At present, all customer service centers are facing a shortage of excellent complaint handlers, and most complaints cannot be entrusted to frontline complaint handlers. Many call center managers are responsible for handling important complaints while managing the center. Walking into many customer service centers, you can always find the scene that the manager picks up the phone to reply to the customer, from the team leader to the center supervisor. When handling complaints, there will be a problem that puzzles them. Why can't anyone around me turn the tide?
The key to complaint handling skills is to handle customer complaints flexibly. In the training of customer service personnel, how to explain the accumulated experience for many years to them clearly and ensure their flexible use has also been bothering me, telling service personnel that they can give up some service standards when handling complaints, reflecting their respect for customers and flexible acceptance. The result will be in the recording of handling customer complaints, just like we are walking in a noisy vegetable market, with fierce words and straightforward bargaining.
Flexible handling in the process of complaint handling pays attention to experience and methods. Flexibility here refers to the flexibility within the service specification. In the process of training front-line service personnel, inform customer service personnel that they can handle the characteristics of customers and the particularity of immediate problems in the practical application of service specifications. The specification is a rectangle, and the flexibility is a circle with the shortest side of the rectangle as its diameter. You can put the customer's wishes anywhere in the circle, but there is no need to put the customer on one side according to your own wishes.
(Image omitted)
Dealing with customer complaints has something in common with direct marketing. When customers call, they all have one purpose, that is, to get what they think is reasonable from the connector. The difference is that if the sales call cannot be settled, the customer will choose other purchase channels, and when the complaint call is not handled well, the customer's anger will increase, resulting in constant complaints and even extremely serious social impact.
The customer started his complaint with expectation and willingness, just like the green dot on the picture. Every customer wants the complaint handler to give a different answer. How can the complaint handler start from the center of the circle and coincide with the customer's wishes in the shortest time, before the customer's wishes jump and flash like stars, the complaint handling will be successful.
First of all, don't touch the bottom line of customer complaints.
I believe many customer service departments will meet such customers in their work. Customers call with indignation, refuse to communicate with front-line service personnel, or flatly choose to change the handling personnel after a period of communication. The reason is nothing more than that the front-line complaint handlers failed to grasp the wishes of customers and relied on dogmatic knowledge to deal with problems. As a result, customers find that they don't agree with their own ideas. I'm sure anyone in their shoes will feel that they are playing the lute with a cow.
This paper analyzes the causes of poor handling of customer complaints and discusses how to handle customer complaints flexibly. To be an excellent complaint handler, you need to learn to be a qualified psychoanalyst first. This term sounds scary, but the fact is the same. Complaint handlers are not psychoanalysts, so naturally they can't accurately grasp the psychological trend of customers. However, it is necessary to make clear what is the bottom line of customer complaints. A customer called to express his dissatisfaction and demanded reasonable compensation. Compensation is subsidiary and controversial, but the complaint handler has no room to discuss with the customer and refuses the customer's request in one fell swoop.
In fact, the customer, like the complaint handler, will mostly consider the result before connecting this call, and he will prepare many answers for himself, even the answers to break through the warning line. There is only one bottom line and one expectation. How complaint handlers find the handling point of customer recognition between expected value and bottom line is the embodiment of complaint handlers' flexibility.
Secondly, clearly analyze the purpose of customer complaints and customer types.
There are many types of customers, which can be divided into rational type and perceptual type according to the simple classification of personality types. Perceptual customers pursue the process, while rational customers pursue the result. According to the situation of complaints, they can also be simply divided into reasonable complaints and unreasonable complaints. One kind of unreasonable complaint is improper explanation by service personnel, and the other is malicious complaint from customers. The second kind of customers are rare for small customer service centers, and they are generated in proportion to the size of customer groups. Such complaints are generally not included in the complaint handling process of customer service centers.
By customer types, it can be reflected that the area that customers don't want you to guide them into when handling complaints is the early warning area of rational customers. In the face of a rational customer complaint, if the complaint handler comforts the customer blindly and avoids objective problems, then the customer will resent it and even increase the weight of the complaint; On the contrary, in the face of emotional customers, the result of handling complaints is to compensate according to the rules and regulations in the process, and things may be solved, but the trauma left by this customer has not been treated, and the consequence is that customers will tremble with fear when they continue to enjoy related products and services in the later stage, let alone develop customers and effectively publicize them.
