Curatti

How Do You Fix An Issue With Your Customer?

  • Paolo Fabrizio

    • ‘I’ve screwed up!’ That’s the typical expression when you make a mistake or detect a problem that impacts a customer’s experience. Soon after that, it’s time though to roll up your sleeves: how do you face? I’m asking that because while you’re working to fix an issue, you also need to decide how to communicate it in your conversation with the customers. So here are two typical scenarios, with lessons learnt, that you can take advantage of.

    Who Found The Problem First?

    Let’s say that there’s a sudden delivery delay on your products due to your vendor/courier personnel strike. Here’s what usually happens in such cases:

    1. Your customers discovered the issue first – that’s the worst situation because you become aware of a potential issue the very moment customers call, email, or chat with you. As you are just like a bull in a china shop, you need to carefully ask questions to your customers to get useful information.

    Bonus TIP: avoid trying to minimize the issue with assumptions because if they are wrong you’re in double trouble. Tell them instead about what you’re going to do and how you’ll keep them up-to-date about your potential resolution and your progress. These three behaviors will help you save overall customer experience.

    2. You have discovered the issue – so still relatively few customers are aware of it. In this second scenario, you know that you’re bound to deal with inbound volume customer queries peaks. To prevent and/or mitigate that, act proactively, informing both currently and potentially affected customers about the issue.

    Bonus TIP: reassure them by leveraging the fact that you’ve promptly detected the problem thanks to your control tools and anticipate the FAQs that you may expect (e.g. ‘To which extent am I affected as a customer? ‘What are you already doing to solve it quickly?’ And of course ‘How long will it take to get it fixed?’). Take into account that especially when it comes to having Digital Customer Service conversations, timing is key.

     

    83% of customers feel more loyal to brands that respond to and resolve their complaints.

    Source: ‘Getting To Know Your Customers‘ – Forrester.

    Over To You

    When was the last time you had to fix an issue? How did your customers react throughout the whole handling process? Feel free to share your unforgettable experiences – both good and bad – in the comments below.

    Have great conversations.

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    Paolo Fabrizio

    Digital Customer Service Consultant, Trainer, Author, Speaker. Paolo has been helping companies to harness digital customer service as a business driver. Founder of CustomerServiceCulture, author of books and speaker at conferences in Italy and abroad. Lecturer at the Bicocca University of Milan