LECTURE OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES



LECTURE OUTLINE AND LECTURE NOTES

General Teaching Suggestions for Chapter 7:

Instructor Note 1:

• This chapter helps emphasize the importance of understanding service breakdowns, what causes them, how to recover from service breakdowns, and how to deal with difficult customers and those who defect. Depending on the students’ level of knowledge or expertise, you may want to bring in additional articles, handouts, and activities to supplement and reinforce the text content.

• Additionally, as suggested in the Search It Out activity on page 189 in the chapter, you may want to have students do some Internet research and report findings to the class. This research might be collecting other organizational philosophies and material related to the topic helping with customer service breakdowns and difficult customers as well as service recovery strategies.

Instructor Note 2:

• Before the students arrive: Write the terms that you will be emphasizing in this chapter on the board. When the students settle in, you may do a quick review of the terms by asking students to provide an impromptu definition. This activity may serve to let you know what information students remember from reading the chapter or from experiences in the business world.

Instructor Note 3:

• First meeting of the class: Take attendance and take care of other administrative duties or paperwork. Here are some optional activities to supplement those listed in the chapter. Use these as you wish to supplement and enhance the content of the chapter.

• General Notes for Selected Activities: Use these as you have time and as students’ interest dictates:

1. Activity: Set up a panel of managers from local businesses or have a guest speaker to come in to talk with the group. The speaker or consultant should be proficient in working with customers and how to deal with breakdowns and recovery strategies.

2. Activity: Begin the class by dividing learners into equal groups of 3 or 4 people (depending on class size). Give each group a marker and sheet of newsprint (flipchart paper). Ask each group to brainstorm a list of strategies they believe contribute to good customer service and may help with service recovery. Have them explain their list to the rest of the class. Tie in their comments to chapter content.

3. Activity: You may want to gather additional reference material related to organizations that have had breakdowns and difficult customers to deal with. Get personal experience input from learners. You may find interesting stories on various company communication issues in The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report, and your local newspapers.

4. Activity: Assign an out-of-class activity for learners to gather additional articles or information about chapter-related topics. Have them write a brief (no more than one typed page) summary of the article properly documented.

5. Activity: Have learners conduct field research and write a brief report before the next meeting. The focus might be on a visit to an organization or business to observe factors related to chapter content (e.g., the approach service providers take to difficult customers, service breakdowns, and any other factor that contributes to the service culture).

• If you have not secured the Video to be used with Customer Service: Skills for Success, 4th Edition, you may want to order it now so that you can use it for the end-of-chapter video scripts.

• Chapter 6 Activities from last class meeting: Activities may have been assigned to student groups from last week to report on this week or at another time you have designated. If you assigned or plan to assign any of the activities noted in Chapter 6 Lesson Notes, you may want to discuss them during this class meeting. You may also want to spend some time reviewing the activities from the Search It Out, Collaborative Learning Activity, Planning to Serve, and the In the Real World sections, which are listed in the end-of-chapter materials. Note: Your students may need additional time to do some of the research activities. If so, assign the reports to be completed by another class meeting of your choosing.

LESSON NOTES

The following are specific instructional strategies related to Chapter 7: Service Breakdowns and Service Recovery

Instructor Note 4:

• Consider beginning with another brainstorming activity that generates a list of items related to any of the chapter topics and tie that into overall chapter content. The Quote on page 164 may stimulate some discussion: what did Donald Porter mean by the statement, “Customers don’t expect you to be perfect. They expect you to fix things when they go wrong.” How does this relate to the study of customer service? (Student answers will vary for all class discussions; you can contribute your interpretations of the quote as well).

Instructor Note 5:

• Show PPTs 1, 2 and 3: Chapter Objectives to briefly introduce students to the topics in Chapter 7. As you briefly introduce each objective, ask students for comments about what they think each objective will involve.

• Move quickly on to the In the Real World on pages 164-165. Review the information about Southwest Airlines. Review with the students how it started and how they rate customer service in their organization. What awards have they been presented? Review their mission statement and reflect how you think it affects customers on the airline.

• Ask students if they know anyone who is or has been an employee of Southwest Airlines; ask them what they think of the Southwest philosophy (answers will vary).