(Image omitted)
Goals and customer types complement each other. Different types of customers have different complaint objectives, which may be to get respect and attention for their problems, or to get reasonable compensation in their own minds. No matter what the customer's goal is, the complaint handler can't deny it. The so-called respect for customers is no longer the exclusive patent of emotional customers in today's customer service. Just as we don't want someone on the board to veto you right after you express your views.
So, how can we bring back customers with high expectations without denying them?
In fact, there are many methods, and excellent complaint handlers will organize appropriate language to explain to customers according to their acceptance. There are two ways. The first is to apply past processing practices to customers. As we all know, in the past, when there was no explicit law, lawyers handled new problems according to historical practice. This method can be tried in complaint handling. The second is to clarify the relevant regulations of the company. When clarifying, you can't follow the script and convey the system. Employees may have plans, not to mention customers. It is necessary to explain the relevant regulations from the producer's point of view, so that customers can understand that the reasonable treatment result is like this. Suggest that it reduce or change the complaint target.
Finally, establish a trust relationship through effective communication.
In the same way, different customer service representatives have different feelings about customers. We all know that this is because of the service voice, service attitude and service enthusiasm. In complaint handling, these requirements are not obvious. How to give full play to the role of simple description lies in building customer trust.
For example, a waiter in a cosmetics store gave a reasonable explanation to customers after they complained that their products didn't work well, but the customers didn't seem satisfied, and then presented them with new products for them to use. The customer expressed his understanding and left. Then, if the customer complains and the service staff gives the product away directly without any explanation, will the customer think that the product problem itself exists and the service staff is suspected of perfunctory, and the result is the same? Customers leave with new products. Why do customers have different feelings is because the service personnel have not established a trust relationship with customers.
When dealing with customer complaints, establishing trust management can make customers believe in your handling results, and firmly believe that such handling results will be the same even if they arrive at the president. Why not take a step back and broaden your horizons?
It is not easy to build customer trust, especially in the case of complaining customers, who have put the complaint handler in the opposite rank before calling, because he knows that while he defends his complaint requirements, you are also safeguarding the interests of the company.
1, indicating the same position with him (empathy)
2, timely communication or inform the processing results (keep promise)
3. Use honorifics more to show the importance of the problem (reflecting professionalism and standardization).
The three key factors to eliminate customer doubts and improve customer trust are not listed in order, and these three aspects need to be paid attention to at the same time. When customers report problems, your standardized service language and ability to report problems are the first-hand magic weapon to solve customer complaints, which can eliminate 30% of customers' doubts, increase their confidence by 20%, and make them believe that you have handled many similar complaints and solved them perfectly.
When it comes to expressing the same position, it is easy to think of a complaint handler who is a prodigal son. He will solve problems for customers without reservation from the standpoint of customers. As long as he thinks the problem is reasonable, he will not consider the relevant handling standards of the company. Such a complaint handling method is not desirable. As mentioned above, the premise of flexible handling is within the scope of the whole complaint handling process and standards. After all, showing that you are in the same position as the customer can only show that you are not speaking from the customer's position, so that you are in the customer's position, which will not only bring trust to the customer, but also make the customer suspicious. An excellent complaint handler should stand in the company's position, fully understand customers and actively deal with problems.
Expressing understanding of his experience, expressing partial approval of his requirements, and indicating that he will solve the problem actively and quickly are all manifestations of empathy, because the customer wants to talk and understand, and hopes that the problem can be effectively dealt with within his expectation. I hope that I can get the results in time after handling, and even improve my expectation for the results of the problem handling, and confirm his concept of quality service in my mind.
There is a time limit for handling quality complaints, and customers need to know the bottom line of handling time, which is a psychological comfort. Moreover, our service department will also draw up a time limit for handling customer complaints, but when drawing up the time limit, we have not considered how to use this time limit to do a good job in complaint handling companies, and most of them are used to improve the work behavior of complaint handling personnel and urge the investigation efficiency of relevant departments.
