Customer Issue Resolution: Do It In Four Steps

Written by: Roger

One of the most important goals of customer service is to satisfactorily resolve customer issues. But fulfilling it can be surprisingly hard. That is why you need to have a more structured strategy. Let’s take a look at the various steps to follow and some strategies you can use to improve your resolution process.

Customer issue resolution step no. 1: Listening to the complaint

When your support service receives a complaint from a customer, the first thing to do is direct it to the right agent immediately. It would help if your team has a clear system on who should answer particular complaints. This lessens the likelihood that the customer will be bounced around to different agents. 

While waiting for the agent to be available, you should use the moment to assure the customer that their issue will be resolved. This is the first step in empathizing with them and managing their emotions. Once they feel more comfortable, you can ask for additional information before handing them over to the agent. 

Listening to the customer issue

Listening to customer issues can be challenging work, as you need to get all the important details right the first time. Customers can become annoyed if they have to repeat all of these several times during the customer support call. This annoyance can result in them dropping the call before the issue is resolved. 

A useful skill here is active listening. This is where you focus on what the customer is saying and comprehend their problems. Here are some ways that your agents can practice when handling customer issues. 

• Tune out distractions: The agent listens intently on what the customer is saying. Wearing headphones helps in canceling external noises so that they can hear everything.
• Don’t think of responses: While the customer is talking, the agent should not simultaneously think about how they will respond and just let the customer finish. This will let them pick up the finer points better.
• Take note of nuances: Observe things like tone, inflection, and body language (for face to face customers). These will give you a clearer idea of the customer’s emotional state.
• Paraphrasing: At certain points, repeat what the customer has already said to clarify certain points that you or they might have missed.
• Take notes: This also helps you better recall the various points the customer has provided. Additionally, this shows that you consider what the customer shares to be important.
• Ask open-ended questions: At the end of the customer’s explanations, feel free to ask open-ended questions. With these, you can determine what they want to be done exactly.

These active listening strategies will help you write a clearer report tol be used for finding a solution. You will also be able to assess customers’ emotions. This is handy when deciding how to convey your solutions to them.

Customer issue resolution step no. 2: Empathize with the customer

As have already been mentioned, empathizing with the customer will help you better understand what they are going through. In turn, this helps you make them feel more at ease while you work out the matter. As such, the second step of customer issue resolution is all about giving them that empathy.

An effective technique to do this is by taking the position of the customer. Go through all the details that they have provided and visualize how you would feel under those same circumstances. You will be able to see whether there are indeed merits to the issues that they have raised. Additionally, you can decide if the solutions they desire are within reasonable limits.

Note that you need to be careful not to apply your preconceived notions, as this can cloud your evaluation. Instead, simply think about the situation and determine what you feel. Once you see the complete picture, you can better think about the solutions that would suit the situation.

Apologizing to the customer

You would also want to apologize for the customer issue. This is another way to show that you care for their plight. If it is a genuine mistake on the company’s part, be ready to take responsibility. On the other hand, if you think that this is due to a misunderstanding, you can assure customers that everything will be clarified. 

Note that apologizing to the customer does not immediately mean the company is in the wrong. However, it tells your customer that you respect their feelings about the situation. Make sure that the apology is sincere and addresses the concerns that they have raised. Using statements like these help convey your apologies better.

You would also want to thank them for reporting the problem. The idea is that you appreciate the fact that they reported the customer issue. Again, assure them that you are working on the matter.

Customer issue resolution step no. 3: Resolve

Once you have gotten all the needed information and understand the customer’s issues, you can start looking out for a solution. In most cases, companies will have a list of predetermined solutions for specific customer issues. Browse through your protocols and choose the one that best suits the customer’s given information. 

You should always focus on providing solutions that can be readily done for the customer. If the customer’s initial request can’t be done, look for alternatives to resolve the issue. Asking other members of the team who might have encountered a similar situation is a good idea. Never deny the customer’s request until you have checked out all the reasonable alternative resolutions.

Elevating the issue

In some instances, you might need to elevate the customer issue to a supervising manager. This is often the case for requests that an agent is not authorized to execute. By elevating the case, you also tell the customer that they are important. But you need to explain to them thoroughly why you are doing the transfer. This helps them be more open to the next person who will be handling the case. 

Meanwhile, the person to whom the customer issue is being elevated must be fully informed about the situation. This is where all the earlier note-taking will be handy, as you can provide these to them for reference. The supervisor can ask the customer certain things but the latter should not feel like they are repeating themselves over again. 

Customer issue resolution no. 4: Following up

Once the customer agrees on the solution you are offering, inform them as to how long it will take to complete. They might ask why it would take that long so you need to patiently state the reason. Make sure that the resolution is indeed done within your stated time to satisfy the customer. If you end up needing more time, inform them well before the initial time ends. 

After the resolution has been executed, return to the customer and ask them whether they are satisfied. If they are, you can thank them for their patience and finalize your report by asking them what they think of the resolution. Encourage them to report back a week later in case of other problems. 

You can also be more proactive in following up by being the one to call a week or so later. Take note of the additional issues they encounter and resolve those in the same manner. Be sure to record everything during the followup for future reference. 

Keep customers happy by resolving their issues properly

The customer issue resolution steps outlined here is just the general flow of the process. Each company will likely have its processes to follow when handling complaints. By developing your specific process, you will be able to better handle these issues and resolve them as efficiently as possible. This will make your customers happy every time.