Top 6 WORST Things You Can Say to a Customer
Saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment can turn a challenging situation into a catastrophe. We've found that many teams struggle to maintain customer confidence during issue resolution. Let's examine what not to say (and why).
The 6 worst things you could say to a customer while dealing with an issue:
6) "It couldn’t be our fault"
Jumping immediately to a defensive position only causes the customer to push harder. Approach problems with an open mind - maybe the problem is on our side, maybe it's on the customer side – we're going to systematically explore the possible causes until we find the offender. You're going to need to collaborate with your customer to collect relevant evidence during your root cause investigation - don't alienate them right from the start.
5) "My supplier made the mistake, not me"
Excuses don't fly. You selected and qualified your supplier, therefore you are responsible for your supplier's performance. Managing your supply chain is your responsibility. Finger pointing is not going to help your position. The customer wants to see you taking responsibility. Note: This applies to both external suppliers (another company) and internal suppliers (your company but a different functional team, site, or department).
4) "We’re waiting for…"
The customer is in crisis due to an issue involving your product or service and your contribution is WAITING?!?! This will irritate the customer. Customers want to see proactivity. If you are in a situation where you need inputs, show the plan for how you're going to get the needed info/parts/etc. and the expected timing. "Waiting" is never a good look when there's a problem at hand.
3) "We're too busy..."
You're resource constrained. So is everyone else. This is not your customer's problem. Telling your customer you were too busy working on something else to help them will infuriate them – you're basically telling them they aren't important. That's the fastest way to get them looking for a new supplier. Instead, escalate within your organization to shift priorities or get the needed resources to address the issue with urgency.
2) "No"
If the customer has asked you to do something unfeasible, not valuable, distracting, or otherwise ill-advised, "Yes, but..." Is a much better strategy than "No." Show the customer the trade-offs involved in their request and focus attention on what you can do. "We could do [customer suggestion] but that would take resources away from [current plan] which we agreed was the best chance of success. Our recommendation is to stay the course until if and when the data suggests otherwise."
1) "Yes"
Many teams are quick to give in to customer demands and wind up over-promising. You might get out of the first meeting unscathed, but you're set up for tough times ahead when you can't deliver on commitments. The best strategy here is actually the same as for #2 above. Lay out the various options and collaborate with the customer to develop and agreed plan of action. Involving the customer in the planning helps them see what's involved in the investigation and issue resolution and tends to keep their requests reasonable.
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