Please Don't Scream

Today, I had the opportunity to speak to a customer whose faith had been tarnished.  Due to a bad experience, she was prepared to leave to find greener pastures with another company.  After an hour, a little of her faith had been restored. I hope it makes the difference.

And that is the bulk of what I do every day.  I am a supervisor in customer service for a company which shall remain nameless.  Please don't mistake my reticence to name the company for any sort of concerns regarding pride.  I AM proud of what I do.  Most days, I love my career.  The company is staying "the company" so that I can continue it.

So, with that note, I thought I would create a list of tips for successfully requesting assistance.  Trust me. Some of the people with whom I speak need it.

Tips For Successful Customer Service Interactions

1. Please do NOT scream at, berate, curse at, belittle, degrade, demean, or otherwise insult the rep with whom you are speaking.  This is rule number one because it is HIGHLY important.  I know that you are upset.  I know that you might have already spoken to a couple of people who have not assisted you adequately (I am a realist.  I won't even pretend that those issues don't exist.  It would be pointless and counterproductive).  What is important here is to remember honey = flies.  If I were to scream obscenities at you, would you really be inclined to listen to anything that I have to say?  If you are angry about other issues and this one becomes the straw, please put the call off until tomorrow.  Have a glass of wine, pop in some light jazz, light some candles, relax.  The issue will still exist tomorrow, but hopefully the emotions won't.

2.  We DO want to help you!  It's why we get paid.  I promise that we do not purposely set out to lead you astray.  There is a lot of information to know, different levels of experience, and in the end, we are human.  We make mistakes.  It would be HORRIBLE business to purposely set out to defraud our customers.  Not to mention illegal.  Sometimes we do have to give you bad news.  It is difficult to be limited in options and still express that we want to do what we can to help you.  But I promise, in the end, we DO want to help.

3.  Negotiation is the key.  It's very important for both customers and representatives of a company to come to an agreement.  The only way to do that is to work on give and take.  We may not always see eye-to-eye, but we can always work towards an understanding.  Let's meet in the middle and resolve the issue, together.

4.  It is perfectly acceptable to ask to speak to a supervisor.  After giving the representative an opportunity to assist, it is perfectly fine to request to speak to me (or someone like me).  Remembering rule #1, just tell the representative that you understand his/her limitations and would like to have the account reviewed with a supervisor.  I would be happy to work with you to figure out how we can address your concern and let you get back to enjoying more important things.

And last,

5.  If the company you are calling has a survey option, take it!!  It is the only way we know what we need to stop, start, or continue.  I promise that I listen to every survey, every call, and call every customer who ended the conversation with a less than satisfactory resolution.  I take any concerns VERY personally and take a lot of pride in fixing them.   Let us help!  After all, it's Customer CARE.