Customer Service is like breaking a siege.

You’re a king. It is the state of war and your enemies are at the gates. They first plan to break open the gates, and complement that attack with ladders scaling the walls on the sides. We need to break them, they cannot enter the city, else you and your subjects all die. Peace talks have failed a long time back.

Your army looks up to you. You break into cold sweat at the thought of handling it all, the situation is overwhelming. However, you’re a king. And you act like one. Quite a CEO’s tale.

We’ll look at the 4-step counter assault as four independent customer service scenarios. Let’s assume, for the sake of this article, that you’re providing a fairly satisfactory level of service, and that your product is good. Let’s tackle the situation. Let’s break the siege.

#1 Halting the Siege (tackling irrational statements & demands)

Customers- “I want a 20% discount on your offering, I was referred by a friend. I’m a celebrity, I want 30% discount. I’m a senior business person, I want a 40% discount. I’m a friend, I want a 50% discount. What is special in what you do? You are overcharging me!”

You hear battering rams on the gate, murderous yells of the hostile host outside, waiting to break in. The wood and the iron stands strong, your ethics and values have made them so. You secure the gates and warn the men and they should not open at any cost. Also, the men manning the gates are ordered to drop heavy rocks in order to weaken the rams, and to shoot flaming arrows at the enemy. And boiling oil, hot tar to do the trick.

1. Do not give in. Think multiple times before undervaluing your product. Once you give in, it is difficult to go back.
2. Stand your ground. Be firm. Be polite, diplomatic, straightforward, apologetic (if required) but stand your ground. Do not yield.

#2 Defending the Battlements (team blamed when not at fault)

Customers- “Your team is lousy, I’m not happy with them. The speed at which your team works is slow. Your team forgot. It is your fault. I want a refund.” Ouch. If the accusations are true, you better fix your company fast. If you’re not at fault, we proceed to tackle the attack.

Still attempting to break open the gate, the enemy now hoists ladders up the battlements. The situation is sensitive. You need to defend your gates, and archers atop it from the infantrymen climbing up the walls. How do you push those strong wooden ladders off?

First, you push your infantry men on the battlements, shift archers to the towers (overcrowding battlements is dangerous, plus your firepower is now affected). If you win this battle, remember to rework your battlements so such assaults are not easy to make.

Second, you send a division to attack your foes’ flanks with a hope of lowering the intensity of their attacks on the gate. This risks your army that has rode out to battle, but you need to go all out to save the main gate.

1. Choose your words well. You have to politely face the barrage of complaints, agree to some of them and assure that you will do something about it.
2. False promises do not work, and customers see through it immediately. Ensure you change your processes to avoid such situations again.
3. Go all out to salvage the situation. Try steering the conversation towards subjects that can lead to a consensus.

#3 Hit and Retreat (handling clients during an internal crisis)

You to your Customers- “Dear sir, we’re running late due to a technical glitch. We’re very sorry, but can we please reschedule your appointment?” The situation where you need to take care of your convenience due to an internal crisis. Customers need to be given a ‘valid’ reason for rescheduling/downtime/delay.

Your cavalry rides out and attacks the enemy flanks, desperate to get them away from the walls. They don’t push too hard, and attempt to lead the enemy away from the city. It partly works since it is a hit-and-run tactic, testing the enemy strength, but not inviting the entire might of the hostiles upon them. Once it works, the cavalry plans its way back into the city.

1. Test the limits till which you can insist on changing the customer’s schedule. It is not worth losing the customer.
2. Craft the emails/calls well, which helps cover up your attempted insistence in case the customer stands firm on his decision.
3. Study how it worked, if it does. Ensure on improving processes, focus on improving communication with lessons taken from these interactions.

#4 Sacrifice Lives (lose something to gain something)

Often, escalated issues might leave a bad taste in our mouths. Such situations ought to be avoided at all costs. Though you’re right in your place, communicating that to the self-righteous customer is dangerous. An unhappy customer talks about it to his network. The news spreads and has the potential to seriously damage a company’s reputation. It is a risk not worth taking. Choosing which battle to fight is tricky and painful.

As the cavalry heads back to the main city to join the main frontal assault that is being launched on the disarrayed enemy, a significant enemy host starts burning your neighboring farming villages. We have an option of riding out to defend them, but that will split your army, making it vulnerable. There is no guarantee of how many lives you’ll save. It makes sense to focus on frontal assault from the city. And that is what you do.

1. Understand the limits to which you can insist on your perspective, while dealing with a customer. Do not push beyond that limit, it risks the very relationship.
2. Be diplomatic, give in to certain demands, offer complimentary services if necessary. Focus your full strength on solving the issue.

Why is Customer Service like breaking a siege?

That’s because you prioritize, handle resources consciously during an emergency, focus on strengths, complement weaknesses, know what to sacrifice and know when to retreat. You get to choose battles, you get to focus on what will ensure victory.

Your thoughts would be helpful. Love and peace.