Off the rails: making a positive out of a negative in Customer Service

Last night I was late home (very late home) from conducting training in Central London.  This is, unfortunately, something that is not uncommon to anyone who travels on any of London's (or any other big city's) busy commuter rail routes; a side effect of the desire of people to live in suburbia.  So why, I hear you ask, are mentioning this now? My point: delays and cancellations (as with errors, mistakes and faulty goods etc in any business) are inevitable, but why do customers have to put up with inferior customer service when this happens? Take my delayed journey last night.  Difficulties beyond the control of the rail company had caused the cancellation and delay of services, but there were no staff visible on the platforms and there was a clear lack of communication about what was happening to customers.  Why was this the case given that the incidents that caused the problem had happened a good while before I arrived at the station, giving plenty of time for plans to be put in place to deal with communication.  There were also plenty of staff on duty at the station (a major London terminus), but it felt to me that the staff on duty were hiding, a natural response possibly, but had they been empowered to be visible and help in these situations? I strongly believe that had a member of the team been at the entry to the station helping to explain what had happened with honesty and sympathy for the fact that people were going to be delayed, customers would have not been as negative about the problems; had regular platform announcements been made about changes to services and again showing sympathy, negativity would again have been reduced. So what does this mean for me? How you respond when things can go wrong is one of the best ways to build brand loyalty for an organisation.   I have spoken to many people over the years, within customer service training sessions that I have conducted and elsewhere, where the person has described an instance of the best customer service they have ever received and started by describing having to complain because something had gone wrong.  The key thing being that the response to that complaint was so effective that the person knew that the organisation cared about them and making things right.   Things do go wrong in all organisations from time to time, and most people understand and accept that.  However, if I know that I can be assured that on the rare occasion that things go wrong the issue will be resolved well and efficiently, I will definitely use that company again as I know that I can trust them. Entrepreneur Richard Branson sums this up well in his book, Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur: "If someone has paid you for something, and it goes wrong, being cagey or defensive will kill you stone dead.  You will never see that customer again, nor their family, nor their friends... If, on the other hand, you are able to sort out you customers' problems better than they expected, then they will be your loyal friend for life." So how do I fix issues? Use the LAST model. Listen - positive body language, active listening - don't interrupt Ask questions - using open questions to get the story Sympathise - give a sincere sympathetic statement Take action to resolve the complaint - resolve the complaint, but know you limits and ways you will be able to escalate the complaint if it is beyond them.  Don't forget to keep any promises you make, and never to over-promise.   Want to learn more about the importance of customer service to organisations?  Visit http://www.puttingcustomersfirst.co.uk  To buy a copy of Richard Branson's book Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur, follow this link: Business Stripped Bare: Adventures of a Global Entrepreneur Want to use this article in your publication? You can, as long as you include this text with it:  Richard Newton is a Consultant Director at Fresh Learning. Fresh Learning provides real-life learning with energy to businesses, the public sector and third sector organisations large and small. For more information, and to subscribe to their newsletter, visit freshlearning.eu Fresh Learning Team

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