The sooner the complaint handling personnel provide effective handling results to customers within the time limit, or even inform the handling process in time, it will increase the trust of customers. Take the processing time limit of 24 hours as an example, and use the formula to convert:
(Image omitted)
Through a simple formula, we can see the importance of reply time. Through a large number of customer surveys, we can get the customer's requirements for reply time in a specific range through this formula. The shorter the response time of the complaint handler, the higher the trust established in the customer's mind, which will bring positive and effective help to the later complaint handling work.
To be an excellent complaint handler requires years of service experience and long-term service theory study. Not only complaint handlers, but also front-line service personnel in many centers need to master basic complaint handling knowledge. Complaint is a derivative product of customer service and plays a key role in the development of enterprise customer service. Good complaint handling ability is an important index to measure the service ability of customer service center, and it is also an important standard to evaluate the working ability of service personnel.
Complaints in customer service are the work content that every customer service practitioner must face. When I first started to deal with customer service complaints, many people were afraid of what they would face. Such fear does not come from the fear of complaining customers, but from the lack of confidence of complaint handlers in their complaint handling ability. Many customer service centers rarely organize special training and counseling for complaint handlers, thinking that the result of complaint handling is good, but they don't know that the complaint handling process is the key to the result of complaint handling. Although many complaints seem to have results, only problems have results, not complaints have results.
At present, all customer service centers are facing a shortage of excellent complaint handlers, and most complaints cannot be entrusted to frontline complaint handlers. Many call center managers are responsible for handling important complaints while managing the center. Walking into many customer service centers, you can always find the scene that the manager picks up the phone to reply to the customer, from the team leader to the center supervisor. When handling complaints, there will be a problem that puzzles them. Why can't anyone around me turn the tide?
The key to complaint handling skills is to handle customer complaints flexibly. In the training of customer service personnel, how to explain the accumulated experience for many years to them clearly and ensure their flexible use has also been bothering me, telling service personnel that they can give up some service standards when handling complaints, reflecting their respect for customers and flexible acceptance. The result will be in the recording of handling customer complaints, just like we are walking in a noisy vegetable market, with fierce words and straightforward bargaining.
Flexible handling in the process of complaint handling pays attention to experience and methods. Flexibility here refers to the flexibility within the service specification. In the process of training front-line service personnel, inform customer service personnel that they can handle the characteristics of customers and the particularity of immediate problems in the practical application of service specifications. The specification is a rectangle, and the flexibility is a circle with the shortest side of the rectangle as its diameter. You can put the customer's wishes anywhere in the circle, but there is no need to put the customer on one side according to your own wishes.
(Image omitted)
Dealing with customer complaints has something in common with direct marketing. When customers call, they all have one purpose, that is, to get what they think is reasonable from the connector. The difference is that if the sales call cannot be settled, the customer will choose other purchase channels, and when the complaint call is not handled well, the customer's anger will increase, resulting in constant complaints and even extremely serious social impact.
The customer started his complaint with expectation and willingness, just like the green dot on the picture. Every customer wants the complaint handler to give a different answer. How can the complaint handler start from the center of the circle and coincide with the customer's wishes in the shortest time, before the customer's wishes jump and flash like stars, the complaint handling will be successful.
First of all, don't touch the bottom line of customer complaints.
I believe many customer service departments will meet such customers in their work. Customers call with indignation, refuse to communicate with front-line service personnel, or flatly choose to change the handling personnel after a period of communication. The reason is nothing more than that the front-line complaint handlers failed to grasp the wishes of customers and relied on dogmatic knowledge to deal with problems. As a result, customers find that they don't agree with their own ideas. I'm sure anyone in their shoes will feel that they are playing the lute with a cow.
This paper analyzes the causes of poor handling of customer complaints and discusses how to handle customer complaints flexibly. To be an excellent complaint handler, you need to learn to be a qualified psychoanalyst first. This term sounds scary, but the fact is the same. Complaint handlers are not psychoanalysts, so naturally they can't accurately grasp the psychological trend of customers. However, it is necessary to make clear what is the bottom line of customer complaints. A customer called to express his dissatisfaction and demanded reasonable compensation. Compensation is subsidiary and controversial, but the complaint handler has no room to discuss with the customer and refuses the customer's request in one fell swoop.
