From time to time, your recovery efforts may be blocked by certain actions or omissions on your part or others in your organization. These are some of the obstacles that commonly derail recovery attempts.
Poor or inadequate communication.
Without strong communication, recovery cannot occur when service failures occur. The quality and quantity of communication between you and your customer can be a determining factor in the success of maintaining a customer-supplier relationship. Failure to keep the lines of communication open before, during and after a transaction or client contact (i.e. in the case of ongoing client situations, such as a lawyer working with a client) can lead to breakdowns in the relationship. Every effort should be made to constantly update and consult with customers. If they feel neglected or left out, this could lead to further dissatisfaction and loss of business loyalty.
not actively listening
You must take an active role in order to effectively listen to your customers. You must not only receive data, but also analyze it and act on it. Lots of service providers go through the motions of listening, however they don’t do it accurately or actively. This can send a definite “I really don’t care about you” message.
Lack of respect for customers.
Closely linked to listening is the issue of respect for the client. Your actions or inactions related to customers and their issue or issue can create the perception that you are being rude, disrespectful, or indifferent. An example of little things that can lead to a perception of disrespect is making an outside customer wait even though they had an appointment scheduled (ie, at a doctor’s or dentist’s office).
The same could happen to internal clients when you’re late for a scheduled team meeting. In such a situation, you and your organization/department lose when customers complain, show dissatisfaction to other customers, and/or (in the case of external customers) abandon a competitor.
Keep in mind that this disrespect may just be the customer’s perception. Even so, it is your perception that counts in such cases. The best strategy to avoid such a perception is to stay focused on customer needs and try to avoid dissatisfaction. If a failure occurs, you must move quickly to recover by following these basic steps for service recovery:
1. Apologize, apologize, and apologize again;
2. Take immediate action to positively resolve the situation;
3. Show compassion;
4. Provide compensation; and
5. Follow up to ensure customer satisfaction.
inadequate or outdated materials or equipment
Trying to provide excellent service without the necessary tools is frustrating and ineffective. It can also accelerate the deterioration of a customer relationship and destroy trust. For example, you may be calling a customer on a list provided by your marketing department to update an address or sell new services or products to customers. You may not be aware that other people have already called the customer, that the customer has already purchased the upgrade from another service representative, or that you received a mail-order request that had a different (and better) offer for the same products and services. Your frustration increases and credibility decreases in such a case. Another example would be computer software inadequate for tracking dates or records that does not allow timely entry and retrieval of information when dealing with customers.
Lack of training
It is very difficult to perform at exceptional levels when you do not have the necessary knowledge and skills. This is especially true in cases where you do not have adequate knowledge of the organization, its products, services and procedures, as well as the interpersonal skills necessary to achieve service recovery. Any time gaps are identified in these or any other customer service related areas, you should approach your boss with a request for training. This training night can be informal (ie audio/video tapes, CD-ROMs, self-study courses, Internet courses, or written materials) or formal (ie classroom, one-on-one training, or lectures). The format is not as important as the fact that you get what you need to better engage with and serve your customers.
labor disputes
No matter how much you care and want to provide quality service, you may fail if you overcommit or if your organization overextends your human resources. It is impossible to be everything to everyone. When the job schedule creates a situation where it is pulled in too many directions, it is likely to fail. To exceed this potential, constant monitoring of the workload is required. Recommendations to your team leader or supervisor for schedule changes, job sharing, or redeployment of