The Customer Service Survival Kit by Richard S. Gallagher

Author:Richard S. Gallagher
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AMACOM
Published: 2013-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

A lot of important things went on in this discussion. First, the customer’s anger was heard and acknowledged. Second, the restaurant owner showed an interest in the specifics of what happened. Third, the owner focused on a solution. But what is just as important is what didn’t happen in this discussion: There were no excuses, and there was no defensiveness or pushback, even when the customer threatened the manager. This manager avoided all of these things precisely because none of it would have worked.

This is the heart and soul of defusing a difficult conflict. Keep your focus on the customer, find the core of reasonableness in the customer’s frustration, and work with the customer to co-create a satisfactory solution. In this case, the manager has probably prevented a court date and lots of bad publicity for the price of a couple of dinners. And in the general case, skills like these will help you walk safely into—and out of—your worst customer service situations.

Your Secret Weapon: The LPFSA

When you are trying to keep someone from becoming upset and you have few options to work with, one tool will often save the day: the LPFSA.

The what?

The LPFSA: the Low Probability Face-Saving Alternative. It is an option you offer the customer that (1) has a low probability of being successful, but (2) addresses the customer’s agenda and allows him or her to save face.

Does this sound disingenuous to you—or to the customer? Not as much as you might think, as long as you frankly inform the customer of its low probability up front.

A perfect example of the LPFSA came up a few years ago when I went to a major league baseball park during a business trip. It was a perfect Sunday afternoon: sunny, 70 degrees, Father’s Day weekend, and the home team was a game out of first place. I did not know it as I pulled into the parking lot, but the game was sold out. Here is what I was told when I went up to the ticket window:

“It’s a beautiful day for baseball, and we would love to see you get into the game today. Even though we are completely sold out, here is what we would like to suggest. Our season ticket holders have a tradition of dropping off extra tickets they aren’t using at the gates, and if we have any, we give these away for free. I can’t make any guarantees, especially this close to game time, but if you don’t mind checking the other gates, it would be great if we could still get you in.”

I checked at each gate: no extra tickets, but everyone was as polite and helpful as the person at the ticket window. Eventually it struck me: I had just spent twenty minutes circumnavigating the ballpark, a distance of several city blocks. I had no ticket to the game. I was walking back to my car. And largely because of how I was treated (and, I found out later, how this

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.