By Ed Sykes
Recently I was facilitating an Outstanding Customer Service program and broke
for lunch. Knowing that the restaurants in the area left much to desire as far
as service I gave the students an extra fifteen minutes for lunch.
Sure
enough a group of four students came rushing into the classroom with their
lunches in hand. They apologized and quickly explained that they
received poor service at a restaurant (This restaurant is part of a national
chain. Hint: The restaurant's name references a day in the week). They explained that after the waiter initially took
their order, they waited 45 minutes before their food finally arrived. During
the wait, no one came to check on them.
Finally, when the food arrived, it was time for the group to return to class.
They were not happy, so they asked to speak with the restaurant manager. The manager
approached and asked, “What was the problem?” One of my
students explained the situation to which the restaurant manager replied, “The
food ticket only shows you were waiting for eleven minutes.” My students were
still not satisfied and said as much to the manager. She asked them, “Would you like
dessert?” My students re-emphasized their dissatisfaction. Each time my
students expressed their unhappiness, the manager would say she was sorry.
But my
students weren’t buying it. The manager then left without explaining where and
what she was doing. The manager returned and told my students that their meals
were free. Even though the manager gave them free meals my students said they
will never go back to that restaurant or any other restaurant in that chain.
So
why weren’t these customers happy? The restaurant had an opportunity to turn a
difficult customer service experience into a winning situation for all and
squandered it. Not only will these patrons never go back to any
restaurant in that chain, but they will tell others about their
unhappy experience. The unhappy customer, on average, will tell 27 other people
about their experience. With the use of the internet, whether web pages or
e-mail, that number can increase to the thousands, if not millions with the
click of a button.
However, according to the Department of Consumer Affairs, 82-95% of unhappy
customers will come back if impressed and actually refer five new customers.
Let’s
take a look at the ten secrets that will not only win back your customer in any
situation, but have them referring new customers that will add more money to
your bottom line revenue.
1.
Smile
Nothing can turn a hostile situation into positive moment faster than a sincere
smile. A smile that says, “I want to help you.” It
communicates that you are positive about the interaction with the customer. A
sincere smile enhances the communication process so that you can find the
solution faster.
2.
Introduce
Yourself as the Solution Creator
Make sure you introduce
yourself, find out the customer’s name, and let your customer know your position
and why you are there. This lets the customer know you are taking
responsibility for finding a solution. You might say something like:
“Hello, my name is Mike. I
am the manager at this location. I am here to assist you in this situation,
please tell me about it.”
Notice I didn’t say, “What’s
the problem?” By using “What’s the problem?” you start the customer service
situation in a negative note. The customer is thinking “You’re the problem,”
“This establishment is the problem,” “The whole world is the problem,” etc. By
starting your conversation with “I am here to assist you in this situation,
please tell me about it” you are setting up a “verbal agreement” in the
customer’s mind to move to a solution.
Note: If possible, please use the customer’s name throughout the
conversation.
3.
Listen
Customers to want tell their
side of the story and feel like they are not only heard but that you listened to them.
Mentally take a step back and dedicate yourself to actively listening to the
customer’s story with an open mind so that you can find a solution. In the
above situation, the manager stood silently while my students were explaining
their story. Be active in your listening and create empathy (“put yourself in
the customer’s shoes”) with statements such as:
§
“I can
appreciate what you’re saying.”
§
“I can
understand how you’d feel that way.”
§
“I can see
how you’d be upset.”
§
“It sounds
as if we’ve caused you inconvenience.”
§
“What I
understand the situation to be…”
Please stay away
from communication that alienates the customer such as:
§
“I don’t
know why you are so upset.”
§
“That’s the
first complaint we ever got on that.”
§
“I know how
you feel.” (Because you don’t)
§
“Boy, you’re
sure mad”
In the above story, the
students told the manager that they weren’t happy with the service because they
didn’t have time to eat their meals. The manager, not listening, said,
“Would you like
dessert?” The solution was not more food. Listen for the solution!
4.
Be Sorry for
the Right Reasons
Be sincere in your concern
for the customer and say sorry the correct way. Many time in the heat of the
customer service situation we want to show some sign of concern so we do the
following:
§
The first words
of the interaction are with the words, “I’m sorry.” First, you didn’t find out any
information from the customer to be sorry.
§
When saying you
are sorry, say exactly what you are sorry for.
The students, even though the
manager kept repeating she was sorry, didn’t think the manager was sincere in
her apology. The correct way to say you are sorry is:
§
“I’m sorry
you had to wait so long for your food.”
§
“I’m sorry
that you were treated that way.”
§
“I’m sorry
that our employee said that to you.”
§
“I’m sorry
this situation happened to you.”
Let the customer know exactly
why you are sorry. The students thought the manager’s “sorrys” were insincere
because she never mentioned why she was sorry.
5.
Give Your Personal Assurance.
Let
the customer know you will personally create a solution for them. It could be
as simple as saying, “I’m taking personal responsibility for this.”
6.
Ask Them What They Want
One of
the fears that we have when trying to satisfy the customer is that we think they
want something out of our reach. Ask the customer, “What would you like
me/us to
do?” or “What would make this situation right for you?” You will be surprised
that in most cases the customer will ask for less than you were expecting.
7.
Use Statements of Conviction
Say
the following to gain the confidence of the customer:
§
“We’re going
to do something about that!”
§
“We will
make a change right now!”
8.
Present a Clear Plan of Action
Make
sure the customer knows what you are going to do to correct the situation for
them. Ninety-five percent of making things right for the customer involves making them aware that you
are taking action to make a difference for them. Explain to them the actions
and timelines you need to take to make things right for them. If you need to
leave or make a telephone call to obtain additional information, say:
§
“Excuse me
while I make a telephone call to obtain the best solution for you. This will take
five minutes, can you please wait?
§
“Excuse me,
I need to ask the person with the missing piece of information so that we can
quickly resolve this for you. Do you mind waiting five minutes?”
Note: Make sure you get back to the customer before the time you
specified. If you promised ten minutes, get back to the customer before ten
minutes. Rule of thumb, double the time it would normally take to get the
information. If you know it will take ten minutes to get the answer for the
customer then tell the customer you will get back to them within twenty minutes.
9.
Move Quickly to the Solution
If you
applied steps 1-8 you are ready to give the customer the solution they wanted
for a win-win situation. You can confirm this by saying the following:
§
“Would this be
agreeable for you?”
§
“Is this the
solution you were looking for?”
§
“Will this make
things right for you?”
10.
Ask for the Business
If you
did everything right this is the perfect time to ask the customer to come back
and do business with your organization. You showed that you were professional,
caring, sincere, positive, and proactive. Why wouldn’t they do business with
you again?
Some
of the way you can say this include the following:
§
“We would
appreciate the opportunity to serve you again in the future.”
§
“Please come
back and I will personally guarantee you receive outstanding service.”
§
“Here is a 20%
coupon. Please use it on your next visit to our establishment.”
It’s important that you let the customer know that you
appreciate their business and want them to come back. Remember, if you did
everything right, not only will they come back but they will tell other people to do
business with you. Use challenging customer service situations to win back
your customers and build your
business.
http://www.thesykesgrp.com
No comments:
Post a Comment