How to Resolve Customer Service Problems
An important component of the customer service experience includes interactions with company representatives and employees. Problems occur when employees, managers or company policy fails to meet the expectations of the customer. Tackling these everyday problems and conflicts when they occur ensures short-term fixes, but long-term solutions also must be considered. The best way to resolve customer service problems is to resolve them before they happen. Attempt to be proactive, instead of reactive, to customer service complaints.
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Instructions
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Fix everyday customer conflicts immediately as they arise. Place a representative, like yourself or other management personnel, in charge of working and dealing with angry, upset or disgruntled customers. Ask dissatisfied customers questions to get details of their frustrations. Negotiate with them to find an agreeable solution or compromise to the problems. Take a courteous, yet firm, tone with customers who voice their frustrations loudly and boisterously.
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Evaluate your customer service personnel and company as a whole. List the areas and/or departments in which you're experiencing consistent complaints. Investigate these problem areas. Interview company employees and department heads or managers to get an overall picture. Ask them about the problems that they most often experience with customers. Make a list and divide it between external factors--those which you have limited control, like the quality of suppliers' products--and internal factors--those which you have complete control, like return/exchange policies that may be changed.
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Train both new and existing employees on customer service issues. Develop training sessions that cover the best practices in customer service behaviors. Role play with employees to assess their understanding and to show them what to do and how to act. Instruct employees on how to deal effectively with customer conflicts and what you want them to do when these situations arise.
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Equip customer service managers, or those in charge of resolving everyday conflicts, with the tools to solve problems. Give them the authority to handle monetary refunds, exchanges and returns, gift cards or free items at their own discretion. Instruct them to focus on improving customer relations by giving them permission to bend the rules, within reason, when necessary.
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Review your customer service policies. Rewrite any outdated rules or policies to reflect new goals, training objectives and conflict resolution procedures in which you have trained employees and managers.
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Tips & Warnings
Follow up with customers once problems are resolved to ensure the their satisfaction.
Don't make the customer feel humiliated or as if he is in the wrong--even if he is--when small disagreements or conflicts occur.
