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De-escalate customer
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Continuous Education
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Facilitator Guide
Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

Table of contents
Table of contents...................................................................................................................................................................... 1
About this module.......................................................................................................................................................................... 1
What are implicit messages?....................................................................................................................................................... 3
Overview....................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction....................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Exercise: What are some of the common reasons for customer frustrations?.........................................5
How do you identify these frustrations while interacting with customer over email/phone?............9
Exercise: What are some of the strategies that you could use to diffuse customer emotions and do
an effective recovery?.................................................................................................................................................. 10
Exercise: De-escalate customer’s frustration using strategies (Role-play the scenarios)...................13
How could you have avoided this situation?...................................................................................................... 14

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

About this module

This curriculum is created for new support engineers. It is expected that participants have
already completed the SE onboarding program before starting this module.

It will take approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes to train engineers.

Introduction (3 minutes)

Reasons behind customer frustration (20 minutes)

Recognize customer emotions and concerns (20 minutes)

Strategies to de-escalate concerns (15 minutes)

Roleplays (25 minutes)

What's next (5 minutes)

This module focuses on Identifying reasons behind customer frustrations and learn different
strategies to de-escalate their concerns.

After this module, you will be able to:

 Identify the reasons behind customer frustrations

 Gauge customer emotions and concerns in phone calls

 Learn various strategies to de-escalate their concerns

 Consolidate your learning through roleplays

Icons are used throughout this guide to direct you to types of information:

The time a lesson or exercise will take. An individual exercise.

An exercise for teams (VILT) or groups

Resource lookup information.
(classroom).

A class exercise.
Additional note information.

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

What are implicit messages?

The time to complete this lesson, including exercises, is 90 minutes.

After this lesson, you will be able to:

 Identify the reasons behind customer frustrations

 Gauge customer emotions and concerns in phone calls

 Learn various strategies to de-escalate their concerns

 Consolidate your learning through roleplays

Overview
In this lesson, you will learn about the situations that escalate customer frustrations and will also learn
about the strategies that will help you de-escalate their emotions and build a trustworthy long-time
relationship with the customer. The module is packed with role plays and scenarios to give a real-time
experience and hands on experience for the engineers to handle difficult situations.

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

Introduction
Thumbnails Notes
Total Duration: 90 min
Time: 2 minutes
Action: When all participants are checked in,
let the class know that the course is starting.
Make sure that participants have downloaded
and opened their participant guide.
Say: Let’s dive into the module.
Action: Advance to the next slide.

Time: 1 minute
Time elapsed: 2 mins
Time remaining: 88 mins
Trainer note:
Click to view each bullet item. Review each
one as it appears by using the script that
follows.
Say/Make these points:
This session will help you to;
* Identify the reasons behind customer
frustrations
* Gauge customer emotions and concerns in
phone calls
* Learn various strategies to de-escalate their
concerns
* Consolidate your learning through roleplays

>>Advance to the next slide<<

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

Exercise: What are some of the common reasons for customer

frustrations?

Class exercise. Duration 5 minutes.

Thumbnails Notes
Time: 5 mins
Time elapsed: 3 mins
Time remaining: 87 mins
Trainer note:
This is a discussion slide to elicit responses
from participants on what they feel are some
of the reasons behind customer frustrations.
Say/Make these points:
This is an open classroom discussion
Share feedback
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Time: 15 mins
Time elapsed: 8 mins
Time remaining: 82 mins
Trainer note:
Say/Make these points:
1. Unable to assess the gravity of the
impact:
One of the common reasons for escalations to
happen is, when SEs fail to probe the impact
the issue is causing to the cx and their
organization. Many SEs would stop at the
severity level assigned to the case and fail to
ask the customers, how this issue is impacting
the business, the finances, the productivity
etc. Many customers face a lot of pressure
from internal management to fix the issue at
the earliest. Again, there are instances where
only one user could be impacted, but that
user could be the VP or CEO of a company- in
this case the issue should be assigned a
higher priority and there could be instances

