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Customer Service: Rules Are Meant to Be Bent

Rules that involve customers are like walking on a circus high wire. You have to be very careful. You can lean to the left and to the right, and sometimes you have to. Just don’t go too far or you might fall off. Management makes rules about how to handle customers and then tells employees […]

Rules that involve customers are like walking on a circus high wire. You have to be very careful. You can lean to the left and to the right, and sometimes you have to. Just don’t go too far or you might fall off.

Management makes rules about how to handle customers and then tells employees to abide by them. I don’t believe rules are meant to be broken, as the old saying goes, but I do believe you can lean, bend, tweak, modify, etc. As just mentioned, don’t lean too far, or you might fall off. This is especially important when trying to “save” a customer during a tough situation or confrontation.

In an empowered environment, take a look at the customer situation you have before you. What do you have to do to make the customer happy? Will it hurt the company in any way if you do? If you can create a win/win situation, there shouldn’t be a need to report to management – until after you’ve saved the customer.

It’s all about managing the Moments of Truth (contact we have with our customers) and creating Moments of Magic™.

Shep Hyken is a customer service/CX expert, award-winning keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. Learn more about Shep’s customer service and customer experience keynote speeches and his customer service training workshops at www.Hyken.com. Connect with Shep on LinkedIn.

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