Tagged : management

in Coaching, Customer Experience, Customer Service, Management

Turn Mistakes Into Customer Service WOW Moments

It’s inevitable. Mistakes will happen. Things break, systems go down, people fail. But these moments don’t have to be disastrous, they present an opportunity to create a memorable experience.

One of my favorite phrases to recover from a problem with an upset customer is:

Oh no! That’s terrible!

Nothing frustrates a customer more than the feeling that the company responsible for the problem doesn’t care.

My mantra to live by is, “It’s not my fault, but it’s my problem…and I’m a rock star customer service pro so I’ll make it right.”

I like how Cheryl with ServiceUntitled puts it:

The key to controlling the situation however is to apologize immediately and to apologize directly to the customer. Make the correction and do it immediately. Employ key customer service personnel who have been trained to deal with angry customers and who have the discretionary ability to appease the customer using whatever it takes (of course within reason) to show the customer the company really cares.

Being able to offer an amazing recovering from a problem can often times create some of the most loyal customers in the future. The next time a problem arrises, you can create a memorable experience for the customer by:

  1. Being Personable.
  2. Apologizing to the customer.
  3. Offering the customer a solution that can be done NOW (or options for solutions).
in Culture, Customer Service, Management

Providing Customer Service on Holidays

Holidays can often be a challenge for organizations that offer 24/7 support. A customer service focused organizations realize that their customers have needs 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. This means that even during the holidays, there will be customer who need service. Often times customers may be in countries not celebrating the same holiday as the country where your support staff is located, but you still need to support them.

Real Appreciation for 24/7 Customer Support

It’s easy to say 24/7 but on holidays when most people are at home, spending time with family, eating great food, watching football, that you really gain an appreciation for the great people that sacrifice all of that to staff the 24/7 call centers we choose to set up.

Create a Tradition, Celebrate Holidays at Work

Although it’s not easy to have to work when most people are enjoying time off, we should always encourage employees to make it a festive time at work by:

  • Provide a GREAT incentive for staff members (Time and a half, plus another day off)
  • Decorating the workplace in anticipation for the holiday.
  • Creating a tradition at work during the holiday, like a pot-luck lunch/dinner with other staff members working.
  • Order in pizza or other food for the staff working on that day.
  • Having employees who support customers offer special holiday greetings.

I want to wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to all of the unsung heroes out there today and tonight working at the 24/7 call centers, support teams, and network operation centers out there. You are rock stars!