In fact, the customer, like the complaint handler, will mostly consider the result before connecting this call, and he will prepare many answers for himself, even the answers to break through the warning line. There is only one bottom line and one expectation. How complaint handlers find the handling point of customer recognition between expected value and bottom line is the embodiment of complaint handlers' flexibility.
Secondly, clearly analyze the purpose of customer complaints and customer types.
There are many types of customers, which can be divided into rational type and perceptual type according to the simple classification of personality types. Perceptual customers pursue the process, while rational customers pursue the result. According to the situation of complaints, they can also be simply divided into reasonable complaints and unreasonable complaints. One kind of unreasonable complaint is improper explanation by service personnel, and the other is malicious complaint from customers. The second kind of customers are rare for small customer service centers, and they are generated in proportion to the size of customer groups. Such complaints are generally not included in the complaint handling process of customer service centers.
By customer types, it can be reflected that the area that customers don't want you to guide them into when handling complaints is the early warning area of rational customers. In the face of a rational customer complaint, if the complaint handler comforts the customer blindly and avoids objective problems, then the customer will resent it and even increase the weight of the complaint; On the contrary, in the face of emotional customers, the result of handling complaints is to compensate according to the rules and regulations in the process, and things may be solved, but the trauma left by this customer has not been treated, and the consequence is that customers will tremble with fear when they continue to enjoy related products and services in the later stage, let alone develop customers and effectively publicize them.
(Image omitted)
Goals and customer types complement each other. Different types of customers have different complaint objectives, which may be to get respect and attention for their problems, or to get reasonable compensation in their own minds. No matter what the customer's goal is, the complaint handler can't deny it. The so-called respect for customers is no longer the exclusive patent of emotional customers in today's customer service. Just as we don't want someone on the board to veto you right after you express your views.
So, how can we bring back customers with high expectations without denying them?
In fact, there are many methods, and excellent complaint handlers will organize appropriate language to explain to customers according to their acceptance. There are two ways. The first is to apply past processing practices to customers. As we all know, in the past, when there was no explicit law, lawyers handled new problems according to historical practice. This method can be tried in complaint handling. The second is to clarify the relevant regulations of the company. When clarifying, you can't follow the script and convey the system. Employees may have plans, not to mention customers. It is necessary to explain the relevant regulations from the producer's point of view, so that customers can understand that the reasonable treatment result is like this. Suggest that it reduce or change the complaint target.
Finally, establish a trust relationship through effective communication.
In the same way, different customer service representatives have different feelings about customers. We all know that this is because of the service voice, service attitude and service enthusiasm. In complaint handling, these requirements are not obvious. How to give full play to the role of simple description lies in building customer trust.
For example, a waiter in a cosmetics store gave a reasonable explanation to customers after they complained about the poor effect of their products, but the customers didn't seem satisfied, and then gave them new products for them to use. The customer expressed his understanding and left. Then, if the customer complains and the service staff gives the product away directly without any explanation, will the customer think that the product problem itself exists and the service staff is suspected of perfunctory, and the result is the same? Customers leave with new products. Why do customers have different feelings is because the service personnel have not established a trust relationship with customers.
When dealing with customer complaints, establishing trust management can make customers believe in your handling results, and firmly believe that such handling results will be the same even if they arrive at the president. Why not take a step back and broaden your horizons?
It is not easy to build customer trust, especially in the case of complaining customers, who have put the complaint handler in the opposite rank before calling, because he knows that while he defends his complaint requirements, you are also safeguarding the interests of the company.
1, indicating the same position with him (empathy)
2, timely communication or inform the processing results (keep promise)
3. Use honorifics more to show the importance of the problem (reflecting professionalism and standardization).
The three key factors of eliminating customer doubts and improving customer trust are not listed in order, and these three aspects need to be paid attention to at the same time. When customers report problems, your standardized service language and ability to report problems are the first-hand magic weapon to solve customer complaints, which can eliminate 30% of customers' doubts, increase their confidence by 20%, and make them believe that you have handled many similar complaints and solved them perfectly.