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Continuous Education
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De-escalate customer emotions
where only 25 users are impacted- on first
glance that may look like a low severity- but
what happens if the organization is made of
only those 25 users? Customer frustrations will
be obvious when questions of impact are
overlooked and neglected.
2. Knowledge Gaps:
Remember customers reaching out to
Microsoft comes with a very high expectation.
These expectations are more implicit in nature
which comes with the MS brand image and
reputation. Customers reaching out to SEs,
‘expect’ that they will be met with engineers
who are technically knowledgeable, have
enough knowledge and information about the
products they are handling. When these
‘expectations’ are met with the reality on the
ground where SEs may not be demonstrating
that knowledge, it can easily lead to customer
frustrations.
3. Not following up on customer
commitments:
This constitutes another very common reason
why customers get irate, especially customers
who come from cultures who value time and
have a ‘fixed’ notion of time. Also customers
may be under great pressure themselves to
resolve issues and any delays can cost the
business and lead to heavy impacts. Under
these circumstances, not following up on
commitments made to customers ( i.e. not
calling them back or failing to contact them at
a time which was committed) can easily lead
to loss of trust and confidence and they can
ask for escalations.
4. Inadequate knowledge about the MS
tools, policies and procedures:
Having inadequate knowledge about MS tools
that are available , can lead to delays,
incorrect capture of information,
inconsistencies in workflows- all of which can
create a negative impact on the case wellness
which in turn can lead to customers being
upset and asking for escalations.
Also, when SEs cite MS Policies for something
that cannot be done or for setting boundaries,
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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

customers dislike that. Often engineers are

unaware of why these policies exist in the first
place. Not being able to tell customer why
these policies exist, can put customers on
edge and in the dark, as they don’t
understand the reason why we cannot help
them, which can lead to escalations as well.
5. Unable to set and manage expectations:
Probably constitutes one of the biggest
reasons for customer frustrations. We saw in
the previous section on Managing Customer
Expectations- on what some of the negative
consequences could be if an SE is not
transparent and is not setting clear
expectations with their customers.
6. Not able to understand or
misunderstand the issue itself:
( For example : SEs failing to ask basic
questions while probing or working under the
influence of assumptions ) can lead to
incorrect trouble shooting which in turn leads
to an incorrect resolution- which not only
costs the customer time and money, but also
lead to negative impressions being formed,
trust and confidence being broken – under
these circumstances customers will invariably
ask for escalations.
7. Missing information:
We looked at the advantages of capturing
good case notes and effective documentation
during the SE Onboarding. When information
is not captured correctly, vital information can
go missing which can negatively impact the
case flow, collaboration with peers and the
overall understanding of the case by who ever
is dealing with it. This impedes and slows
down case progression as the SE needs to
collate the information once again from the
customer which can easily lead to escalation
of emotions and customers asking the case to
be handled by EEs.
8. Unable to adapt to the communication
and or work styles of customers:
We should not forget that our inability to
adapt to the communication styles of our

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

customers can lead to misunderstanding and

frustrations on the part of the customer. For
example ( as we saw in the Culture module
during the SE Onboarding – briefly remind
participants about direct vs indirect; task vs
relationship; ‘independent vs interdependent
etc. ) customer from different cultures have
different styles of interaction and behavior.
Our inability to recognize what drives those
behaviors ( mention ‘values’) and our inability
or reluctance to adapt to the customers’
communication and work styles can easily
cause discomfort and anger- all leading to
escalations. Please don’t forget the differences
that cultures place on the concept of time (
remind participants about fixed versus fluid)
can also lead to customers asking the case to
get escalated easily.
9. Not understanding implicit concerns and
not using ACCRUE as part of your
vocabulary!
Not understanding implicit concerns, either
through emails or phone calls, can make the
customer feel that he is not being ‘listened’ to
or valued (as we have seen in the Email
Module ). Not empathizing with the customer
when they express their concerns and lack of
providing assurance and instilling confidence
when customers have lost ‘trust’ can lead to
escalations.
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Exercise: How do you identify these frustrations while interacting with

customer over email/phone?

