Why is Service Recovery so important?

Tips on Service Recovery

“The service here is terrible! I will never ever patronize from you again!” – says a dissatisfied customer. 

Sounds familiar? It seems obvious that this customer is very angry and did not get what he expected. It could be due to poor judgement by the untrained staff or simply lacking in adequate tools to serve customers well. Thus, it is advisable to 'smell the cheese often' at the workplace and prevent negative service catastrophe. We still need to heed what Murphy Laws had stated, "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong", there would still be moments of service lapses and that's when Service Recovery kicks in?

 According to Wikipedia – Service Recovery is a company’s resolution of a problem from dissatisfied customers, converting them into loyal ones. In layman term, Service Recovery is a well-though company process for dealing with customers’ unhappiness with the company's service or products. The ultimate goal is to identify irate customers’ dislikes/dissatisfaction and address them promptly that leads to customers retention.

Here are some (3Ps) reasons why we need to pay attention to service recovery: 

a)   Positive impact on Customer’s satisfaction

b)   Protect company’s reputation

c)   Promote Customer’s loyalty

a)   Positive impact on Customer’s satisfaction:

At this moment, the customer should be fuming mad and complaining about his unmet expectations. His grievances may be deliberately spilled over to passer-by and intentionally post victimized videos and comments about how he was ‘treated wrongly’. In addition, he may make his voice heard by writing to forums, relevant government agencies or perhaps some infamous social media channels. Thus, it is paramount that we try our means to prevent viral circulation of such incident to prevent unnecessary negative perception of the company. So, how could we minimize or eliminate such negative ‘curveballs’?

Here are (5As) effective tips to diffuse an angry customer:

A1) Active Listening.

This is the time to apply great patience and listen attentively to the angry customer. Do not interrupt the person, allowing appropriate ‘airtime’ for him to pour out his grievances. This is a stage where customer's emotions run high and choice of words may be ugly. Just listen, the customer is not targeting at you, so please do not take his words too personally.

A2) Articulate carefully with positive body language.

Using positive body languages to enhance the conversation. For example, nodding of head as you listen to the customer, writing down notes to show that you are dead serious about his points. (Remember to seek his permission first) and maintain open posture as you stand, that means no folding of arms or hands on hips.

A3) Adore and show empathy

A good reminder to position yourself in the customer’s shoes and empathize his feelings and troubles that he went through. This allows you to take a step back and hold your horses before becoming defensive and start ‘firing away’ your displeasure too. 

A4) Apologize to customer

In due respect, apologize to the customer. It may not be our mistakes, nevertheless, we apologize for the inconvenience caused. Most of the time, when customer hears the word ‘sorry’, he will usually cool down.

A5) Aggressively following-up

After the episode is over and dust settled, giving a friendly follow-up is appreciated. It shows that you truly care about him and treat him as an important customer. Turn him into loyal advocates!

b)   Protect company’s reputation:

Company’s reputation is so important for basic survival and potential market growth. It should be protected at all costs to prevent any negative side-effects. A strong reputation takes years to build but it may just take a few foolish actions to pull it down. Thus, you need to constantly monitor and measure the current team/individual's service performance standard against set KPIs. This will ensure service consistency and reliability throughout the company.  

Here are some tips to protect the company’s reputation:

B1) Provide adequate service trainings to every staff. These include effective onboarding, annual refresher trainings to conducting yearly learning needs analysis to narrow any service gaps. Simulations or recovery role plays would be necessary to enact any possible service conflicts waiting to happen.

B2) Set measurable KPIs to keep track of current service performance to ensure you are performing well. Inform service staff in advance what are expected and inform the importance of their service commitment. Create and share company’s Service Vision and Credo, just like the ones with Ritz Carlton

B3) Learn from market leaders and bench market best practices both internally & externally. Try sharing good practices during brown bag lunches or daily meetings. Encourage wide reading/sharing from different industries, bounce ideas and create opportunities for staff to discuss how to enhance the current service standards of the company.

B4) Give recognition to excellent service performers. Creative intrinsic and extrinsic motivating factors could be used to propel service excellence in the company. Select appropriate 'carrots', ranging from financial incentives to a sincere pat on the back, would be much appreciated, depending on the individual’s motivating needs, of course.

B5) Be prepared. Stand-by ready-to-use SOP pertaining to Service Recovery and activate it fast. Given the autonomy to carry out the SOP to rectify the situation first and update the supervisor later. Effective empowerment to frontline staff ensures swift response to correct any wrongs perceived by the customers. Collect feedback and listen to the voice of customers.

c)    Promote customer’s loyalty:

There is a way to proceed with the Service Recovery, its acronym is H.E.A.R.T.

Hear – Focus on the person, never be defensive, use open-ended questions & refrain from drawing conclusions.

Empathy – Be sensitive, treat customer with respect, use neutral tone of voice and select caring words to show understanding.

Apologize – Be sincere towards the person. Never shift the blame to others. Apologize promptly.

Respond – Take ownership on the situation. Present options to solve the challenge. Follow-up closely on the solution.

Thank – Appreciate the time for highlighting the challenge. Thank the customer for his support and understanding.

In some cases, the service challenge arises may be too complicated or may involve other departments’ inputs to resolve on the spot, there's when you need to buy some valuable time to escalate the matter to higher authority. Never make assumptions and promise to customers without getting approval from higher levels. Overpromise can be dangerous.

As service personnel, providing mediocre service standard is not accepted these days. Famous service acronyms like Greet, Smile & Thanks (GST) is already bare minimal. In short, carefully providing curated Service Recovery in responding to any possible service disruptions and transforming them into positive customers’ experiences would be much appreciation.

Wishing you all the great success & hope to hear your success stories soon.

Terence Chow is a freelance Soft Skills Trainer & Curriculum Developer.