the life cycle of a guest complaint

A phone rings in your office and your team member or colleague informs you about an exasperated guest/ client on the other end and now you are called upon to defuse the situation and win him over.

This situation is common for M.O.D. (Manager on Duty), Guest relation manager, HOD OR General Manager. Handling such situations for over two decades, gave me some insight into human nature.

 I have been fortunate to work with some of the most talented and genius customer care managers, whom I always consider them as magicians as they change the entire landscape while talking to those irritated guest.

Tips to win over an infuriated guest.

 1. Positive Self Talk: Before you go out, give a positive self-talk,” I am going to sound like Dr. Phil on this one”. Instead of saying “I don’t get paid enough to handle this or this is because of some other manager or department and I have been thrown in front of a smoking gun” etc. . Think more positive like “I can really help this guest” thinking positively helps you to create a positive aura that leads to respond more positively and professionally. Negative thoughts lead to a negative aura, negative words and it spirals into a negative situation

2. Take a moment: Don’t rush to attend the call or meet the guest, take a moment and understand the issue, make your referral points while responding also take a break, guest might use certain words which could make you angry but you need to take a moment to select your words to avoid any regret later.

 3. Avoid Public place: Offer tea or coffee and take him to a less occupied corner of the lobby/ lounge or board room. This will isolate the guest subconsciously and he will start to lose his grounds

 4. Patience is a virtue: Be patient, while hearing the customer/ guest, don’t interrupt him while he is speaking. Your body language and eye contact say a lot. You have to be genuinely interested in your guest and listen to him carefully. If possible try to note down the key points. These points will give you great insight into the guest and what he wants (service recovery)

5. Be Assertive neither aggressive nor passive: My definition of assertion is:” Say what you mean, mean what you say and don’t be mean when you say it”. Let this rule be the beacon for all your conversations with your customers/ guests and you will always be confident and in control

6. Service Recovery: Offer appropriate service recovery. In determining the same most of the organizations have already made that matrix, that matrix can give you guidance in curating the right service recovery

7. Follow-up call or mail: after the thing has been settled a follow-up call or mail after 24 hours is like icing on the cake. With this follow-up, you will win him over and he will become a friend/ regular guest as he has confidence in you and your organization.

 P.S.: It is easy to lose a guest and very difficult to retain them. Take good and genuine care of your guests, make them comfortable with your presence. We all are humans and someone in our team is bound to make mistakes. “It’s not important that there was a mistake, important is how we handled it”