• Quick Preview—Have students respond (orally or in writing) to the Quick Preview questions. The answers are located in the student text on page 191. A show of hands will give you an understanding of these questions. Tie the information to the objectives and the material in the chapter.

Instructor Note 6:

• Learning Objective 1: Define what a service breakdown is.

• Learning Objective Note: PPTs 1, 4 should be used with Learning Objective 1, page 166.

• Students need to understand the concept of service breakdown to avoid contributing to them. See PPT 4.

• WHAT IS A SERVICE BREAKDOWN? p. 166

Instructor Note 7:

• Learning Objective 2: Apply knowledge of behavioral styles in difficult customer situations.

• Learning Objective Note: PPT 5 should be used with Learning Objective 2, pages 166-168

• THE ROLE OF BEHAVIORAL STYLE, p. 166

• Students should understand the concept behind this objective since the steps define and note the application of styles in difficult customer situations.

• As you saw in Chapter 6, behavioral style preferences play a major part in how people interact. Styles also impact the types of things people want and value. For example, people with high Expressive tendencies will likely buy more colorful and people-oriented items than someone who has a high Decisive tendency. People with high Inquisitive styles will often seek out better quality items and information that has been rated by highly consumer publications. People with high Rational styles will often be concerned about warranties that cover items or their safety and durability performance.

• The more you know about style tendencies, the easier it becomes to deal with people in a variety of situations and to match their needs with the products and services you and your organization can provide. Take a few minutes to return to Chapter 6 to review Figure 6-3, page 153 before going further in this chapter. The suggested strategies found there can assist you in dealing with customers who exhibit a specific behavioral style preference and are upset, irrational or confrontational. Keep in mind that everyone possesses all four behavioral styles and can display various types of behavior from time to time. For that reason, carefully observe your customer’s behavior and use the information you learned about each style as an indicator of the type of person with whom you are dealing. Do not use such information as the definitive answer for resolving the situation. Humans are complex and react to stimuli from their surroundings in various ways, so adapt your approach as necessary. Additionally, learn to deal with emotions in an effort to better resolve or prevent escalated emotional situations when serving customers.

• Use PPT5 to introduce the role of behavior style for discussion.

Instructor Note 8:

• Activity: Have students review Figure 7.1 on page 167; ask for input if they have experienced any of these situations of non-service. Go directly into the Work It Out 7.1 activity noted below.

• Activity: Refer students to Work It Out 7.1 on page 167; have them read and reflect additionally on examples of breakdowns. Ask for input as what could have been done to prevent the breakdowns and, once broken, what can be done to fix the breakdown.

Instructor Note 9:

• Activity: Figure 7.2 should be reviewed now with the class, page 168. As you review each item under the expectations, ask student to respond as to why customers expect these things.

Instructor Note 10:

• Learning Objective 3: Recognize different types of difficult customers and effectively deal with them.

• Learning Objective Note: PPTs 6, 7, 8 should be used with Learning Objective 3, pages 168-174.

• DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS

• Students need to know that there are different types of difficult customers; they are not all angry ones, and they are not all external ones.

• Use PPTs 6 and 7 to introduce students to other types of dissatisfied or difficult customers.

• Have them review the sections in the text on pages 168, highlighting any specifics they want to recall about each type of customer.

• DEMANDING OR DOMINEERING CUSTOMERS, p. 169.

• Customers can be demanding for a number of reasons. Many times, domineering behavior is part of a personality style or simply behavior they have learned, as discussed in Chapter 6. A demanding customer may feel a need to be or stay in control, especially if he or she has felt out of control in the past. Review the strategies for handling demanding customers on pages 169-170. As you review each, have students give their opinions and experiences about each one that is pertinent to them.

• Activity: Refer students to Work It Out 7.3 on page 171 as you discuss demanding customers.

• Assign this exercise for students to complete at a future date you select. Have them survey a variety of service professionals to learn how they handle demanding or domineering customers. Students will take notes and make a chart of the answers to share with the class in a role play situation at a time you select.

• INDECISIVE CUSTOMERS, p. 170

• You will encounter people who cannot or will not make a decision quickly or at all.

• Review the strategies for dealing with an indecisive person listed on pages 170-171, and have students relate the strategy to a situation they may have experienced or their parents or friends may have experienced while making a decision.

