Is the need to be right sabotaging your customer service?

Whilst visiting a client last week, I was able to witness a phenomenon that not only gets in the way of a great many business, it is also a real drain on profits; the need to be right.

A customer had emailed in to complain that the product they had purchased had not been delivered on time and was now causing the customer further challenges because it was holding up other parts of their project, meaning it was having a ripple effect of complaints from their own customers.

The team in the office immediately launched into an investigation, searching through emails, agreements and logged phone calls, not to solve the problem for the customer, but to prove that the customer was to blame for miss-communication in the first place.

I went into my client’s office where we, as usual, had a very positive session, during which I mentioned what was unfolding in the outer office.

Our session lasted an hour and afterwards my client and I both went to see what the outcome had been in the ‘blame investigation’. The team were still searching through emails when we arrived. They were determined to prove the customer was wrong no matter how long it would take.

It turned out, in actual fact, that the customer was right and the delay was caused by a failure to process the original order because a team member was off sick. Now they were into the justification game and the excuses started to materialise.

My client calmly asked, “Where is the product?” to be told that it was in the warehouse just 50 metres away.

What’s stopping us from delivering it today?”

“It’s not been scheduled.”

“Okay let’s schedule it for this afternoon, apologise for the situation we have created and inform the customer that the order will be with him today after all.”

Let’s analyse what has happened here:

·         The customer (who was placing a justifiable complaint) was a little emotional because of the challenges and stress that it was causing them.

·         The team responded in an emotional way, “We must be right!”

·         The business owner remained calm and dealt with the situation in a logical manner.

There is a real lesson here for all businesses. Whilst it would be great to get things right all the time, the truth is that sometimes we get it wrong, which can lead to angry customers. The key here is instead of getting defensive, which is a reaction to feeling attacked, we need to acknowledge the customers frustrations and show respect for their emotions. In actual fact, it would be really beneficial if you could become an advocate for the customer by making sure they know you have ‘got it’ and understand their objection.  

For instance:

Your customer says, “I’ve been waiting for ages. Why has it taken you so long to deal with my order?”

You say, “We understand that speed is really important to you and agree you deserve fast friendly service…”

Notice how this response makes the customer feel right. We don’t argue over the facts, rude staff, lost emails etc., but we do actively agree on the importance of what they value most.

The customer is not always right. But business = customers, so they are always important and we can make them feel much better by agreeing with them on the importance of the service dimensions they identify and value.

As a positive footnote to my client’s situation because it was dealt with (and in way that was up to the customer’s expectations) they placed a further £50k order the following day!