Customer Service: 10 tips for successful navigation

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Can you spot how many of the below tips Tommy Boy uses to get his desired outcome?

Customer Service plays a huge role in your perception of and loyalty toward a company.  It can bind you to a company for life when you feel heard, appreciated, and in some cases even respected; but, if you feel the need to put “Customer Service” in quotes, chances are it has displaced your favorite misnomer… like ‘Madison Square Garden’, neither a square nor a garden… or a Chipper… hardly a happy upbeat thing, especially if you are a tree or hanging out with Steve Buscemi in say… North Dakota.

But the process of engaging with Customer Service can have a tremendous impact on our lives.  From getting a credit on an item you bought that was defective,  to negotiating with a creditor to mend your credit report, to whether you might qualify for cancer treatments, most everything depends on the whims of a service agent with whom you, by the hands of fate, find yourself engaged.  Often the difference between the best and worst possible outcomes can be huge, so it behooves you to do everything in your power to tilt the outcome in your favor.  Luckily, you aren’t powerless in this exchange; I’d like to illustrate several techniques that can help you successfully negotiate with customer service representatives.
Diplomacy and sales are the fundamental skill sets that will help you the most in this process (if crying fails). So, while this discourse is specifically about getting a desired outcome from customer service departments, it could also be considered ‘Sales and Diplomacy 101’.  So in no particular order:

1. Be Nice!  (But not too nice…)  There is a sweet spot when negotiating with a Customer Service Agent (Hereafter CSA) that lies somewhere between being a jerk and sucking up.  Err on the side of sucking up – as long as you don’t come across disingenuous! As corny as it may sound, while you are in the process of reaching this person who holds a part of your destiny in their hands, it’s an excellent practice to think of someone or something that you truly love:  Your children, your pets, your hero, or someone who really did you right.  It’ll put you in the frame of mind to greet your CSA with love and respect.  And it’s much easier for a rep to say “yes” to someone who’s kind than to someone who’s manipulative and pissed.
2. Smile as you greet your CSA, and smile as much as you can throughout the exchange.  Yeah, this doesn’t count when you are using a platform’s messenger/texting service, (though use smiley faces liberally)  🙂  But this definitely applies to dealings with CSA’s on the phone or in person.   Believe it or not, CSA’s and everyone else for that matter can hear whether you’re smiling or not when you are on the phone.  While this isn’t something that registers consciously over the phone, it rings loud and clear subconsciously.  When you are smiling, it subtly changes how you pronounce your words, and now you are speaking with a ‘smiling accent’, which connects the CSA with all the people who have smiled at him/her throughout their life, all the way to when they were babies being nursed and adored by their mommies.  True!  Smile and your CSA will be much more likely to want to accommodate you and your needs.
3. Say their name at least three times throughout the interaction.  People love to hear their names, and like to believe that you took the time to learn it.  Once again, there are deep associations going on in people’s psyches when they hear their name, and people are much more likely to accommodate those that seem familiar.  I like to say their name twice right off the bat.  For example, when you hear, “This is Kay, how can I help you?” you say “Kay you said?  Well hello Kay!”
4. Make em’ laugh!  Don’t you know everyone wants to laugh?  While it isn’t everyone’s strength to be clever or witty, just trying will help.  This person is at work, so humor to them is like water to someone in the desert.  Coaxing a chuckle out of a CSA raises your chances of success dramatically.  A perfect standby for a customer service agent:  “Kay, I have this weird fetish for filling out customer service feedback surveys, as I’m kind of a nerd, and I like getting positive reviews in my job, so I assume it might help you too!”  This works on many levels: fetish is a funny word, and you’re also being a bit self -deprecating.  But the agent is also put on notice that you are eager to give them a positive review.
5.  Appeal to pride.  This is where some finesse is required.  If they can tell you are sucking up to them, you are worse off.  But when you have the opportunity to be genuine, and your genuine feelings are kind, share them!  “Kay, you sound like you have been in this industry a long time!”, “Kay you seem like you have a good sense of fairness” both are good things to slip in there if they are true.  “Kay, I bet you look hot in a sun dress” probably is going a bit far.
6. Ask ‘yes’ questions just prior to seeking what you want, then assume the right outcome.  This is straight out of selling 101.  Right before asking for what you want, which should be asked in a way where the right outcome is the agent saying yes, ask a couple of yes questions first!  e.g. “Kay, can you hear me OK on this line?” (yes!), “Kay, we both agree that you are working for a fine company, right?”, (yes!) “Kay, I knew you would give me that refund!” (yes… I will, you delightfully charming person!)
7. Don’t take no for an answer.   If they render a judgement that is not in your favor, try to change their opinion one more time by offering another joke, e.g. “I will send you a pint of blood if you reconsider”, saying their name again a few times “Kay, Kay, Kay, you know you want to help me!” or making another point about why she should see it your way, “Did I mention that I have been a customer since Moses went to Mt. Sinai?”  Saying no twice or three times is much harder than just saying it once.   But if all you are getting are nos, then politely thank them for their time, hang up THEN CALL BACK IN AN ATTEMPT TO GET ANOTHER AGENT AND START OVER.  And repeat as necessary.  This is a biggie!  When you call back, suggest to the next rep that you were disconnected, don’t be dishonest but they might feel they owe you a favor if they think it was their phone system that disconnected you.  I have had more success by getting a different rep than just about any other technique.  Don’t assume they all abide by the same rules, they don’t.
8. Try to use text messaging when offered.  This is my favorite way to deal with customer service, though I might be biased as I type pretty fast.  The advantage is that you have a record of the conversation should you need to explain your story to a different department, different CSA, or God forbid, escalate.  It also gives you the ability to cut and paste your conversations for future reference, and even cut and paste bank transaction entries or account numbers etc. where they help your cause.
9. Escalate as a last resort.  When you have to escalate, you have lost.  It is extremely rare that when you reach an impasse witha CSA,  speaking to a supervisor will push things in your favor.  Good luck.  Often, the supervisor is the person sitting next to the person to which you were just talking, who isn’t really a supervisor at all.  Also, many agents use this opportunity to torture you.  Further, by this point, civility has often broken down.  They’ll put you on hold for a while, and maybe even disconnect you.
10. Make a record of your understanding of the call in your notes, and include the employee name and ID number.  This will help when you check your next bill, or in some other way confirm that your account was modified in accord with your understanding.  If it wasn’t, it sure is handy to have the notes when calling or writing back.

Nowadays when you reach the end of the call, take a moment to take their survey.  If you were pleased with your agent, it really helps them and will contribute to your good customer service karma.  And if their service really stinks, it is better to let it out on their survey rather than bringing it home and picking a fight with your spouse.  Keep your eye on the ball, which in this case is never losing your cool and staying very congenial.  Getting mad at the rep is the same as asking them to please offer no help whatsoever.

While writing this post, I coincidentally had a customer service moment.  My wife bought 5 pounds of tomatoes at $3 a pound, but the cashier rung up the organic tomatoes at $6/lb.  She sent me back to Whole (paycheck) Foods with receipt in hand but the tomatoes were already ground up into salsa. 

The service rep, Kathy, told me she needed the tomatoes to give me the credit, STORE POLICY!  She pleaded that she had to weigh the produce to produce a credit on their system.  After making her mildly chuckle at the prospect of bringing back a bowl of salsa, she found the solution pictured above:  She used a jug of Easter chocolates to simulate the weight of the tomatoes on the receipt.   Now that is service!

Tim Handley