Instructor Note 11:

• Refer students to the photo on page 171. Ask if they have seen a similar scene in a store where someone has tons of shoes around and is still looking through the group and asking for yet another pair to be brought. What steps would you take to help someone make a decision?

• DISSATISFIED AND ANGRY CUSTOMERS, p. 171

• Sometimes dissatisfied or angry customers have been improperly handled by one of your peers or by a competitor. You may not have been involved but you represent the organization or you may be considered “just like that last service employee.”

• If you get defensive, you become part of the problem, not part of the solution. Dealing with angry people requires a certain amount of caution. You must move beyond the emotions to discover the reason for his or her anger. Check with your supervisor to find out what your policies are and what level of authority you have in making decisions.

• Activity: A service provider needs to stay professional at all times; some tactics you may try on located in Work It Out 7.4 on page 172. Review them and ask students to determine how these may work or not work. Bring this activity together with Figure 7.3 in which you have two groups of students selected. One will say the word in the left column and the other group will select one of the words or phrases in the right column. See which sounds better. Draw attention to the Customer Service Success Tip on page 172; ask students what it means to underpromise and over deliver. (Students may say that it means to say less than you will or can do, so that when you act, you will be meeting or exceeding the customer’s expectations, making the customer happy.)

• RUDE OR INCONSIDERATE CUSTOMERS, p. 172

• Some people seem to go out of their way to be offensive or to get attention. Some behaviors they may exhibit are raising the voice, demanding to speak to a supervisor, using profanity, cutting in front of someone in line, being verbally abrupt such as calling you by your last name, ignoring what you say, or otherwise going out of the way to be offensive or in control. Some strategies you can point out to your students as you review them are:

Remain professional.

Don’t resort to retaliation.

• Have students review the Work It Out 7. 5 on page 173; what rude comments have they heard being made by customers?

• TALKATIVE CUSTOMERS, p. 173

• Some people phone or approach you and then spend excessive time discussing irrelevant matters. The following tips (page 173) should be discussed with the class (probably some of them have been in this situation with a colleague or another talkative person). Show PPT 8 as you discuss the following strategies with them:

Remain warm and cordial, but focused.

Ask specific open-ended questions.

Use closed-end questions to control.

Manage the conversation.

Instructor Note 12:

• Ask students to review the photo on page 173. What is happening here? Is this a familiar scene to students? Ask them what they would do to stay calm and how would they calm a customer in this situation? (Remain professional, acknowledge the person’s feelings or anger; reassure; remain objective, listen actively, reduce frustrations, negotiate a solution and follow up.) Have students go to a mall or another place to ask questions (see Work It Out 7.6, page 174) and make notes of what happens. Were the service providers rude? If so, in what instances? Have students share their experiences with the class.

Instructor Note 13:

• Learning Objective 4: Use the emotion-reducing model to help keep difficult situations from escalating.

• Learning Objective Note: PPTs 9 should be used with Learning Objective 4, pages 174-75.

• HANDLING EMOTIONS WITH THE EMOTION-REDUCING MODEL, p. 174

• Students will need this learning objective to deal with various customers and others since we all have emotions that come into play. Being able to deal effectively with an emotional person is a skill that is needed in many situations.

• Show PPT 9 to discuss the emotion-reducing model on page 175.

• An important factor to remember when dealing with people who are emotionally charged (e.g., mildly irritated, angry, upset, crying or raising their voice) is that they are typically upset with the structure, process, organization or other factors over which you and/or they have no control. They are usually not upset with you (unless you have provoked them by exhibiting poor customer service skills or attitude).

• Before you can get your customer to calm down, listen, and address the situation, you must first deal with her or his emotional state. Once that is done, you can then proceed to use problem-solving strategies, discussed later in this chapter, to assist in resolving her or his issue. Until you reduce their emotions, they will not likely listen to you or be receptive to what you are saying or your attempts to assist them. In some cases, she or he may even become irritated because you are perceived as being non-empathetic or uncaring.

