As the theme of this months publication is Relationships: Customer Service, Communication and Wellbeing we thought it may be useful to get some tips from our staff here at adiuvo on dealing with customers who call (like they mostly do in our experience) when they have an emergency.
Our teams here at Adiuvo get around 20,000 of calls a month and our professional call handlers have shared their thoughts.
I know it sounds obvious, but our first tip is to REMAIN CALM firstly that’s easier said than done
The caller might yell, curse, and spew negativity at the response a to a burst water main (even though it’s not the managers fault) but 9 times out of 10 a calm, consistent, and professional tone helps to quickly deflate the situation and the caller understands we are here to help.
Responding in a similar manner is the one thing that is guaranteed to do is escalate hostilities
So again, it may sound basic but always great to remember our number one tip when communicating… REMAIN CALM.
Listening is key and specifically active listening. The first thing an angry customer wants is to vent and to do that they need someone to listen. Unfortunately, sometimes you are that person. Listening patiently often can defuse a situation. When a customer feels that their complaint is being taken seriously and fully acknowledged they often respond positively. them out.
Repeat back what your customers say to ensure that both of you understand the issue is. Summarise their concerns and the customer knows you have listened and understood. It also gives them the opportunity to add pertinent details they may have forgotten during an initial outburst.
Thank them for bringing the issue to your attention; a call is an opportunity to show what service and procedures you have in place and it makes the customer feel like their call, and therefore they, are valued.
Explain the steps you’ll take to solve the problem.
In our case this may be an immediate contractor instruction or reporting back to “the main office” (our client) for the next working day. Your customer needs to be made aware of what steps are being taken and on what timetable, and that there is reliable communication. Crucially you then have to actually do what you said you would or the issue will be exacerbated. If the initial proposed solution is subsequently not possible then reverting to provide an update is similarly just as important.
Unfortunately, it is necessary to say “no” in our profession.
With the best will in the world for example, we cannot as Block Managers attend to internal issues. We find that so long as we can advise the correct avenue for callers to proceed with (rather than just the no) we can avoid most of the ill feeling so be aware of the suitable channels to direct callers if it is something that it is not within your remit
Take time after a stressful call to reboot, even if you’ve handled the situation in the most professional way possible.
A quick break can work wonders.
So that’s the top tips from our team here who have possibly the most experience in the industry. We looked at dealing with difficult calls whilst trying to provide excellent customer service and communication.
Adiuvo are a call handling service for the property management industry having currently handled over 895,000 emergencies in 15 years. For more from them, click here.
For more from Flat Living, you can also click here.
