Call Center Training: Handling Customer Complaints

 
Call center agents face daily challenges as they work hard to meet performance objectives while servicing callers
with excellence. Customer complaints add to the stressful environment, however, and can often result in public
relations disasters. By providing call center training, companies can improve the results they get while dealing with
angry and complaining customers.
 
Importance of Agent Training in Call Centers

Image courtesy of Tumisuon Pixabay, published under CC0 1.0

Call center agents must have the ability to quickly assess the nature of a call, including a caller’s state of mind, so
they can create a positive customer experience. In many cases, customers have experienced a problem that has
caused frustration and dissatisfaction, but they understand that mistakes happen and are willing to work with a call
center representative to find a satisfactory resolution. Angry customers are different.
Angry customers can come close to losing control over their emotions. They can use inappropriate language and
make unreasonable demands. Making things worse, angry people seem more likely to spread the word of their
negative experiences and can thereby cause a public relations nightmare by ranting about a brand on social media
sites. In the call center environment, such hostility can catch agents by surprise and cause even the best employees
to become frustrated.
Call center customer service can make a bad situation worse, if employees lack training. When call center agents
have the right skills, however, they can can calm irate customers and find a satisfactory solution that also saves their
business relationship. As a result, training that teaches agents how to handle complaints can improve call handling
statistics as well as customer satisfaction and retention rates. The following tips can help companies increase the
value and effectiveness of their call center, even when callers complain.
 
Steps to Handling an Angry Call
Call center agents should handle calls that involve complaints using the following guidelines.
1. Listening to The Customer
Every contact should begin with an agent engaging with active listening. By paying attention to the caller, an agent
can usually tell within a few moments whether a caller is calm, frustrated or angry. Emotional callers often feel better
after venting, especially when they know that someone was listening to them.
The call center agent should take notes while listening to make sure that all the caller’s concerns are addressed.
Notetaking can also help the agent keep the conversation on track, even when the caller goes off topic. Also, the
agent needs to understand and follow company guidelines for responding to threats and abusive language.
Caller: “I needed your product for an important meeting. Your product didn’t arrive on time, and when I finally
received it, it was broken…”
Agent: “I see. Can you tell me more about what happened?”
 
2. Controlling Emotions
After listening to the caller vent, the agent must calmly respond because an argumentative response can cause the
situation to worsen. A good way for agents to stay calm is to teach them to remind themselves that callers are angry
at their employer, not at them. Also, agents should picture themselves in their callers’ situation so they can feel
empathy. Deep breathing can also help an agent stay calm.
Caller: “What kind of company are you? Your brand is the worst that I’ve ever experienced and I’ve been working in
this industry for twenty years. By the way, what’s your problem? You aren’t doing anything to help me.”
Agent: “I am here to help you. I will do everything possible to find a satisfactory solution.
Caller: “OK.”
 
3. Repeating The Facts
The call center agent should repeat facts that pertain to the call. Doing this will assure the caller that the agent is
serious about resolving their complaint. The extra time can also help assuage the caller’s anger. Perhaps most
importantly, repeating the facts gives agents a chance to make sure they properly understand the problem.
Agent: “When the item shipped, its estimated arrival was the fourth, but you didn’t receive it until the sixth.”
Caller: “That’s right.”
 
4. Staying Active
Call center agents must never place an aggravated customer on hold. Spending more time listening to music on hold
can cause angry people to become even more irate. Rather than using the “hold” button, agents should explain what
they are doing, so the caller understands why they briefly go silent. Callers who receive a play-by-play report on their
agent’s activities can also feel a sense of comfort, knowing that their problem is about to be solved.
Agent: “I am reviewing your billing records right now. I’m seeing that you signed up for automatic payments. Is that
right?”
Caller: “Yes, but the amount was wrong.”
Agent: “I’m opening your order details right now.”
 
5. Offering Solutions
Call center agent training should encourage agents to achieve a positive outcome by satisfying their customers.
Agents who give their callers several options to choose from put callers in control. Agents can, for example, offer a
refund or a coupon towards a future purchase.
Regardless of what the problems are, call center agents should be trained to always exceed expectations. When
such a habit is in place, customer complaints will quickly be addressed and angry customers can become
enthusiastic brand advocates.
Agent: “To resolve your problem, I can either issue a full refund or send you a voucher for the amount of your
purchase that you can use for your next order.”
Caller: “If I accept the voucher do I need to send this broken item back?”
Agent: “No.”
Caller: “Thank you. Please send me the voucher. I appreciate your understanding.”

http://www.contextualstrategygroup.com/call-center-training-handling-customer-complaints/

How to Handle Customer Complaints The Right Way

by Jessica Brown, on Jul 25, 2019 11:22:39 AM

If you work in customer service or more specifically, a call center, chances are you've dealt with customer complaints
before. And if you haven't, don't worry, your time is coming.

