Note from Yakov: This is a guest post from James Daily.
Customer complaints are a big issue in this digital age. When a customer is unhappy with you for any reason, they can spread the word all over the Internet and do significant damage to your reputation. For this reason, customer relationships have become a prime concern for companies that want to avoid “bad press” and preserve their reputations.
There are a number of things that businesses can do to monitor when their names are mentioned anywhere online. These monitoring tools are important, for you will be able to check on what is being said and respond quickly. This way, nothing negative sits “out there” without your chance to resolve any issues.
But often, customers will contact you directly when they have a complaint. And one principal method of doing this is through a live chat feature on our website. If you do not have such a feature, get one. This is a great way to keep complaints private and to resolve them to your customer’s satisfaction before they reach the “public” arena.
The Value of Live Chat
Other than phone conversations, live chat is the next best method of working with customers on a very personal level. Anytime a customer can talk with a real person, the relationship between the company and that customer can be improved. And especially if problems can be resolved through that conversation, the customer goes away happy and satisfied. Future business from that customer has been salvaged.
And live chat is actually becoming more popular with customers than any other means of contact. In fact, they are coming to expect it. According to a survey by Forrester Research, customer use of live chat for support and service has grown about 10% every year since 2009.
What’s more, according to a survey conducted by eDigital, the highest rate of customer satisfaction (73%) occurs from live chat as opposed to other forms of support.
Dan Oates, Customer Support Manager with Resumescentre, has this to say about their live chat feature: “We added live chat to our customer support efforts a few years ago, using software provided by Chatra. Over time, our visitors and customers have come to use our chat feature over all other contact options. They love the instant response feature. And we are able to handle far more questions and issues much faster.”
The other benefit of live chat is that it is budget-friendly. One agent can handle more than one customer at a time, not like a telephone call center.
Doing it Right
You cannot expect chat support agents to intuitively know how to work with unhappy customers. They must show empathy, engage in active listening, and understand exactly what they are able to offer customers in terms of resolutions.
These things require training.
And they require the development of scripts, if company policies and practices are to be consistent across all agent-customer interactions.
Below are the typical contact points from customers and sample responses that will help maintain your relationships with them.
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Beginning the Chat
Once a customer contacts your live chat feature, an agent should immediately respond, even if s/he is working with other customers at the time. An automated greeting can be used at this point, but it should not be too short or too formal. People today expect informal conversations.
Something like, “Hello Sally, thanks for contacting us. How can I help you today?” Another nice touch is to say something like, “Hello Sally, thanks for contacting us. How are you doing today?” If the customer is angry, this type of greeting may begin to tone down the emotion – Sally is not expecting to be asked how she is doing today, but she may be pleased psychologically.
Once Sally responds to this initial greeting, the agent must move in personally for the rest of the conversation.
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Getting to the Complaint – Empathy First
If you have a really angry customer on the other end, chances are you will not have to ask how you can help them today. They will start the chat with their issue.
The point is this: whether they begin with an angry dialogue or respond to your offer of help, you will receive a description of the issue.
The key to the response is empathy first. Responses need to fall along the lines of the following:
“I am so sorry this has happened. Let me see what I can do to make this right for you”
“I understand how angry you must be. Let me see how we can solve this for you.”
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Getting to the Complaint – The Details and Active Listening
The goal of this part of the conversation is to get all of possible details of the complaint. You want the customer to tell their complete story of what has happened to make them unhappy.
The chat agent must do two things:
- Engage in active listening. This is done by repeating what the customer has told you to ensure that you have everything right. And the customer feels good too, because they know you are really listening.
- Ask questions if enough details have not been provided. Again, this shows the customer that the agent is truly focused on their complaint and also provides the agent with the information to determine what solutions may be available.
Statements such as, “Let me make sure I have this right,” followed by repeating the complaint details the customer has provided, will ensure that both customer and agent are on the same page.
Statements such as, “May I ask you a few more questions so I can be sure I have all of the details right?”, followed by those questions, will let the customer continue to speak to the issue. This is also cathartic for the customer. They are able to “vent,” and this helps to take the emotions out of the conversation.
The other important point to get across to the customer is that you will stick with them until the issue is resolved. Statements such as this will reinforce this:
“I am so sorry this happened to you. I promise to get to the bottom of it and will stay with you until we have this resolved.”
“I’m so sorry about your experience. I am here for you until this is resolved. Let’s see what we can do to get that done.”
Frank Henderson, Customer Support Supervisor for FlashEssay, puts it this way: “The more we can allow the unhappy customer to speak, the more we can reduce their anger. And getting those emotions out of the picture allows our agents to begin to propose options for solutions that the customer may find both satisfactory and even attractive.”