• To help calm the customer down, you must send verbal and nonverbal messages that are customer-focused. To accomplish this, you need to demonstrate patience and use all the positive communication skills you read about in Chapters 3-5. Most important among those skills is the ability and willingness to calmly listen to what the customer has to say without interrupting or interjecting your views. This is a lesson taught to many law enforcement officers when they are learning to deal with crisis situations (e.g., domestic disturbances where two people in a household are fighting or some other conflict scenario is in progress). If your customer perceives that you are not attuned to his or her emotional needs or that you are not working in the customer’s best interests, you become part of the problem, rather than part of the solution.

• One approach that you can take to assist is to remember that a customer generally wants to be respected and acknowledged as an individual and as being important. As you interact, you can soften the situation and reduce emotion by providing customer-focused responses throughout the dialog. Simple customer-focused messages can put you on a friendly (human) level while at the same time helping to calm the emotion.

• Here’s how the Emotion Reducing Model works. As a customer approaches (or when you answer the telephone) greet him or her with “Good morning/afternoon,” a smile, and open body language and gesturing (a customer-focused message). Additionally, as they explain their problems (emotion), you can offer statements such as, “I see,” “I can appreciate you concern, frustration, or anger,” or “I understand how that can feel” (i.e., customer-focused messages). Such statements can help you psychologically mesh with the customer. Continue to use positive reinforcement and communication throughout your interaction. Once the issue has been identified and resolved (problem resolution), take one more opportunity at the end of your interaction to send a customer-focused message by smiling, reassuring the customer, and thanking them for allowing you to assist. Also, one last apology may be appropriate for any inconvenience, frustration, mistreatment and so on (customer-focused).

Instructor Note 14:

• Review the model elements with the class. Ask them to relate an emotional setting they have seen or been involved in with a customer service professional; how was it handled?

Instructor Note 15:

• Learning Objective 5: Explain why customers defect.

• Learning Objective Note: PPT 10 should be used with Learning Objective 5, pages 175-176.

• REASONS FOR CUSTOMER DEFECTION, p. 175

• Students are faced with problems many times during their lives; having a customer to defect to another business or to just quit coming can be an emotional issue for the service provider. Students need to know the reasons why they defect so that they can work with customers more effectively.

• Use PPT 10 to show the reasons that people defect. Students can review them in Figure 7. 5 on page 176 as you discuss them.

• Poor service and complacency, inappropriate complaint resolution, and unmet needs are strong reasons for leaving a business to find another to serve one better.

Instructor Note 16:

• Learning Objective 6: Develop effective strategies for working with internal customers.

• Learning Objective Note: PPT 11 should be used with Learning Objective 6, pages 176-178.

• WORKING WITH INTERNAL CUSTOMERS (COWORKERS), p. 176

• Students should be involved in learning about effective strategies for working with internal customers, as that area of work is important but often not discussed. This section will help students in dealing with coworkers. Use PPT11 to introduce the concept of working with internal customers to the class. Go over each topic so that students understand why these can be violated and how they lead to problems in the workplace.

• As we examined in earlier chapters, you have to deal with internal as well as external customers. While all your interactions with internal customers may not be difficult, they can often be more precarious than dealing with outsiders. After all, you see peers and co-workers regularly around your organization and because of your job, office politics and protocol, you often have to continue to interact with them for the duration of your tenure at the organization. For that reason, you should extend all the same courtesies to internal customers that you do to external ones. In some cases, more so.

• STAY CONNECTED, p. 177

• Since relationships are so important within the organization, go out of your way to contact internal customers periodically. This might be by dropping by their work area to say hello, sending an e-mail or leaving a voice mail message. Doing this can keep the door to communication open so that if service does someday break down, you have a better chance of hearing about it and resolving the issue amicably. In addition to your “normal” internal customers, do not forget the importance of your relationships with the cleaning crew (remember that they service your office and work area), security (they protect you, your organization, and your vehicle), and the information systems people (they maintain computer equipment). All of these groups and many others within the organization add value and can be a big help at some point.

• MEET ALL COMMITMENTS, p. 177

• Too often service providers forget the importance of internal customers. Because of familiarity, they sometimes become lax and tend to not give the attention to internal people that they would to those customers outside the organization. This can be a big mistake. For example, if you depend on someone else to give and get products or services, your relationship with them is just as crucial as the ones you have with external customers. Don’t forget that if you depend on an internal supplier for materials, products or information used to service outside customers, such people can negatively impact your ability to serve by delaying or withholding the items you need. Such actions might be unintentional or intentional, depending on your relationship.

