The five words customers hate.
Hopefully, most of the Mother’s Day feedback you receive this week and next falls into the kudos category, but for the occasional slip-up, train your staff to own up quickly and erase this five-word phrase from their vocabulary: “That is not my responsibility.”
“If you don’t take ownership of the problem and instead just point the customer elsewhere, you are telling that customer that your company’s internal structure and organizational politics are more important than the customer,” writes Geoffrey James for Inc. “Customers hate that and rightly so.”
The only appropriate response, when a customer complains is “I will help you”— or some variation. James said any employees who interacts with customers (including delivery drivers) should be empowered to make that statement, and trained on how to find a resolution quickly. (Do they need to talk to a manager? Make that process easy and fast, even during busy times.)
“There are no exceptions to this rule,” James argues. “The moment you’re personally involved with a customer problem, it’s your responsibility, not somebody else’s, to ensure that the customer is satisfied.”
And remember — never let a negative online review sit unanswered. Review tips on how to respond effectively to bad reviews.
