Hello folks,
Take my advice for what it is worth. I am an old man with a receding hairline, and I can tell you the hair loss is from years of dealing with customer service centres: never Neo, but many others.
Here is my advice, and I will lay this out for you. First, my rule in any interaction, even when you are beyond angry, is always to be polite. Winning hearts and minds is not just a military thing; it is real, and it can help. Now, some might think I am a pushover, and this is where you secretly gain leverage by being polite.
When the individual introduces themselves, you state, “I am so sorry, I didn’t catch your name. Could you say it again? Oh, hi, so-and-so. My connection isn’t the greatest. Can you spell that for me? Oh, hello, Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. Great to chat with you. Here is my concern: my microwave door fell off, and when I microwave things, all my arm hair stands up.”
At this point, write down the individual’s name and time on your phone or paper, and start writing what you discussed. There are also great applications for recording phone calls, which you can use. I know this is consuming, but each phone call and interaction takes down a name, a rep number if they give you one (you can ask), what you talked about, and the time of the call. Also, ask for a date to follow up, or state that if you do not see anything within a certain period, you will call back.
Why does this scare the living heck out of any company or manager? Here is how it looks when you don’t.
Manager: “So what is your problem?”
Me: “Your company said you would waive my bill for a month.”
Manager: “Who said that?”
Me: “Well, I can’t remember, but they did.”
Manager: “What day and time did you call?”
Me: “Well, I don’t remember, but the sun was directly above my head at the time.”
Manager: “Okay, well, we will try and review the calls, but if you are uncertain who you talked to or what day and time, I can’t spend all day looking for a call, sir.”
Now here is how a solid answer to those same questions looks.
“Oh, I spoke to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. on Tuesday, the 4th of January at 12:01 PM. I then followed up with him a week later on Wednesday, the 12th, at 1:13 PM. He hung up on me, and I phoned back and started talking to Nancy at 1:26 PM. She transferred me to the wildbananas department, and I spoke with Gorilla Noris at 4:46 PM.”
What this does is give your story credibility, and nothing is worse than a really well-written story or review on Google or any social media that establishes character and credibility. Only after you have tried everything in your power to be courteous and resolve the issue with the company. In many circumstances, it also creates accountability and coaching opportunities. So if you wonder why the world of customer service never gets better, not enough of us are recording calls, writing notes, and letting the crowd know which companies invest in their frontline troops, and these employees deserve the biggest investment.
We vote with our dollars and create change through accountability. The world will not become a better place unless we take some of our own time out to make it just a smidge better. Individually, we lose; as a collaborative group of customers, we win.