• To prevent or at least reduce such possibilities, honor all commitments made to internal customers. If you promise something, do your best to deliver, and do so in the agreed upon time. If something is not possible, then say so when your customer asks. If something comes up, let them know of the change in a timely manner. Remember, it is better to under promise and over deliver than vice versa. If you beat a deadline, then they will likely be pleasantly surprised and appreciative. As a follow-up to this section, refer students to page 177 to review the Ethical Dilemma 7.1 activity. In a group activity, have students pair with another student to review and answer the questions. This is a very common type of situation today; how should they handle this type of work-related issue?

• Bring the group back together after about 20 minutes to share their answers; then have them look at the suggested answers on page 191. Were there answers similar as a group to the ones in the suggested answers in the text?

• DON’T SIT ON YOUR EMOTIONS, p. 177

• Some people hold onto anger, frustration and other emotions related to others rather than getting it out into the open and dealing with it. Not only is this potentially damaging to your health due to stress-related illnesses, but it can also destroy working relationships. Whenever something goes wrong or an issue surfaces that is on your mind, you should go to the person and, using the feedback skills you learned in Chapter 3, talk about the situation. Failure to do so can result in disgruntled internal customers, damage to the customer-supplier relationship, and damage to your personal reputation. Don’t forget that you will continue to rely on your customer in the future, so you cannot afford a relationship problem.

• BUILD A PROFESSIONAL REPUTATION, p. 177

• Through your words and actions, go out of your way to let your customer and your boss know that you have a positive, can-do, customer-focused attitude. Let both know that you will do whatever it takes to create an environment where internal and external customers are important. Additionally, regularly demonstrate your commitment to proactive service. This means gathering information, products, information, and other tools before coming into contact with a customer so that you are prepared to deal with a variety of situations and people. It also means doing the unexpected for customers and providing service that makes them excited about doing business with you and your organization.

• ADOPT A GOOD-NEIGHBOR POLICY, p. 177

• Take a proactive approach to building internal relationships in an effort to head of potential negative situations in the future. If your internal customers reside within your department, try to act in a manner that will preserve sound working relationships.

• Avoid gatherings of friends and loud conversations in your work place. This can be especially annoying if you work in a cubicle environment where sound travels easily. Respect your coworker’s right to work in a professional environment. If you must hold meetings or gatherings, go to the breakroom, cafeteria or elsewhere away from the work area.

• Maintain good grooming and hygiene habits. Demonstrate professionalism in your dress and grooming. Avoid excessive colognes or perfumes, which might cause problems for people with allergies.

• Don’t overdo call forwarding. Business necessity sometimes requires you to be away from your workspace, and policy indicates that you should forward phones to someone else. Do not abuse this policy or your coworkers may retaliate in kind or get upset with you.

• Avoid unloading personal problems. Personal problems are a natural occurrence in human beings; however you should not bring them to the workplace and burden coworkers with your issues. If you are dealing with personal problems and need assistance, go to your supervisor/ team leader or human resources for suggested help. Just remember that if you get a reputation for always having personal problems in the workplace, your career could suffer.

• Avoid office politics and gossip. Getting involved in office gossip can be a formula for disaster. Your purpose in the workplace is to serve the customer and do your job. If you have time to spread gossip and excessively network with others, then you should approach your supervisor/team leader about new job opportunities to help you learn new skills. This can increase your effectiveness and marketability in the workplace.

• Pitch in to help. By being willing to assist co-workers, you can build a reputation for dependability and as a team player. If you have spare time and your co-workers need assistance with a project, volunteer to help out. They may do the same at some point in the future when you are feeling overwhelmed with a project or assignment.

• Be truthful. One of the fastest ways for you to suffer a damaged relationship, or lose the trust and confidence of your co-workers and customers, is to be caught in a lie. Use your word as your bond. Failing to be truthful can negatively impact trust and can damage relationships.

Instructor Note 17:

• Learning Objective 7: Identify strategies for preventing customer dissatisfaction and problem solving.

