The Importance of Remembering Customers in Times of Crisis

Things can happen, even in the very best organisations, that impact customer service.?

For example, as Trainers’ Library approaches its 20th birthday next year, I’m reminded of the day 18 years ago, when a fire in a BT tunnel in Manchester took down our website and all the others hosted by a company that didn’t have the contingency they’d promised. And the time when our office, despite being near the top of a hill, was inundated with flood water rushing off the fells in a flash storm.

In both cases, the team responded brilliantly. In the first instance, Trainers’ Library was rebuilt and back online with a new hosting company within 48 hours. And in the second, we made a very speedy transition to our first experience of remote working.

But implementing an effective contingency plan is only part of the story. Equally important, in my view, is that we took the time to find ways to quickly communicate with customers in those moments of crisis. We showed empathy for their needs, explained what we were doing to resolve the problem and provided other options in the meantime. For example, when our website went down, we let customers know how they could reach out to us for email copies of any materials they needed.?

We did this because although we knew most customers wouldn’t notice the disruption to our business; we knew that some would and that they might be temporarily inconvenienced.?

A couple of weeks ago, I spent more than six hours trying to resolve a problem with our bank; four hours on the phone, and a further two hours visiting a local branch to see if they could help, where I spent a further hour on hold, this time in the company of a bank employee before we got cut off. When my calls were finally answered, the first three people I spoke to made no attempt to explain the poor service I was experiencing.?Indeed, the first person’s tone could easily have been construed as bored – although I suspect it was more a tone of resigned acceptance that he was about to face another frustrated customer.

Only the fourth person admitted that the bank is currently facing real challenges around recruitment, retention, and training and by then (did I mention six hours) any loyalty I’d felt towards their brand had evaporated along with what was supposed to be a day off.?

A few nights later, I sailed back to France from Portsmouth. Normally, the company I use provides an excellent service, and the night crossing means you can just about get six hours sleep and then wake up to a refreshing shower before disembarking ready for the long drive home. But on this trip things went wrong. The ship was 45 minutes late boarding and when we did board, the cabins weren’t ready, which meant (since arrival wouldn’t be delayed) six hours sleep had been reduced to an absolute maximum of five. When we were able to access our cabin, we realised there was no water in the bathroom. Like other passengers, we assumed this was a problem unique to our cabin and so we headed off to report it, only be told, dismissively that it was a ship wide problem engineers were working on, which would be fixed by morning.

Morning came and still there was no water. No water to shower, wash or even flush toilets anywhere on board. (And no coffee available anywhere on board either, come to that. And I really needed coffee. ;-))

Only as we docked was a curt announcement made, letting passengers know that yes, there was no water anywhere on board. The late apology for any inconvenience seemed so half-hearted and insincere that it seemed to have the effect of actually increasing passenger frustration and anger rather than reducing it, based on the muttered conversations we were witnessing in every corridor.

In times of crisis, it might be tempting to play down or hide problems, in the hope that they go unnoticed. But that approach will only work if the impact really is minimal and even then it carries risk - the greatest risk of all being a breakdown in trust which is, after all, the foundation of all successful relationships, including those with our customers.

It’s easy too, perhaps natural, for organisations to turn their attention inwards, to become introspect, focused on their problem.

But, if customers are impacted then, surely, it’s exactly at these moments that we need to be most focused on their needs and emotions?

I think some of the kindest, and most valued feedback we’ve ever received from customers has been that which refers to us as part of their team. For me, this emphasises a?mutual respect and appreciation that I think is at the core of customer service.?

Thinking about customers as part of your team might be key to remembering how they too will be impacted by any unavoidable problems you face. It might also encourage the sort of honesty and openness that I’d argue is more likely to result in greater empathy from your customers and in you being able to come out of a crisis without reputational damage (so long as they can see you’re doing something about the underlying problem).?