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

Class exercise: Duration 5 minutes

Thumbnails Notes
Time: 5 mins
Time elapsed: 33 mins
Time remaining: 57 mins
Trainer note:
This is a discussion slide to elicit responses
from participants on how one identifies these
frustrations while interacting with customers
over email and phone.
Say/Make these points:
This is an open classroom discussion
Share feedback
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Thumbnails
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Notes
Time: 10 mins
Time elapsed: 38 mins
Time remaining: 52 mins
Trainer note:
Say/Make these points:
Tone: Most of the time the tone of the
customer will give away the ‘mood’ and
‘temperament’ of the customer. You should be
perceptive to the change of tone from being
friendly, professional to sarcastic, angry, upset,
indifferent even. A sudden change of tone
should indicate that the customer emotions
and moods have changed.
Explicit Messages: Sometimes, customers may
use certain words and phrases that indicate
that they are not happy with the service or the
product. Some very explicit examples “ I’ve lost
confidence”; “this was not what I expected“,
“can I speak to someone who knows about
this“
Implicit messages: Look out for hidden
messages. In the Email module you learnt the
various ways of identifying implicit concerns in
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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

emails (reiterate the various ways- such as

background of the case, SE’s own case handling
skills, culture etc).
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Exercise: What are some of the strategies that you could use to diffuse
customer emotions and do an effective recovery?

Class exercise. Duration 5 minutes.

Thumbnails Notes
Time: 5 mins
Time elapsed: 48 mins
Time remaining: 42 mins

Trainer note:
This is a discussion slide to elicit responses
from participants on what are some of the
strategies that can be used to diffuse
customer emotions and do an effective
recovery.
Say/Make these points:
This is an open classroom discussion
Share feedback

>>Advance to the next slide<<

Thumbnails Notes

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

Time: 5 mins
Time elapsed: 53 mins
Time remaining: 37 mins
Trainer note:
Say/Make these points:
1. Probe the impact : Always ensure that
you don’t miss out on assessing the
impact that the issue is causing the
customer. Probe to find out what is the
extent of the ‘damage’ in terms of
production, revenue, service etc. and
prioritize accordingly, letting the
customer know that you understand
the impact and will act accordingly.
2. Keep abreast of information : Always
keep yourself abreast with all the latest
product information and technical
knowledge through the various MS
resources and portals available. Also
know who to reach out to, incase there
is a need to fill up the knowledge gaps.
Remember SMEs and peers across
technology can be consulted too.
3. Be aware of tools : You should be well
versed with all the tools available and
their functionalities. The SE
Onboarding and the technical trainings
will familiarize you with all the tools
available to do your tasks effectively to
ensure smoother case progression for
the customers.
4. Always stick to your commitments :
You should aim at giving specific time
frames for callbacks and updates. This
is of extreme value and importance to
customers, coming from cultures who
have a fixed concept of time. Also
remember ‘no updates’ is also an
update that needs to be
communicated. If commitments cannot
be kept, please let the customer know
well in advance, giving a reason and
suggesting an alternative time.
5. Setting and managing customer
expectations : Always let the customer

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

know in advance what you can do and

cannot do. Let them know about any
constraints and limitations that you
may have, so that they can be
prepared for the ‘bad news’ in the
future- but at the same time remember
to empathize and suggest alternatives.
6. Paraphrase : In order to check and
confirm whether you are on the same
page with what the customer is saying
and to ensure that you have not
misunderstood or missed any
information out, please paraphrase.
This also gives the customer an
opportunity to check that his issue is
being thoroughly understood – leaving
a positive impression on his mind.
7. Case documentation : Document!
Document! Document! We did look at
the various advantages of good case
documentation during the SE
Onboarding. Make sure they are as
detailed and complete as possible and
remember there are people (TAMs,
TMs and customers) who are looking at
your case notes. Be familiar with the
templates that are used to capture
case notes (Summary templates, Action
plan templates and transfer templates)
8. Adapting to customer’s
communication and work styles : It is
important to be aware of your
customer’s communication ( i.e. direct
vs. indirect, formal vs. informal ) and
work styles ( task vs. relationship, fixed
vs. fluid) and adapt your styles of
interaction accordingly. This will ensure
minimal conflict and bridging the gap
between you and the customer.
(Details should have been covered in
the GCC module)
9. Using ACCRUE : While dealing with
customer’s escalated emotions, what
ever may be the reason, never forget
to sincerely EMPATHIZE with them and
provide them with the necessary

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

assurance and confidence that their

cases are in good hands. What
customers want at that time is the
belief and confidence that you ARE the
right person to handle this and that
you completely empathize with their
situation. Remember ACCRUE!!
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Exercise: De-escalate customer’s frustration using strategies (Role-play

the scenarios)

