Our story begins on an unseasonably sunny hot spring day in the
Port of Miami. In the chaos that is
embarkation, my family dumps two pieces of luggage to a porter to begin a
welcomed gorgeous cruise on the Atlantic. Our porter physically writes our
cabin number on the tags, attaches said paper tags to our bags, and places them
in the cage with hundreds of other pieces that belong to our new best friends, aka fellow travelers.
We next queue with several thousands of passengers to begin the check-in
process. Moooooo!
When asking questions use a tone that communicates you are solutions oriented. Do not sound like the police or look for holes in the customer’s story. The best approach is question the guest with a positive 50/50 mindset. Fifty percent could be their fault, because people do all sorts of silly things or simply make mistakes. But critically, 50 percent could be the organization’s fault due to poor procedures or employee mistakes. Until you know, do not place blame, and whoever is at fault it doesn’t matter, it is in the organization’s best interest to fix it.
I felt bad for the employees we asked what should be a simple question, “What is the likelihood you will find our luggage?” Or “What happens if it wasn’t found and left in Miami?” This must happen all the time, so I was surprised there wasn’t a concrete answer or procedure. Employees truly felt bad for us, and we never raised our voice, but they had no skills how to respond.
Normally, this is end of the check-in story, but of course it was not or there would be no blog. :) Our one suitcase with ALL of our clothes for 2
weeks did not arrive. By midnight the
first evening, we are not sure it made it on the ship. The next morning my husband and I analyze,
strategize, theorize what to do about our missing bag. I am
almost frantic with worry. So much for being the Customer Service Guru.
Luckily, our bag was found by noon the next day after an extensive
cabin by cabin search by the housekeeping team. Our cabin number ended in 78, but the
handwritten tag on the large piece looked like 18, which was unoccupied this
cruise. There was no passenger in the
room to say it didn’t belong to them.
We were fortunate to have a happy ending. What was more interesting was the
psychological experience my husband and I had during the 24 hours we did not
have our bag and the actions of the staff.
If you are in the customer service industry, read on for three tips for three easy service recovery tips.
Number
1: Rarely is the Issue Presented the
Real Issue
As hours passed and it seemed more realistic the bag will not be found, I became increasingly upset. It wasn’t mad at the cruise line, per se, it
was the unsure feeling of “What are we going to do?”
Yes, clothes can be purchased and yes, there are
bigger problems in the world. The
question that stressed me the most, “Can I purchase in 2 days on a floating
vessel all the items I had accumulated over years, to enjoy this cruise experience?” The answer was a flat out no. Could I have got by? Sure. But
this was not a situation I created! I
followed the company’s luggage policies.
This was highly stressful and made our first 24 hours onboard semi-miserable.
It is not the lost bag truly bothering me. I am scared what is in the bag is simply gone and
how that will affect my vacation. Instead of focusing on this once in a
lifetime experience, I am thinking insurance claims, arguing with front office
managers, and laundering the same underwear for 12 days. None of this is appealing.
TIP 1: To any employee attempting to help me,
understand the underlying fear I have about the situation. I don’t need empathy, I need understanding. The customer is usually upset about something
deeper than the situation presented. When solving, first define the problem presented and second define the core issue bothering the customer.
Number 2: Pumped
Up for a Fight
Since I am in the customer service consulting business, my mind was
instantly racing how difficult it would be to get the cruise line
make this right if the bag was gone. It
seems companies are trying to wiggle away from responsibility when issues
arrive, so I was preparing to present my case like I was arguing before the Supreme Court. Does this sound
like a great vacation? What do you think
I would tell my friends and family about this trip?
I prepped for my interrogation and cross examination. Did I use a luggage transfer company? No.
Did I ride in a cab or taxi to the port?
No. Did I put the bag in the
porter’s possession? Yes. My husband was asked these questions when he
first approached guest services about
the bag.
TIP 2: Customers train for a fight when trying to
resolve service issues. Perhaps it is
our cultural, perhaps it is their history with the company, or perhaps it is the
tone of the employees. When solving, first
employees or managers must assure the customer you want to help and blame is secondary to the solution.
When asking questions use a tone that communicates you are solutions oriented. Do not sound like the police or look for holes in the customer’s story. The best approach is question the guest with a positive 50/50 mindset. Fifty percent could be their fault, because people do all sorts of silly things or simply make mistakes. But critically, 50 percent could be the organization’s fault due to poor procedures or employee mistakes. Until you know, do not place blame, and whoever is at fault it doesn’t matter, it is in the organization’s best interest to fix it.
Number
3: At a Loss for Words
I felt bad for the employees we asked what should be a simple question, “What is the likelihood you will find our luggage?” Or “What happens if it wasn’t found and left in Miami?” This must happen all the time, so I was surprised there wasn’t a concrete answer or procedure. Employees truly felt bad for us, and we never raised our voice, but they had no skills how to respond.
TIP 3: For your top 5 service issues, put procedures
in place and communicate it to all employees.
Have them practice saying the proper response in the most common
language of your customers.
It would have made all the difference to our anxiety level if
anyone, including the housemen had said something similar to this:
“We have a procedure. Please check with guest services for
unclaimed bags. Sometimes tags accidently
are pulled off the luggage with so many bags coming on board. If it is not there, and another guest does
not put it out of their stateroom by tomorrow, we will have the housekeeping
staff do a cabin by cabin search. 95% of
the time, the luggage is found this way if it made it on the ship. If it is not found, then you will talk to our
guest services manager and they will do everything we can to help you still
have a great cruise. We have some
clothing and toiletries available for you to sleep tonight, …”
Relief is
Underrated
After an hour alone watching a cooking demonstration, mostly
to distract me, I returned to the cabin.
Our clothes were on the couch! I
was in such disbelieve and complete relief, I started crying. Seriously, balling like a baby.
Companies underestimate the negative affect on customers when
something goes wrong. Yes, there is the
loss of business, company loyalty, all the formal impacts addressed in
other blogs. My theme is the psychology
your customers go through during any service recovery situation. It is deflating, bothersome, and emotionally
draining. It will affect your long-term relationship with this customer.
If your customers could articulate what they are really trying to
say when a problem occurs it would be this, “This situation is temporarily
ruining my life. Simply help me. Use your skills, resources, and talents to do
your best and make this better.”
If that can become your service recovery philosophy, you will have
calm seas in the storm of any service issue.
No comments:
Post a Comment