Talk Is Cheap: A Matter of Belief

Time to expose the underbelly of customer service; the true reason why customers are angry. Quality guidelines are all great, but they assume a reality which is often false. They assume that the customer is believed. Sadly, this is often incorrect.

Case in point: a customer calls at 2:30 wondering why their technician has not yet arrived for the 11 to 2 appointment. The agent reviews the work order and discovers that the appointment was booked for 11 to 2 the following day. After so informing the customer, an argument ensues: the customer insisting on having a technician today as promised; the agent declaring the appointment is for tomorrow and the customer will have to wait. The call escalates to a senior agent, who backs the agent and tells the customer they were mistaken about the timeframe. Eventually, an extremely upset customer is connected to a supervisor, and so it goes.

The basis of the customer’s anger is no longer a missed technician, nor an incorrect appointment time. It is being treated as if they are a liar, or stupid, or both.

Consider what the customer had to do to book the trouble call. They went through troubleshooting, agreed to a technician, discussed and arranged an appointment. Then they re-arranged their schedule in order to keep the appointment. One can also assume that this is the only cable service call they have booked this week, making the event significant enough to be noted. While it is possible that customer is in error, it is not likely. Customers are pretty definite about their appointments because of their uniqueness and everything which must be done in order to accommodate it.

Now think about what agents do. We spend 8 hours a day troubleshooting. Many of those calls result in technician appointments. We look at the scheduling screen repeatedly. We read dates and timeframes. We may or may not cross-reference to today’s date. With the large number of appointments we book daily, how easy is it to make an error? To miss-read the date, or accidentally re-schedule the appointment? Who is more likely to be incorrect about the appointment: the customer who only has one appointment or the agent who has booked many?

And yet, I have seen many agents arguing with customers over this very issue. Customers are reasonable. They will accept that a representative make an error. Often they will even accept the alternate appointment. What they will not accept is being treated like they are the problem.

Which bring us back to belief. There is a legal maxim which dates back to the Roman republic: Qui Bono? Who benefits? This question has stuck around for so long because it is often the simplest way of surmising the truth of a situation. If a customer is insisting they were told something which does not match the records, ask yourself Qui Bono? Who benefits from the appointment time argument? Is it believable that someone would leave work early, change their schedule, then sit around for 4 hours in the hopes that they can get a technician immediately when they call? Or is it more believable that an agent made an error? Or perhaps even told the customer what they wanted to hear, just to avoid an argument?

Take the issue of missing promotions: a customer insists they were promised a certain discount with their order. There is no record of the offer, nor was the promotion applied to their account. In fact, this customer would not have qualified for that promotion. Who benefits more? The customer who, after much arguing and stress, finally receives their $5 savings or the salesperson who got credit for closing the sale in the first place?

Let’s face facts: we make mistakes. Sometimes, we even deliberately short-change the customer, just to get them off the phone. We all know these things happen, so why are we so sceptical of the customer? Why are we arguing with them? Why are we making their lives and ours more difficult?

When these issues crop up, before being an ambassador, before acting responsibly, even before thinking customer first... BELIEVE THE CUSTOMER!