How do you keep your employees from shouldering all the burden
that comes with a difficult customer?
Service employees need to be empowered to make confident
decisions on the spot, says William Ward, Warehime professor of
business administration at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove,
Pennsylvania. "Employees need to be trained in
problem-solving," Ward says. "This is where training and
procedures pay off for businesses."
But employers can send mixed signals when they set time limits
on helping customers or mandate a long list of daily priority tasks
other than taking care of customers. These mixed signals increase
the chances that a problem won't be resolved, making it natural
for upset customers to unload on the closest target: the employee,
who is torn between serving the customer and finishing his or her
daily to-do list.
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Another basic mistake is defining service with vague phrases
like "service is our mission" instead of creating
structures that guide employees through difficult customer service
situations. "You see a lot of service employees with that look
of 'Please don't ask me a question because I don't know
how to answer it,' " Csordos says. "If you're
unsure about what you're allowed to do for a customer, you feel
silly."
Patrick Marchese is co-founder and president of Santa Ana,
California-based Markzware, a 25-employee software development
company. He believes in giving the nine customer service
representatives in his company an arsenal for dealing with
difficult customers who call the company's toll-free
number.
Markzware's service employees know exactly how to route
difficult callers up the company chain. "We get someone else
in on the call right away," says Marchese. Employees also have
a lot of leeway to throw in freebies like T-shirts and software. A
little empowerment and teamwork can go a long way. "The
customer service rep doesn't feel isolated in handling a
problem," says Marchese, 41. "It's a big score
personally for employees to successfully handle a difficult
customer. When they get a thank-you at the end, they're on
Cloud 9."
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