Customer complaints range from people who are mildly annoyed to those who are in a rage, and you have to know
how to effectively deal with each one to resolve the situation, make the customer happy, and leave them with a good
feeling about the company you're representing.

In this article, we look at how you can handle customer complaints to accomplish the above, so you and the customer
walk away satisfied at the resolution.

Steps to Handling Customer Complaints

When you get a dissatisfied or angry customer, it's easy for you to lose your cool too, which only worsens the
situation. However, you can make the interaction go more smoothly if you keep these tips in mind.
 Stay Calm If you have an angry customer, the last thing you want to do is to worsen the situation by
becoming irate yourself. This is easier said than done because in most cases, the customer is yelling at you or saying
nasty things to you. But in reality, they're mad at the company, not you in particular, and it's easy to forget that when
you're interacting. So, no matter how upset they are, or what they say, keep a calm demeanor. Often, when they see
you react in a relaxed manner, they calm down too. Now, if they're verbally abusive or threatening violence, then you
need to politely tell them that behavior isn't justified and that if they don't calm down, you'll have to end the call.

Download: Improve your customer service with these 3 strategies!

 Listen & Empathize To bring a person's level of frustration down, it's essential you listen to their problem
and empathize with it. Many times, a person is at the end of their rope, and they feel no one is listening to them about
their issue. So, validate their problem and tell them they have a right to be upset about the poor service or the broken
item or whatever. You can even share an anecdote about something that went wrong with a service or product you
ordered to let them know exactly how they feel. This goes a long way to bringing down the tension so you can solve
their issue more quickly.
 Acknowledge the Problem The worst thing you can do is to act like the customer's problem doesn't exist or
that it's somehow their fault (even if it is). So, whatever their problem is, treat it the way you'd like to be treated if the
roles were reversed. Also, don't offer excuses — they don't want to hear it, instead, accept the problem and
apologize for the issue.
 Get the Facts You can't help the customer if you don't have all of the information, so have them to tell you
everything that's wrong and how they think it got to that state. The more information you have, the better the solution
you can find or at least direct them to the proper department that can solve their particular issue.
 Offer a Solution Don't let the customer go without offering a solution to their problem. Remember, they're
calling you because they need help, and if you turn them away without guiding them, you've lost a customer, and
they'll be sure to tell everyone about their experience. If you don't have the answer, tell them you'll get it or direct
them to someone who does have the answer. And if you can't get the solution right away, offer to call back once you
have an idea that can help them. If you can't get them an immediate answer, offer something to compensate them for
their problem.; this could be a free month of service, a voucher, or some other kind of token to make the situation
better. Lastly, don't offer a solution that won't work to get them off the phone or tell them what they want to hear,
because they'll call back with the same problem.
 Thank Them Whether you were able to solve their problem or not during the call, it's essential you thank
them for bringing the issue to your attention and make sure they know you value their input. Many people feel large
companies don't care about them or the problems they have with a product or service, so it's vital you do all you can
to make them feel like they're helping to rectify a problem or making the company aware of a concern.

What to do When the Customer is Irate?

Sometimes, when the customer calls, they are angry to the point they're yelling or using foul language. When this
happens, it's difficult to look past their hostility and see the underlying issue.

As mentioned above, one of the best ways to diffuse a situation with an angry caller is to be as kind and respectful as
possible and to acknowledge their problem. Don't tell them it's their fault, even if it is, and don't offer excuses.

Also, some customers are more difficult to calm down than others, so when you get one who's difficult, it's helpful to
explain that you can't help them if you can't have a respectful conversation about the problem. Acknowledge their
anger, but try and bring the tension down so you can better resolve the issue. Most people are okay after they're able
to vent their frustrations, however, if you get someone who won't settle down or becomes abusive or threatens
violence, explain that you can't continue the conversation if they don't settle down.

Dealing with angry and upset callers is part and parcel of the customer service industry, so it's wise to practice the
techniques discussed above to remain calm and talk someone down from their anger and into a productive
conversation to get them the help they need. Remember, most people want help and for their issue to be
acknowledged, and if you can do those things, you're on your way to diffusing a bad situation and keeping a
customer happy.

https://www.abetteranswer.com/blog/how-to-handle-customer-complaints-the-right-way