Love Them Up and Keep Them Forever™

I came across a fantastic example of creative problem solving coupled with outstanding customer service a few months ago and I’ve been holding on to the link so I could share it with our Love Them Up readers. It’s a story about a theatre house manager who is confronted by the loud snoring of a patron in the middle of a row during a performance.  After a bit of thought, she ends up writing him a note, addressing it to his seat number and passing it down the row.  The note she wrote was polite and compassionate and it worked.  You can read it here: http://lateseating.wordpress.com/2008/02/21/letter-to-snoring-patron/

It made me think about how often we use creativity in solving customer service problems at the studio. It can be quite a chaotic environment and because people are involved, mistakes are made and challenges arise daily. Here are a few things I recommend to our staff members.

When faced with a seemingly insolvable problem, bring in someone who knows nothing about it for a new perspective. This works! Since our business is technical in nature, there are times when the technology seems to leave us hanging with no easy solution. However, when we go to a person who hasn’t spent the last hour “brain-damaging” over how to solve the issue, they often see it more clearly and present something very obvious that we had overlooked.

When you are afraid to tell your customer about a human error, do it anyway with honesty and integrity. People can be more understanding than you expect and we’ve all made mistakes. Being straightforward and honest is typically greatly appreciated. Once you’ve admitted the mistake, set about solving it with everything you’ve got.

Go “over the top” with your solution and your make-good. Once you’ve determined how to solve the problem, get on it and make it good. Apologize and make pushing forward with a solution your top priority. Your customer will appreciate it. Once the solution has been implemented, send a “thank you for your patience” note so that your client knows how much you appreciate them.

Figure out the “root cause” of the problem and solve it. It’s the only way you can truly reassure your customer that the same mistake won’t happen again. I know that at the studio, we are frequently complimented for our “aggressive approach” to solving issues.

Don’t apologize over and over - make the first apology meaningful. There is such a thing as too much apologizing and it can make people feel uncomfortable. Once you’ve solved the issue and everyone’s moved on, learn from it and let it go.

Come up with three solutions to every seemingly unsolvable problem before you act. This encourages brainstorming and reaching the “best solution” not just the “first solution.”

Have fun with it - once it’s over. Laughing at yourself - once the problem is solved - can be a serious stress reliever. Because I read it somewhere and loved it, I often say “thank God we don’t make airplanes” when things go particularly nutty.

We’ve found that this approach to creative problem solving results in stronger relationships with our customers. They know that we’re committed to solving issues and mistakes with integrity and thoroughness. And they keep coming back!

Reflections: Think of a situation wherein something went wrong in your attempts to take care of one of your customers. Did you use any of these techniques? If you had, what might have happened?

written by Lori Jo Vest on www.lovethemup.com