• Learning Objective Note: PPTs 12, 13 should be used with Learning Objective 7, pages 178-181.

• IDENTIFY STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTING DISSATISFACTION AND PROBLEM SOLVING, p. 178

• Students should know how to prevent dissatisfaction among customers and others. This section will provide strategies and helpful information that will increase the student’s ability to deal effectively with customers.

Instructor’s Note 18:

• Show PPT 12 as you begin the discussion of preventing dissatisfaction and problem solving. This topic will focus on the customer’s needs and how to seek ways to satisfy their needs quickly.

• THINK LIKE THE CUSTOMER, p. 179

• Think about how you would like to be served under the conditions you are dealing with and act accordingly.

• PAMPER THE CUSTOMER, p. 179

• Everyone likes to be special. Treat your customers as if they are special and the center of your attention and that you are there for them.

• RESPECT THE CUSTOMER, p. 179

• Take time to listen and show that you support them and their viewpoint. By using a people-centered approach to problem analysis and problem solving, you can win the customer over if there was an issue involved.

• FOCUS ON THE CUSTOMER, p. 179

Instructor Note 19:

• Use PPT 13 to discuss how to focus on the customer:

React to remarks or action.

Empathize.

Take action.

Reassure or reaffirm.

Follow up.

• EXCEED EXPECTATIONS, p. 180

• Go the extra mile for your customer. Strive to get the highest rating possible on the relationship-rating point scale (see Ch. 10), p. 267)

Instructor Note 20:

• Refer students to Work It Out 7.7 on page 180. Discuss the strategies that the class thinks of as you have a volunteer put them on the board.

Instructor Note 21:

• Learning Objective 8: Explain the six steps of the problem solving model.

• Learning Objective Note: PPT 14 should be used with Learning Objective 8, pages 181-183.

• THE PROBLEM-SOLVING PROCESS, p. 181

• Students must understand how to solve problems; that is one of the important concepts in dealing with customers. The problem-solving model is discussed and shown in this section. Students should this section so that they can list and/or illustrate the steps.

• Use PPT 14 to introduce and discuss the six steps:

Identify the problem

Compile and Analyze the Data

Identify Alternatives

Evaluate Alternatives

Make a Decision

Monitor the Results

• When customers have a complaint or an issue to be solved, they want solutions, not excuses. To ensure that you address customer needs effectively in these situations, you need to be effective at problem solving. Figure 7.6 – The Problem-Solving Model, p. 181, shows a concise six-step model for problem solving.

• Before you begin to solve a customer’s problem, consider the fact that he or she may not really want you to “solve” the problem. In some cases a person simply wants to vent frustration or be heard. This is where the empathetic listening you have read about will come in handy. In many cases, your customer will often have a solution in mind when he or she calls or comes in. Your role may be to simply listen and offer to facilitate the implementation of the suggested solution. In some situations, you may have to “plant a seed” by asking an open-ended question that suggests a solution. If the customer picks up on your “seed” and nourishes it, you still end up with an outcome to which he or she feels ownership. For example, assume a customer wants a product that you do not have in stock. Instead of saying, “I’m sorry, that item is out of stock,” you could ask a question such as, “How do think ______ would work as an alternative?” You have now subtly made a suggestion without saying, “You could use ____ instead; it does the same thing.”

• If you jointly resolve an issue, the customer feels ownership. Such ownership can help him or her feel that it is their decision and will more likely result in a satisfied customer.

• The following are some key actions involved in that process.

Step 1- Identify the problem

Before you can decide on a course of action, you must first know the nature and scope of the issue you are facing. Often, the customer may not know how to explain his or her problem well, especially if he or she speaks English as a second language or has a communication-related disability. In such cases, it is up to you to do a little detective work and ask questions or review available information.

Begin your journey into problem solving by apologizing for any inconvenience you or your organization has caused. The customer likely wants someone to be responsible. A simple, "I'm sorry you were inconvenienced, how may I assist you," coupled with some of the other techniques listed in this book can go a long way to mending the relationship.

Take responsibility for the problem or concern, even if you didn't actually cause it.

Remember that you represent the organization to the customer. Since you are representing the company, you are "chosen" to be responsible. Don't point fingers at other employees, policies, procedures or other factors. It is also important to let the customer know that you are sincerely remorseful and will do whatever possible to quickly and effectively resolve the issue.

