Lessons in Customer Service

One of the hardest thing about customer service, in my mind, is the unpredictability of people. If we knew how people will react, then customer service would be a science, instead of an art.

That is why when I’m dealing with an irate parent, I try to remind myself not to have any preconceived notions.  I try not to make any assumptions about the caller or the situation.

Because no matter how many times I’ve talked to parents, I almost never predict the parents attitude, demeanor, or response.

So how do I overcome this little challenge of unpredictability?

This might sound corny, but before taking a call that I know will be unpleasant, I try to keep these three things in my mind:

1 – Keep cool, always.
2 – Kill’em with kindness.
3 – Give them the benefit of the doubt.

I’ll be honest, I’ve broken these rules before. Sometimes just one or two. Other times, all three – within the first 30 sec of the call.

But in my experience, when I keep these three rules present, the call goes way, way better. In fact, afterwards, I even feel good about taking the call in the first place.

Next time you are taking a call that you know is not going to be pleasant, consider these three things. And let me know how it went for you. My guess is that you’ll do just fine.

Do you have any tricks that you would like to share about dealing with irate parents?