When we, as customer service reps, begin to consult with clients one of the first comments they make is that their customer service team 'usually does a good job' or that 'it is just the odd customer that they find difficult'. People as a rule don't plan to do a bad job, in fact most customer service agents we work with have a genuine desire to help.
Conflict with customers will become more difficult to manage when the customer service agents become battle weary and tired; this can often be a result of poor personal de-briefing habits. When conflict is a daily experience we need customer service tools to manage our responses and the impact on our mind-set. If we allow the negative interactions to define our perspective of the whole day, then each day will become a grind and a discouragement.
It is much more effective when you debrief the day's events if you do two things:
Firstly focus on all the customers that you have successfully helped and all the customers that leave your care satisfied or even better totally wowed! Depending on the customer service you provide there is a possibility that your personal attention will have made a significant, positive, impact on their life/situation. Make a habit of making a mental list of all the success you have achieved during the day.
What we focus on is what we see, and it is this perspective that we paint on the canvass of our minds. If you focus on a few exchanges that didn't go well, then the personal debrief is going to be negative and destructive.
The second step is to change how you debrief the negative incidents? It is important that you recognize the quantity before we look at the quality. What is the percentage of the negative interactions? Is the percentage of negative conflicts reflective of the job you do, for example if you handle calls from customers who suffer some form of sanction, financial loss or other negative effect then the percentage of negative conflict will be understandably greater. So is the percentage of negative calls realistic for the role?
Now take the negative calls and ask yourself some powerful questions that may improve future outcomes. Perhaps you can identify common triggers or patterns when you take these calls. If you can identify the triggers or patterns is it then possible to use a different approach on one small aspect of the call. Ask yourself what new customer service things that you could try?
When you are going to test a different customer service approach it is essential that you try not to change too much at one time. The danger of too much change at one time is that you will be unsure as to which specific element of the change has made a difference. Be methodical and make sure that your customer service test is a big enough sample of customers with each new approach. One small change may in the future drive towards every conversation achieving a better outcome.
