Mistakes are to be expected, but knowing how to recover an angry or frustrated customer into a loyal customer is a learned art. A Customer Focused Attitude is critical for successful service recovery. Employees need to be trained to anticipate and identify potential problems, as well as have the experience to make decisions and to deliver skillful solutions to customer problems.
All customer problems are opportunities to win over their loyalty. This weekend I was in a large home improvement store looking for a certain product. When I went to checkout, I asked the associate who was scanning my purchases if they carried this particular product. There were two additional associates standing around as I asked my question. Two of the associates told me what isle to look on to see "if" they had the product at all. I then asked if they could look in their system and verify whether or not the store carried this item. The same two associates quickly said no, they couldn't do that, and I would need to go look down the isle. The 3rd associate interrupted them both and said that she could check the system and let me know if they had the product. She left the register, took both of the associates with her, looked up the product and came back to me and told me they did not carry what I was looking for. She apologized and thanked me for waiting. I sure hope the two associates with her learned something about customer focused service. Attention and awareness can eliminate most issues.
Associates need a lot of practice with service recovery situations in order to feel and sound confident. One of the problems that happened in the scenario above that was very frustrating was the amount of over-explaining from the two associates. They both talked at the same time, repeated their points several times, and were comfortable letting me figure this out for myself.
Knowing how important service recovery is, we put together our proven 5 step training resource, REACT, that promotes better understanding, polished communication skills, and fosters creative thinking needed for successful problem resolution. Help your associates master these 5 Steps.
React: Successful problem resolution is all about the speed in which you react to the situation. Set aside all other tasks and tend to your customers problem. You may not always have the solutions, but a quick and timely reaction will neutralize the emotion in the situation far quicker than waiting.
Empathize: Showing empathy is a structured communication skill and not just a feeling. You need to demonstrate acceptance of their feelings, this makes empathy genuine. Acknowledging another's emotion by asking questions such as: "I can see you are really uncomfortable about this." Or, "I can understand why you would be upset."
Apologize: Apologize by taking ownership, being professional and honest, which will build trust. Regardless whose fault, apologize for the "situation," recognizing the frustration to your customer.
Communicate: Over communicate during problem resolution to avoid misinterpretations of the situation. Communicating effectively means to not blame, pass the buck, or over-explain. Ensure that your voice tone and body language is consistent with your words. Otherwise, your words will be of little significance.
Train: Train to prevent the issue from happening again. Train your associates to anticipate your customers' needs and respond to those needs in a timely manner, as well as deliver the unexpected. Learn from the problems your customers experience and be glad they have given you the opportunity to become better.
If you are interested in improving your problem resolution processes, or making memorable customer experiences, let us help you make a noticeable difference.
