Front Line Managers Must Get More Involved With Customers to Bring About a Recovery
By Alex Har
Every time the economy turns downwards, business begin to give more focus on the well-heeled group, whose disposable income is least affected and is able to maintain their regular purchases.
These "top-customers" will invariably be pampered with gifts and special services. Rather than be grateful many of such customers will become more demanding and difficult to handle, knowing that they are in hot demand.
This exacerbates the service problems during an already tough period when both clients and employees are likely to have low morale.
Customer service improvement programs often focused on interpersonal communication techniques to enable customer service frontline staff better manage customer complaints and do successful service recoveries.
However, quite often the frontline staff can only say, "I need to get additional information before I take care of this for you. I am going to talk with my manager. Would you mind waiting?"
The process of interfacing between a frontline staff and the manager is often a problem
1. Managers may be at a meeting.
2. He may be busy with his own work and feel bothered.
3. Managers are not selected for their temperament in handling people like front line people are.
4. Managers may not have attended interpersonal training in handling customers as often as front line people do.
5. Managers and their team members have not properly worked out the process of working together to solve problems as a team and colleagues.
2. He may be busy with his own work and feel bothered.
3. Managers are not selected for their temperament in handling people like front line people are.
4. Managers may not have attended interpersonal training in handling customers as often as front line people do.
5. Managers and their team members have not properly worked out the process of working together to solve problems as a team and colleagues.
Front Line Managers need to be more involved in dealing directly with Difficult Customers
1. They should be available and feel that its a key part of their job.
If they do no think so, its up to them to rework the responsibility and authority delegated to their subordinates and themselves
2. Be more ready to admit mistakes than their subordinates.
They should never be defensive nor try to explain away the mistake. Customers are not interested in why a mistake happen, they only want to know the solution and to be assured that they will not in any way be disadvantaged.
Even where it may not be mistake but a misunderstanding on the client part, empathize him. Never display mistrust. Acknowledge that perhaps the organization has given him a reason for misunderstanding, before pointing his error.
3. Take Action to Prevent It From Happening Again.
Whether its a mistake or a misunderstanding, show him how it can be prevented from happening again. If is be a customer error, show him how to avoid making the mistake in future. Never suggest that it is his problem, or his carelessness!
4. Compensation, Compensation, Compensation
When the customer at fault, show him how he may be able avoid or minimize any losses or inconvenience. Do all you can within your authority to help him.
Be aware that some advice may lead to complex legal liability issues. In such cases point that he should seek legal advice. However do not make a mountain out of a mole hill.
Where it is the company error, be willing to compensate appropriately adn speedily.
I started my career in the customer service department of the Singapore Airlines before moving into the insurance business. Singapore Airlines, even in the 1970s was excellent at anticipating problems that may arise. Junior frontline customer managers like me were empowered to compensate customers over a wide range of problems.
We could issue meal vouchers, hotel stay vouchers, tour vouchers, shopping vouchers¡ and of course provide a variety of gifts to customers to compensate for problems they encounter.
5. Empowerment
If at any time a front frontline manager or supervisor feels uncertain whether taking the above actions in any situation will create a liability for the business and thereby his own career, he must clarify this instantly with his own superior.
As a regional manager I my insurance career, I would invariably check the minutes of customer service department meetings.whenever I visit any country offices. What I look for are discussion about problems, whether real, brain-stormed, imagined and possible solutions to these if they should arise.
Customer service, as I always say in my seminar presentations, is not about solving problem but about anticipating them....and empowering the orgnaization to manage them.
6. What if customers cannot be satisfied
Sometimes a customer may become so emotional that he does not want to be satisfied. They like being unsatisfied. They want to be a pain to your staff, may even try irritate other customers and may even become abusive.
I have faced many counter banging customers in my days in the Singapore Airlines. Reservation systems in the 1970s were not as efficient or globally integrated as it is today. Clients arriving at the airport may find they do not have seats even though their have a confirmed ticket. This can turn normally amiable people into monsters!
In such situations, It important to stay cool and not take things personally matter whether how you feel the customer is rude or unreasonable. Be confident that if you can solve his problem he will cool down.
Most of the time, a calm and confident statement like "Let me buy you a drink whist there try to solve your problem" would work.
Taking him away from the scene of the anger helps. Bringing him to a comfortable lounge with a good atmosphere is even better.
If as a manager, you have not thought about a place where you could handle such customers, its perhaps time to do some planning.
Sometimes, though rarely, it gets really bad When the customer uses threats, abusive language or makes potentially harmful gestures, its time to immediately contact Security and let them work it out with your lawyers. Do nottry to be a hero at these times.
Conclusion
Front Line Managers who supervise the customer service teams have a important role to play in customer service. They do not just supervise the front employees, they must be the best equipped by Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes to manage problems situations directly with customer to bring about a recovery.
Alex Har is a Direct Marketing and Customer Management Professional with more than 20 years of experience working in multinational insurance companies, He has been a consultant to many businesses with large customer databases in Asia and the USA to assists that improvement performance in customer management. He speaks frequently on the Asia Circuit at Direct Marketing and Customer Management Seminars and is a founding member of the Singapore Direct Marketing Association. He has a website at http://www.one1.com.sg - that has useful resources for internet marketing and direct marketing professional, A free video learning series on "Mastering Internet Basics for Direct Marketers" is currently available. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Alex_Har |
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