Jan 26
How to Deal with Upset Customers
Corporations have tight rules about how to apologize to avoid lawsuits. This makes their responses to a triggered customer often seem robotic or sterile. There is little psychological safety for staff and clients because of it. We’ll go over some practices you can use to keep your customers feeling satisfied and avoid a legal fall out.
It may surprise you to know that when someone complains about your services, saying, “I’m sorry…” is actually a dismissive response. Many corporations won’t directly do this due to it being an admission of guilt. There is no sincerity in saying I’m sorry and repeating what they said or even worse thanking someone for their feedback. This is how you make a Karen out of a care bear fast.
Empathic space giving takes time and training in a world built on robotic memorization. It is worth taking a training day for your staff with a nonviolent communication expert. You will feel the difference in your body when you are listened to to be understood rather than listened to for a response. Reflection of their feelings and needs is important to make the triggered individual feel heard.
However, if someone is not properly trained, reflection can come off as patronizing. People are all sensitive to others’ emotions, especially when it is centered around understanding their own emotions. Some people confuse spotlight stealing with similar stories as a form of empathy (this writer is guilty.) There are dozens of trainers and facilitators that have different methods to create genuine space holding.
The ability to create safe psychological spaces in a post-pandemic world will make or break large corporations quickly. Society is raw and we are quicker to be stimulated by social interaction than ever before. If you don’t believe me just hop onto any social media platform and see how long it takes for you to trigger an individual. Hand selecting individuals in your organization to be trained empathy angels for those in need will not only help your organization avoid a PR disaster, you will also see a rise in productivity and repeat business.