Duration: 10 minutes

Thumbnails Notes
Time:
Preparation time : 3 mins
Role play : 7 mins
Time elapsed: 58 mins
Time remaining: 32 mins
Trainer note:
Hand these scenarios out as hard copies to
participants.
Pair activity : One SE plays the role of a
customer and the other of the second SE.
Say/Make these points:

Scenario 1

A SEV B 24x7 service request is created for IIS team and misrouted to SharePoint.
DM assigns SR to a SharePoint SE. The SharePoint SE sees that there is an hour and half left for the SLA
and goes for lunch.
Once the SharePoint SE returns he reviews the SR notes and finds that the issue is related to IIS. With
30 minutes left for the SLA, the SE routes the case to the IIS team.
After a while DM assigns the SR to an IIS SE, but by this time the SLA is missed.
The IIS SE finishes his current call and calls back the customer stating that his shift will end in an hours’

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

time and it would be best if he engages the next available support engineer.
Customer is not very happy about this and requests for escalation.

Ask the participants how this situation could have been avoided in the first place
This situation could have been avoided had the first SE from SharePoint reviewed the SR as soon he got
it assigned by the DM and engaged the correct team promptly as it was a SEV B 24x7 SR.
He could have also called up the customer and kept him posted that he has engaged the right team.
The IIS SE should have reviewed the SR once it was assigned to him and if he was busy on another call,
he should have engaged his TA for assistance and not wait for his current call to end and call the
customer and mention that his shift is about to end and he will engage the NASE

Scenario 2

The customer provides all the information regarding his issue while raising the ticket through the router
For technical reasons, the router fails to capture all the information
The SE on being assigned the case, sees only partial information and goes on to ask the customer some
basic question
Customer feels irate having to repeat the information and asks for escalation

Ask the participants how this situation could have been avoided in the first place
Feedback : Demonstrate Assurance, Empathy and Confidence
1.Apologise- mentioning that mis capture of information through the router in MS is only a rarity rather
than a norm
2.Demonstrate empathy
3. Provide a reason as to why it’s important for the SE to capture the information that has gone missing
(Customer should see a benefit)
4. Provide assurance that you will help the cx in trying to get his issue resolved as quickly as possible.

>>Advance to the next slide<<

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How could you have avoided this situation?

Duration: 10 minutes

Thumbnails Notes
Time: 5 mins
Time elapsed: 68 mins
Time remaining: 22 mins
Trainer note:
Hand these scenarios out as hard copies to
participants.
Pair activity : One SE plays the role of a
customer and the other of the second SE.

Say/Make these points:

Ask the participants how this situation could
have been avoided in the first place
This escalation could have first been avoided if
the SE on first contact could have captured the
business impact from the customer and set the
next follow-up time (mutually agreed)
accordingly and called back at the time
committed.
Second, the SE on receiving the email from the
customer should’ve apologized first and then
set the customer’s expectation that based on
the business impact and urgency, she will
engage the SME/TA for quick assistance .
This could’ve avoided this escalation from
customer and TAM.
>>Advance to the next slide<<

Scenario

SE did not assess the proper business impact of the customer’s issue
SE gets on a call and collects data and mentions that she will get back after reviewing (note: date is not
mentioned)
Customer does not hear back from the SE and, he is under pressure from his management to get the
issue resolved.
Customer calls the SE and leaves a voice mail and ends him an email.

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Continuous Education De-escalate customer emotions

SE is on another call and misses to acknowledge customers voicemail and email.

Customer escalates the issue to the TAM, who further escalates the issue to the team manager and tech
lead.

Thumbnails Notes
Time: 5 minutes
Time elapsed: 73 mins
Time remaining: 17 mins

Say:
You haven’t learned about any tools or used
documentation techniques in this module.
What have you learned about processes and
communication?
Answers:
Process
• Assess the reason behind the
customer’s objection.
• Highlight the customer benefit from
following our plan of action or
recommendation.
• Validate.
• Suggest.
 
Communication
• Acknowledge and empathize.
• Paraphrase.
• Inform.
• Listen.
• If appropriate, thank.
 
Say:
How will you keep growing on what you know
about, how to manage customer expectations?
>>Advance to next slide<<

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Time: 5 minutes
Time elapsed: 78 mins
Time remaining: 12 mins
Say: It’s time to look back over the module and
review what you’ve learned.
Action: Advance to the next slide.

Time: 7 minutes
Time elapsed: 83 mins
Time remaining: 7 mins

Big completion applause

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