There's No Excuse For Bad Customer Service In The Technology Industry - Forbes

I was in the drive-through one morning when I overheard the conversation with the car in front of me. It wasn’t pretty. The car in front of me contained two smiling older ladies who were deep in a conversation with the drive-through attendant. She wasn’t smiling. I could really only hear one side of the conversation, but I could easily fill in the rest based on context. As the smiling ladies got to the window, the attendant had read them back the order that was ready for them, but it wasn’t right. Now, I don’t know how the smiling ladies informed the attendant of that, but the attendant's response really bothered me.

“I read you back your order and you said it was OK,” the attendant informed rather aggressively.

I immediately thought, "Wow, this is not how you handle a mistake." And that’s all this was really, just a mistake. Someone either misspoke or someone misheard, or someone misentered. I’m sure there wasn’t any intention to deceive.

There was another exchange from the ladies that I couldn’t hear, followed by the attendant's response: “Well then, what do you want?”

Still smiling, the ladies declined to reorder and gently pulled out to see if there was another restaurant that could take their order and treat them a bit better. I suspect that they found one. I also suspect that it will be a long time before they return to this restaurant.

Technology is all about solving problems, and the help desk, in particular, faces these kinds of challenges every day. After all, the main reason a client may call is because something is wrong. Whether it’s at a restaurant or an IT department, mistakes are going to happen -- that’s a given. But it's what happens afterward that really matters. No matter how hard we work or what precautions we take, mistakes still happen. It’s not personal. I think that’s where people go wrong the most; they make the mistake be about them rather than the issue. At the restaurant, they heard, “You didn’t take our order right.” At the help desk, it’s usually, “You didn’t set this system up right.”

But how can we address these problems in the technology industry -- or any industry where customer service is vital -- without losing customers? Take these two steps:

1. Don’t take it personally.

Taking it personal usually leads to getting upset. It’s easy to get angry with a person, but it's much harder to get angry with a thing. Yes, I’ll admit I have yelled at inanimate objects before, but I never got anywhere with them. When you lose control of your emotions, especially your temper, you are in trouble. That’s exactly what I saw: The attendant was angry. Surprisingly, the ladies didn’t seem to be upset. They just wanted their order. Arguing about who is at fault really isn’t profitable. If you win, what do you actually get? Satisfaction? Try cashing that at the bank.

The goal is to serve the customer and keep them happy so that they will buy stuff from you, come back and buy more stuff from you -- and convince their friends that they to should buy stuff from you. Whether you are an owner or employee, it doesn’t really matter. Your compensation, paycheck or dividend only arrives if customers keep paying for your stuff. It doesn’t matter who’s fault it is; apologize anyway.

A quick and sincere apology often ends the problem. This is so powerful for help desks. A simple gesture along the lines of saying, “I’m sorry you are having problems. That must be frustrating. Let’s see what we can do to help you,” goes a long way.

2. Apologize and make it right.

When I’m courting a new customer, I never promise them that we won’t make a mistake. In fact, I assure them that we will. I do, however, that we will own our mistakes and make them right. It is far less expensive to fix your mistakes than it is to live with them.

So, when someone calls the help desk for support, own it. Don’t play the blame game, don’t tell them to call a vendor or another department and don’t ever throw another team member under the bus. When you take the call for help, it becomes your problem to solve. Apologize for their disruption and take responsibility for fixing it.

Put it all together.

If IT is really all about problem-solving, we can’t neglect the human side of our work while we focus on the technical issues at hand. A little compassion and consideration can make all the difference -- and buy us the time to actually solve those technical issues. The goal is to solve the problem and take care of the client. Keep your end goal in mind, and you will find success.

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