conversations is just around the corner.
Source:
//www.helpscout.net/
