Customer Service Training Examples

‘But Dad said I could have it!’

Sound familiar?

Most of us, at an early age, attempted and (some without great fail), to play one parent against each other to get something originally forbade.

This very strategy is employed in adult life, taking on various guises, and successfully conniving unassuming and ill-equipped parties.

Customers can play this little game of manipulation, and service representatives must train to play and always come out the victor.

Robert Bacal touches on this scenario in his book Perfect Phrases for Customer Service, offering some rules of thumb for handling such hearsay.

The customer calls, and in addressing the issue and they say so and so who they spoke with yesterday said that they can do this and that.

They can?

Company policy clearly dictates this and that is not permitted, and xyz is the only way to solve the problem.

‘But so and so said I could!.’

Wait, did so and so say that? If this is simply a communication issue, then a very kind, but straightforward reiteration of the correct policy along with an apologize for the confusion should suffice.

But things never usually get cleared up so flawlessly. There’s a good chance the customer will be genuinely confused and will not trust that what you’re telling them is in fact the policy. As a result, they will most likely be resistant to accepting the truth since it will involve less than favorable terms even though they aren’t really trying to swindle you.

There is also a very good chance the customer is well aware that so and so did not mislead them, and they, if they even spoke to anyone at all, are simply lying about what they heard in hopes it will be given to them anyway.

How to deal.

Tell the customer you would like to get whoever they first spoke with involved in the conversation, or offer them the option to continue to deal with that person. If they resist, you are effectively calling their bluff.

If they cannot speak to them for other circumstantial reasons, explain you cannot be sure of the exact terms of what was promised, but explain very clearly what the rules and policy are exactly and move forward from there.

If the customer is resistant to the ‘new’ protocol, apologize for the misunderstanding and the ‘miscommunication‘ on the part of your colleague and company, but remain steadfast in upholding the correct guidelines.

Bottom line- don’t fall for the trick. Use it as an opportunity to further educate the customer on your business operation and resolve their issues as best as possible using the appropriate procedures.

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