The Scariest Customer Experience Ever

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No matter how painful or nerve-wrecking they may have been, some events stay with us throughout our lifetime.  Our ability to live with these memories depends upon the degree to which time has lessen the sting we felt while going through the storm. I believe this sting is lessened by the lessons learned and the degree to which we emerged from the situation a better person.  I would argue there is no better canvas to capture the picture of painful lessons learned than those created in the world of customer service.

Given that Halloween is right around the corner, following is my story of the most painful and "scariest" customer experience I have encountered; accompanied by the customer service lessons learned.

courtesy Dr Joseph Valks freedigitalphotos.net

At one point in my career, I was responsible for executive escalation management for an international communications company.  In this role, I worked with all departments to ensure service delivery or other issues escalated to senior management were resolved as expeditiously as possible.  I also interfaced with key customer stakeholders who were driving escalations on behalf of their companies.

Due to an unforeseen technical issue, our projected service delivery date for a large customer was revised beyond that previously given.   This last minute delay severely jeopardized our customer's delivery commitment to their customer.  Their inability to deliver on-time would have a significant revenue impact and cause irreparable harm to their ongoing business relationship.  To paint the frightening picture a little clearer, both our customer and their end-user are major players on Wall Street.

The gravity of this matter resulted in an immediate escalation to our executive team, subsequently landing on my desk.  I reached out to the key customer contacts to assure them we understood the gravity, our senior team was engaged and we would resolve the issue as quickly as possible.  I also assured them we would provide ongoing updates.  We had a 24 hour target, 48 hours worse case, to resolve the issue and deliver.

courtesy MisterGC freedigitalphotos.net

As the 24 hour clock wound down and resolution efforts continued, a status call was convened with the customer and our lead departmental personnel working on the project.  It was during this call that the everlasting "chills" and lessons from this customer experience emerged.

Among the parties on this call was the customer's Senior Project Director.  He was the key managerial point of contact with whom I had initially interfaced and provided updates during this matter.  When we informed the customer we were still working to resolve the issue in order to meet their "drop dead" deadline, the director went ballistic.  I can still feel the heat of his anger which came through the phone in a loud torrent of profanity-laced sentences describing his disgust and total lack of confidence in our abilities.  My personal dagger came when, upon attempting to further explain our efforts, the director curtly stated:

"I need you to shut-up right now. I don't want to hear from you. I need to hear from someone else on this phone....."

courtesy imagerymajestic freedigitalphotos.net

While I had successfully dealt with my share of upset customers, this was by far the most personally attacked I had ever felt.  Suppressing a desire to respond in my own heated manner, I leaned upon my customer service experience and yielded the phone to another top manager.

Before the call ended, our team was able to explain heightened steps being taken to resolve the issue and provide a window to meet their customer's expectations.  While I was emotionally still fuming once the call ended, upon reflection, I realized several key customer service lessons were re-enforced for me.  I am sure they will resonate with you.

- Be Teflon.  Don't Take It Personally.

In the world of customer service, one's emotional well being and ability to best resolve a customer complaint requires Teflon. Much like the non-stick properties of Teflon, we must be equipped to let customer rants slide off and not absorb them personally.  There are indeed lines of professional courtesy that should be honored, especially in business-to-business transactions; however, when the lines are crossed, the best customer service advocates can rise above the fray and focus on the issue at hand.

- Don't Block The Vent.

Like a boiler with a pressure release value, letting the customer vent can be extremely therapeutic. The dark, emotional cloud an upset customer might bring to an encounter can often be lightened if their building frustration is allowed to escape. Once vented, greater focus and collaboration can be brought to the issue at hand.

- They Have A Point of View.

The basis of an upset customer's frustration lies in an actual or perceived failure to meet an expectation.  Whether accurate or not, the bottom line perception is that an agreement was broken. Regardless of company size, its product, service, or the process by which sales, marketing and delivery occurs, it is critical to understand how expectations are set and viewed from the customer's perspective.  This will help one better understand the customer's emotional touch points and triggers.

-  The Mighty Trinity:  Apologize for It.  Claim It.  Fix It Fast.

There is not a business today that has a record of flawless execution.  Things sometimes go wrong and customers may be impacted.  When this occurs, ensure customers receive empathetic apologies, a clear picture of who owns issue resolution and action that demonstrates the issue is being addressed as quickly as humanly possible.  Stuff happens.  What happens after stuff happens can tip the customer's emotional scale in one direction or the other.

- You May Not Know What's Behind The Curtain.

My story ended with what we sometimes call in U.S. football terms a "Hail Mary". We were able to clear some substantial hurdles in a very compressed time-frame to miraculously meet the customer's delivery requirement.  I subsequently learned the Director who blasted us during the call was under a tremendous amount of pressure. It turns out his job and accompanying financial security was at stake.  The scope of the project was such that had it not been delivered on time, his release from the company was expected;  further proof that throughout all aspects of the customer service and customer experience discipline, the human component reigns supreme.

What was your most painful or scariest customer service experience and what did you learn?  Thanks for sharing.

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