Good Service for Bad Customers

What do you do when your customers don’t deserve good customer service?

Here at Miles & Company, we talk about delivering Shareworthy Service to your customers. It’s what we firmly believe will set you apart from the competition, back up your message, and drive your social media presence.

When I read this article by Matt Walsh writing for Huff Post Business, I realized we probably need to talk  about preparing your employees to deliver Shareworthy Service to EVERY customer, even the knuckleheads.

Knuckleheads by definition are rude, inappropriate, discontent, dishonest, loud, mean or some combination of those. You know who they are. You’ve been behind them in line. You’ve flown with them. You may have even been one of them, on an isolated really-bad-day occasion.

Here are four ways to prepare your employees for the knuckleheads:

1. Teach them to expect it. People being people will have bad days. So close to the edge is our society, the slightest misalignment of service can set anyone off on any given day. Train employees to use a softer voice when confronted. To be patient. To smile. To be understanding of circumstances. Practice and role play these situations in training, so your employees will have the language to use in specific situations.

2. Give them a strong identity. What does it mean to work for your company? Make sure your employees are so keyed in on your goals and values.  that they know exactly how to act when confronted with a knucklehead situation. There’s a great urban legend in my town, that famous actor Tom Hanks once visited a local ice cream vendor. When the young server at the window was so star-struck she couldn’t speak, he looked her in the eye and with great kindness and encouragement that every employer should model, said, “Amy, you can do this. You are a Custard Cup employee!” Do THAT for your employees!

3. Create a team environment. When we talked recently with managers of a Tim Horton’s franchise up in Calgary, the number one thing they talked about was the importance of team. It became clear that they stood together with their employees and they did all they could to foster a team environment. When one customer behaves badly, the whole team responds to support each individual.

4. Empower them to report abusive behavior. Stand behind them, and stand up for them. Better to lose a routinely unpleasant customer than a good employee. If he sees you have his back, you will have a loyal employee and a star recruiter. Your employees are your most important customers.

Knuckleheads are out there, and chances are good that we will all bump into them or even be one of them once in awhile. Get your employees ready for them so the knuckleheads won’t have the power to derail your commitment to providing Shareworthy Service.