Are you listening or just waiting on your turn to speak?

Many times, I find myself on a call with a customer, and I can see they aren't paying attention. They’re just waiting for their chance to rebut, even if I am agreeing with them and merely explaining an issue. It's a complicated dance we play in life and work. Who is right? Who is wrong? Why does it matter? I'm here to tell you that, in most cases, it doesn't matter. It's how we deal with the issue that is the real issue. Your story or narrative may seem important to what's going on, but when dealing with a client, the focus should always be on the solution.

Consider a scenario where you are dealing with a very upset and irate client who wants a speedier response time to a support ticket. They want their questions answered, they want to be heard, they want someone fired, and they want more people hired. These are all things I have heard before on calls related to this topic.

I always focus on what I can actually change. I am not in charge of support, so I cannot speed them up, nor am I in charge of hiring, so I can’t fire or hire more members of that team. However, I am the point person for the client, so I can escalate the issue to the support manager and offer to assist the customer with tickets moving forward until the situation calms down. This is within my control. More often than not, I will take an approach from the customer’s side and try to find a way where everyone is satisfied. There are always going to be circumstances that are out of my control. This is unavoidable. Just as there are always going to be issues that come up. The best way to get ahead of them is to learn from your clients and try to anticipate and address potential issues proactively.

In this case, I would keep an eye on their open tickets in whatever ticketing system your company uses, and when it reaches a certain time frame, I would respond and let them know our team is on it and that it will be handled expeditiously. Think about how you would feel as a customer if you reached out to a company with whom you just signed a very large contract and things weren't going as expected. You would probably be mad as well. Maybe expectations were set too high in the sales call—who knows? But if you can take a step back and feel what your customer feels, it will help you to better assess the situation and build a stronger relationship for years to come.

If you can build trust and respect, it becomes a two-way street that always leads to success.