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When the Agent Must Delay a Response
Even though the agent has been fully trained in company policies and the amount of flexibility he may have in offering solutions, there are always those situations that don’t seem to be “covered.” In this case, the agent has to delay a response while he checks with a supervisor or manager about solution options
The agent must be sure to ask the customer if they can wait while he searches for a solution. It is okay to be honest and say that he will have to check with a supervisor.
If the customer does not want to wait for a response, it will be important to ask the customer is s/he wants to wait in chat for the response or provide a phone number or email for direct contact later. And most important? Contact that customer as soon as a solution option has been devised.
Here are possible statements when putting a customer on hold:
- “Are you able to wait in our chat for a few minutes, so I can check with a manager?”
- “Can I ask you to wait for a minute while I investigate this further? Or would you rather for me to get back to you by phone or email?”
And be certain to express thanks if the customer agrees. “Thank you so much. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”
And when the agent returns to the conversation, it is important to thank the customer for waiting and then to address the solution that has been found.
- “Thank you so much for waiting. I know your time is valuable. But I think we have a solution that will work.”
- “I am so sorry you had to wait. Here is what I have been able to work out for you.”
- “It may take a bit longer to get answers for you and to let you know what we can do to resolve your issue. Would you rather I phone or email you instead?”
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If an Agent Must Say “I Don’t Know” in Response to a Question
Chat agents should never try to “wing it” when answering a customer question. They might come back a second time with the same question, and, if the answer is not the same, they have lost all trust in the company.
An agent doesn’t have to be powerfully blunt about this. Here are some possible responses:
“That’s a great question. Give me a minute or two to find an answer for you.”
“I’m not sure about an answer for this. Are you able to stay in chat for a few minutes while I check with my manager?”
“I want to give you the right answer, but it may take a while for me to get that answer. Do you want to wait here, or would you rather I call or email you?”
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Admitting Fault – It’s Important
Yes, there are times when your company has made a mistake. A customer has not received what was ordered or received the wrong item. A return or refund request has not gone well. A customer was charged for shipping when it was supposed to be free. There is just a myriad of circumstances when the company has, in fact, made an error.
The error should be admitted openly. Trying to justify an error is silly and will not endear any customer. What we do know about human nature is that most people are willing to “forgive” when an error has been acknowledged, and especially when that error is going to be corrected.
Genuine statements of wrong and offers to “fix” that wrong will maintain customer trust and relationships. Here are some example statements.
- “You are absolutely right. We goofed. We will refund those shipping costs immediately.”
- “We made a mistake. And here is how we are going to fix it right now….”
- “We are so sorry. Please give me your email and I will send you a return label right now. We’ll ship the right item out to you today, without any shipping costs, and please accept this 20% discount coupon on your next order.”
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Other Circumstances
There are times when a company and its support agents have to say “no” to a customer. These are never easy and there is certainly the possibility that a customer will leave unhappy. The best that an agent can do is to offer something else while they are saying no.”
“I’m sorry we cannot provide a refund on that purchase. But we can certainly offer you a 15% discount on your next order with us.”
“We cannot offer the lower price because it was not on sale when you ordered the item. But we can lower the price on your next purchase. Here’s a 15% discount coupon for anything you buy in the future.”
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Final Comments and Follow-Up
Customers want to feel that they are special and honored. When a chat agent is finalizing a conversation, it is critical to ask if there is anything else that can be done for that customer.
It will also help to offer something special to that customer – a discount or free shipping on the next order works well.
Follow-up is always a great strategy. If the agent is able to get the customer’s email address, a personalized email helps to solidify the personalization that consumers want.
Obviously, Scripts are in Order
Customer support agents cannot operate effectively without scripts to guide them. And developing those scripts can be a challenge indeed. It will probably be well worth the small cost to use the services of writing companies that have experience in preparing scripts for the variety of circumstances that chat agents may face. Check out OnlineWritersRating for a rundown of agencies that may work for your needs; or, you can contact EssaySupply, a writing services agency with a solid reputation. You can submit your basic company policies and practices and have those scripts prepared for your review and approval.
Chat options are becoming hugely popular with customers. They can get immediate help without sitting on a phone hold or waiting for email responses. For resolving customer complaints privately and quickly, chat options are ideal.
About the author: James Daily is a seasoned content marketing writer at StudyClerk, who also consults with businesses on customer relationship strategies. He is also a frequent contributor to blogs that relate to content development, social media marketing, and spreading brand awareness.