When it comes to expressing the same position, it is easy to think of a complaint handler who is a prodigal son. He will solve problems for customers without reservation from the standpoint of customers. As long as he thinks the problem is reasonable, he will not consider the relevant handling standards of the company. Such a complaint handling method is not desirable. As mentioned above, the premise of flexible handling is within the scope of the whole complaint handling process and standards. After all, showing that you are in the same position as the customer can only show that you are not speaking from the customer's position, so that you are in the customer's position, which will not only bring trust to the customer, but also make the customer suspicious. An excellent complaint handler should stand in the company's position, fully understand customers and actively deal with problems.
Expressing understanding of his experience, expressing partial approval of his requirements, and indicating that he will solve the problem actively and quickly are all manifestations of empathy, because the customer wants to talk and understand, and hopes that the problem can be effectively dealt with within his expectation. I hope that I can get the results in time after handling, and even improve my expectation for the results of the problem handling, and confirm his concept of quality service in my mind.
There is a time limit for handling quality complaints, and customers need to know the bottom line of handling time, which is a psychological comfort. Moreover, our service department will also draw up a time limit for handling customer complaints, but when drawing up the time limit, we have not considered how to use this time limit to do a good job in complaint handling companies, and most of them are used to improve the work behavior of complaint handling personnel and urge the investigation efficiency of relevant departments.
The sooner the complaint handling personnel provide effective handling results to customers within the time limit, or even inform the handling process in time, it will increase the trust of customers. Take the processing time limit of 24 hours as an example, and use the formula to convert:
(Image omitted)
Through a simple formula, we can see the importance of reply time. Through a large number of customer surveys, we can get the customer's requirements for reply time in a specific range through this formula. The shorter the response time of the complaint handler, the higher the trust established in the customer's mind, which will bring positive and effective help to the later complaint handling work.
To be an excellent complaint handler requires years of service experience and long-term service theory study. Not only complaint handlers, but also front-line service personnel in many centers need to master the basic knowledge of complaint handling. Complaints originate from customer service and play a key role in the development of enterprise customer service. Good complaint handling ability is an important index to measure the service ability of customer service center, and it is also an important standard to evaluate the working ability of service personnel.
First of all,
When dealing with customers' complaints, the customer service staff first adopts "Wang", that is, they first know the basic situation of customers through visual inspection, such as gender, gender, age, education level, clothing and so on.
Second,
With "listening", in the process of handling complaints, listening to customer complaints accounts for a large part. Customer service personnel should be good at listening and empathizing with customers. At this stage, listening has two functions: 1, allowing customers to vent their dissatisfaction, and listening is one of the most effective means of appeasement; 2. Understand the main contents of customer complaints;
Third,
By listening, customer service staff can roughly understand the content and reasons of customer complaints, and customers have almost vented their dissatisfaction. At this point, the customer service staff can specifically understand the main reasons and problems that cause complaints by asking questions, and fully understand the required information through targeted questions to collect effective information for handling problems;
Fourth,
Through the above information, the customer service personnel make a preliminary judgment and verify the problem, verify the problem through various methods and means, seek truth from facts and find out the root of the problem. Finally, the customer service staff gives the solution to the root cause of the problem and feeds it back to the customer. At this time, the feedback content is: 1, explaining the cause of the problem; 2. Give solutions and deadlines; 3. Give the contact information of the person responsible for handling the problem, so that the customer can know the situation in time.
Can you say that the customer complaint has been handled at this time? At this time, it can only be said that 80% has been handled, because there are two purposes for handling customer complaints: 1, solving problems; 2, improve customer satisfaction, so far only completed the first goal. Therefore, what customer service personnel need to do is to improve customer satisfaction. After handling the complaint, the customer service staff still need to follow up the service, be responsible for solving the problem, understand the customer's satisfaction with the handling result, and pay a regular visit to the customer to understand the latest situation of the customer.