Step 2 – Compile and Analyze the Data

To be able to effective determine a course of action, you need as much information as possible and a thorough understanding of what you are dealing with. To get that data, requires the use active listening and a little investigative work. You may need to collect information from a variety of sources, such as sales receipts, correspondence, the customer, public records, the manufacturer and organizational files.

In gathering data, you should also do a quick assessment of how serious the problem is.

You may be hearing about one incident of a defective product or inefficient service. In fact, there may be many unspoken complaints. Also, look for patterns or trends in complaints.

Once you have collected information through questioning and from other sources, spend some time looking over what you have found. If time permits and you think it necessary or helpful (e.g., the customer is not standing in front of you or on the telephone) ask for the opinions of others (e.g., co-workers, team leader/supervisor, technical experts).

Ultimately, what you are trying to do is determine alternatives available to you that will help satisfy the customer and resolve the issue.

Step 3 – Identify alternatives

Let the customers know you are willing to work with them to find an acceptable resolution to the issue. Tell them what you can do, gain agreement and then set about taking action.

Since you are just being brought into the situation when a customer notifies you of a problem or their dissatisfaction, you can offer an objective, outside perspective. Use this perspective to offer suggestions or viewpoints that the customer may not see or has overlooked. Additionally, make sure you consider various possibilities and alternatives when thinking about potential resolutions. Look out for the best interests of your customer and your organization. To do this, be willing to listen to the customer’s suggestions and to “think out of the box” for ideas other than those typically used by you and your organization. Don’t opt for convenience at the risk of customer satisfaction.

If necessary, seek any necessary approval from higher authority to access other options

(e.g., to make a special purchase of an alternate item from a manufacturer for the customer, or to give a refund even though the timeframe for refunds has expired according to organizational policy).

Step 4 – Evaluate alternatives

Once all the facts have been collected, look at your alternatives or possible options. Be careful not to let cost be the deciding factor. A little extra time and money spent to resolve an issue could save a customer and prevent recurring problems later. Consider the following factors in this evaluation process:

What is the most efficient way to resolve this issue?

Which are the most effective options for resolving this issue?

Which options are the most cost effective?

Will the options being considered resolve the issue and satisfy the customer?

Step 5 – Make a decision

Based on the questions in Step 4, and any others you wish to use in evaluation, make a decision on what your course of action will be. To do this, ask the customer:

"Which option would you prefer?"

This simple question now puts the customer into the decision making position and he or she feels empowered. It now becomes his or her choice and recurring problems may be avoided. If the customer’s request is reasonable and possible, proceed and resolve the issue. If not, negotiate a different alternative.

Step 6 –Monitor the results

Once you make a decision, monitor the impact or results. Do not assume your customer is satisfied, especially if negotiation occurred between the two of you.

You can monitor the situation with a follow-up call, asking if he/she needs anything else when you see him/her, or sending a written follow-up (e.g., thank-you letter with query concerning satisfaction, service survey or e-mail).

If you determine that your customer is not satisfied or additional needs are present, go back to Step 1 and start over.

Instructor Note 22:

• Refer students to page 181 to the Customer Service Success Tip. This success tip verifies the importance of problem solving.

Instructor Note 23:

• Learning Objective 9: Implement a front-line service recovery strategy, and spot roadblocks to service recovery.

• Learning Objective Note: PPTs 15 should be used with Learning Objective 9, pages 183-188.

• IMPLEMENTING A SERVICE RECOVERY STRATEGY, p. 183

• Students who will be going into customer service need a path toward returning the customer to a satisfied state, which is the job of a service provider. Although mistakes are often made, the provider needs to know first how to prevent mistakes and we have learned a lot about that already; however, the provider also needs to know how to correct the situation and return the customer to satisfaction.

• Use PPT 15 to discuss the five phases to the recovery process. Have the students follow with you in the text pages 184-188 as discussion progresses. Secure input from the students on each phase. How should they use it and what results should they get from each phase? The steps shown on the slide are:

Apologize, apologize, and apologize again.

Take immediate action.

Show compassion.

Provide compensation.

Conduct follow-up.

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