Technician vs. Customer – The winner is not always obvious

Imagine, if you will, that after placing a service call you are at home or work and a technician has arrived to fix a specific problem. Now imagine that when the technician has completed the repair he/she begins explaining what the problem was and how they resolved it. Thinking about the explanation, you realize that what they have just explained makes no sense. You politely ask the technician, how could the problem be resolved when your solution defies all rules of gravity? Even though you have brought science in to the equation, the technician still insists that what you are saying is wrong and that the way he/she fixed the problem is the right way. You explain to him/her again how what they have just said could scientifically not be possible. At this point, the technician has become defensive and your questioning has instigated an argument. You realize that the discussion is going nowhere but downhill and you concede or agree to disagree with the technician and they get in their vehicle and leave.

Forgetting for a moment what the actual problem was and/or how it was resolved, I want to bring your attention to the bigger issue in this scenario, that being that the technician chose to argue with the customer. In the service industry or any other industry for that matter, arguing with the customer is or should be construed as a cardinal sin. One simple rule takes precedent in these types of situations, and that one rule is followed by large companies such as Home Depot, Lowes, and many many others. The one simple rule that should have governed the above scenario is that THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. If your technicians don't understand this simple phrase it could be devastating to your business and here is why...

Something that is not always seen through the eyes of a technician is that companies, service or otherwise, work very hard and spend a lot of money to obtain just one customer. When the customer finally spends money with your company, it is important that they stay happy with your services and your employees. When a customer experiences a pleasant person, even when ironing out a problem, they are more likely to do two important things to help make your company more successful. First, if they purchased a service agreement from you, they are more likely to renew that agreement. When a customer renews a service agreement, that revenue goes straight to the bottom line and all your company had to do was to keep them happy. Second, a customer that is happy with ALL of their experiences with your company is more likely to tell other people about who you are and what you do, but most importantly how well your people handle tough situations. This is FREE advertisement and, in addition to the increased revenue from their renewal, a happy customer has now also brought your company more customers and a larger bottom line.

So how do you handle training your technicians to be better prepared in situations such as these? For starters, make sure they know and follow rule number one above – The Customer is Always Right. The next step is to teach your technician how to diffuse a potentially bad situation with a customer. One way to do this is to have the technician go over what they did to fix the problem step by step with the customer. It may sound elementary, but another way would be to draw the customer a picture as to what caused the problem and then showing how the problem was resolved. As a last resort, your technician may want to tell the customer that if the problem comes back, call them and they will return to take another approach.

The truth is there are many different tactics a technician can use to help the customer understand the solution. In some cases, none of those tactics may work to console the customer if you are dealing with someone who just wants to be difficult. If the customer just won’t understand the solution, don’t argue with them. If all else fails ask them to talk to a manager and provide them a name and a phone number. Sometimes, the customer just wants to make sure that the work that was done was done in the best way possible. A manager can validate this for them without causing an argument and while backing up the work done by the technician.

In the case of technicians vs. customers, the “winner” should always be your customer. After all, they are the ones paying your bills and keeping your company in the black. Teach them strategies for avoiding bad situations and tactics for dealing with those situations should they arise. There are many resources out on the web to aid in educating your techs. Check out this excellent paper written by William K. Pollock from Strategies for Growth titled Empowering Field Technicians through Technical and Customer Service Training. Search around and pick some tools that apply to your business. If nothing else, just keep reminding your technicians that The Customer Is Always Right no matter what.
Do your technicians know how to handle difficult customers? If so, how do you educate them to make certain that they leave the customer happy? Let us know below.