- "I am so sorry to hear that the vase you ordered arrived damaged."
- "Mrs. Moneybux, I'm sorry that your account is overdrawn."
- "So you were driving down the highway and the wheels fell off of your bus? I am very sorry about that."
- "You had to wait 3 hours for a representative to answer your call? Wow, I am really sorry."
- "Your computer crashed? At least you have your health!"
We've trained thousands of reps and listened to a gillion interactions (that may be a slight exaggeration) and I'm going with number five! Now before you quality coaches and management folks send me poison-emails, allow me to explain.
Elton John may have sung that "...sorry seems to be the hardest word." But, things sure as heck have changed! 'Sorry' has become the easiest word in the average customer service representative's vocabulary, showing up as often as 'please' and 'thank you', and I am here to tell you STOP! Stop saying it, stop letting others say it, stop hearing it, stop, stop, stop the madness!!!
First of all, the egregious overuse of a once effective word has rendered it nearly meaningless. Be honest, the last time someone told you they were sorry (other than a family member or close friend) did you believe them? Really believe them? Or did you feel like they were saying it because that's what they were supposed to do? I purchased an underwater camera as a gift for my niece's 6th birthday, specifically because three weeks later she was going on a Disney cruise and I wanted her to be able to use it on the trip. Of course, there was something wrong with it, and they were unable to send a replacement in time for the trip. My precious niece was disappointed, I was devastated and the customer service representative was sorry. Who do you think felt better?
Which brings me to the second reason to stay away from 'I'm sorry'; have you ever apologized for something that you had no control over? How'd that make you feel? Before I stepped to the front of the conference room, I spent many years jacked in as a rep. One of the more memorable stints was during a 'crisis'. The company I was working for took a brave stand regarding a social issue, which resulted in thousands of calls from unhappy folks. Upwards of 80 calls a day were simply complaints, for which we apologized. (By the way, I agreed with the decision my employer had made and was, actually, quite proud of their courageous position.) By the end of the day I felt drained, depressed and damned for having spent 8 hours lying. It's just not fair to require people to spend the day apologizing for something they have no control over.
And we have arrived at the third reason; accountability. When you hear any apology, what's it make you think? That there was something going on that deserved apologizing for! I recently found out that the engine in my car needs to be replaced. While this is actually covered under the warranty, I also found out that I need to be able to prove that my oil was changed every 3000 miles for the company to honor the agreement. Since I change my own oil, I am unable to prove this to their satisfaction. When I pointed out to the service manager that this policy seems like a convenient way for them to avoid replacing my engine (and a friend who worked for them confirmed this is a common problem with my car model) he agreed, and said he was sorry.
The only time a service representative should apologize is if the problem is something that they had control over. Promised to call a customer back and forgot? Apologize. Didn't send out those coupons? Apologize! Ate the last slice of birthday cake in the break room? APOLOGIZE! And bring me a Boston creme donut tomorrow!
How, then, should we respond to the disappointed, distressed and downright disturbed caller? If we aren't going to say 'I'm sorry' and we aren't going to ignore them (No, you can't just ignore them, good grief, that's worse than apologizing!) what to do?
Use the first step in Radclyffe's Interaction Strategy(TM) and Acknowledge The Concern. Acknowledging The Concern is summarizing how the customer is feeling and paraphrasing his or her stated issue, which allows you to focus on the customer’s personal needs before moving into the business part of the call. Customers need to know that they have been heard before they can relax and relinquish control of the call. Apologizing doesn't accomplish that.
People need to know that you have heard their issue, AND, that you understand the impact that it had on them.
"I can imagine how disappointed you must be that your niece will not be able to take pictures on her vacation."
"I can hear that it upsets you that our company has chosen to support an issue with which you disagree."
"I know you must be frustrated that our policy seems designed to insure that we don't have to fix the lemon we sold you." (Okay... technically that wouldn't be a great thing to say, but it's my blog so I can take a little detour into fantasy.)
Acknowledge Their Concern and your customers will KNOW that you really hear them and understand how the situation has impacted their life. It will give them confidence in you and your ability to empathize with them in a professional and meaningful manner. Once they have confidence in you, they will relax and allow you to get the information which is needed to resolve their issue, be open to the solution you offer and they will leave the interaction having enjoyed World Class Service.
You'll never get all of that from 'Sorry'... even if Sir Elton himself is saying it.
Excellent point! I believe I may be guilty of the "I'm sorry" too often. I'll be paying closer attention & wording things in more meaningful ways :)
ReplyDeleteWe've all done it. It's funny how you don't realize how often you say something until you have a reason to start listening for it! It's like those 'um's' and 'er's' that some people use to fill dead air. They cause more damage than they help.
ReplyDeleteWhile I was a Training Coordinator at a call center, our technicians were taught to never say "I'm sorry" more than once. It seemed to work - after saying it once, the customer feels that there is no meaning behind it.
ReplyDeleteYes, and that is the real problem. We never want to say something to our customers that they will feel has no meaning. Each interaction is an opportunity to create not just a great impression, but a lasting relationship. We need to seize the opportunity to build loyalty, so that they will continue to do business with us and insuring that they feel valued is a key to achieving that result.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this since I have the same view as you. It frustrates when they say they are sorry, to which I really "no you are not". If you were really sorry you would make the effort to offer some sort compensation or alternative to show some sense of being appreciative that they didn't tear their head off ove the phone. My father though has the best solution. Write a letter to the CEO documenting documenting your efforts to be civil and how his customer reps were sorry for by continuing to do nothing. He gets results, a sincere apology and the results he desired or offered something else as an alternative.
ReplyDeleteVery valid points and I suspect that many of us have fought this battle, mine has primarily been with my outsource partners. One of the considerations that has to be accounted for in working through this is an understanding of an agent's culture, which in my example is inherently different than an organization's culture. I see this quite often when working with domestic BPO providers that utilize offshore resources.
ReplyDeleteThe utopian ideal here is that each agent would have the understanding and wherewithal to assess and interject an appropriate statement of understanding, however that is not something that is easily trained, rather its a cultural shift. My point is that simply attacking this through rote training, or a list of 'acceptable' statements is woefully inadequate. Addressing through cultural mechanisms and understanding is far more effective.
I apologize for rambling on, however this is a subject that is near and dear to me.
We are able to address this issue, and all contact center concerns, and achieve measurable, positive results through our proven approach of customized training, delivered using our Group Discovery Process (TM). We teach your reps 'how to fish' giving them the tools, techniques and confidence to respond effectively to whatever the customer throws at them.
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