Providing strategic service that covers from pre-sales to post-sales is essential for any company that wants to achieve success and longevity in the market. For this reason, it’s important to adopt techniques for conflict resolution in customer service.
After all, friction between people is inevitable! So, if you are looking for information about how to implement conflict management in your business, this article is for you! See below how you can ensure a healthy routine for your employees and a positive customer experience.
What are the main causes of conflicts in customer service?
Conflict is inevitable in customer service, as in any human relationship. However, with some techniques, you can manage them effectively.
Here are some of the main reasons that can cause friction with customers:
1. Communication issues
Problems like lack of clarity, use of technical terms, and sharing of incomplete information lead to customer frustration. Also, providing inadequate channels to communicate with your target audience makes problem solving more difficult and increases dissatisfaction.
Another common cause of conflict in customer service is the lack of empathy in communication.
2. Problems with products or services
Offering products or services that do not meet customer expectations are also reasons that may require a conflict resolution in customer service. Also, confusing policies and rules may cause doubts, misinterpretations, and disagreements.
3. Human factors
The lack of agent knowledge and training leads to poor service and frequent errors. On the other hand, it’s important to consider whether conflicts with your agents are not being caused by excessive bureaucracy and lack of team autonomy to solve problems.
What is conflict resolution in customer service?
Conflict resolution in customer service consists of a number of practices whose primary goal is to prevent friction. However, it involves much more than that.
Conflict management also includes the identification and resolution of disagreements between the company and its customers. Therefore, the primary purpose of this strategy is to minimize problems arising from such conflicts, ensuring customer satisfaction and avoiding undesirable consequences for the company’s image.
Read more on the blog: Building customized service flow to enchant customers
What are the consequences for a company that fails at conflict resolution in customer service?
As you saw above, conflicts between customers and companies are practically impossible to avoid. However, with good conflict management in customer service, it becomes easier to resolve them and turn a negative experience into a positive experience.
Though, have you ever thought about the risks of not managing conflicts in customer service? See some terrible things that a lack of strategy can do to your business:
- Unhappy customers and brand detractors: unresolved (or inadequately resolved) conflicts cause frustration. This feeling can lead customers to post negative reviews, damaging the company’s reputation.
- Increased churn rate: the churn rate represents the percentage of customers who cancel their services or products in a given period. It tends to increase significantly when conflicts are not managed effectively, as dissatisfied customers tend to look for alternatives elsewhere, probably with your competitor.
- Obstacles to attract new customers: bad reputation generated by unresolved conflicts makes it difficult to attract new customers, which adversely impacts business growth.
- Increased costs: resolving poorly managed conflicts will result in additional costs associated with rework, lawsuit, and lost productivity.
- Loss of talent: talented professionals tend to avoid working for companies with negative and conflicting work environments, leading to a loss of talent and inability to attract new employees;
- Risk of lawsuit: dissatisfied customers who don’t get their problems resolved may pursue their rights in court, incurring legal costs and other headaches.
How can you manage customer conflicts?
Now, that you know the benefits of good conflict resolution in customer service, and what can happen to your company without such strategy, it’s time to learn how to implement it in your customer service operation.
1. Identify and analyze the causes of the conflict
First, determine the cause of the problem. Listen carefully to the customer and gather all relevant information. Analyze what caused the disagreement, considering all factors and people involved.
2. Understand the customer’s pain behind the conflict
More than solving the technical problem, it’s important to understand the customer’s pain. Then, put yourself in his/her shoes and try to understand his/her frustrations and emotions. Showing empathy in customer service will help you calm the situation and build a relationship of trust.
3. Assume responsibility
If the company has made a mistake, it’s important to take responsibility. A sincere apology can make a big difference in customer perception. It shows that your company values transparency and is willing to correct its mistakes.
4. Take action to resolve the conflict and inform the customer with transparency
Once you understand the problem and take responsibility, it’s time to act. Resolve the conflict as quickly and efficiently as possible. Remember to keep the customer informed about each step in the process and communicate with transparency and clarity.
5. Analyze the entire scenario and learn lessons
After resolving the conflict, analyze the entire scenario to identify areas for improvement. Bring the team together and discuss what can be done to prevent similar situations in the future. Learning from conflict is essential for continuous growth and improvement.
6. Look at the business as a whole to understand the real cause of the conflict
A specific conflict may indicate a larger problem in the organization. Then, it’s important to analyze whether there are recurring patterns and evaluate internal processes that may be contributing to the problems. This way, systemic failures can be identified and addressed.
How can you train your team to deal with conflict management?
A well-trained team is essential for effective conflict management. Some recommended practices include:
- Thank the customer for getting in touch: teach the team to always thank the customer for getting in touch, showing that their opinion is valued;
- Stay calm: train employees to remain calm and professional, even in stressful situations;
- Show empathy: empathy must be a constant practice. It shows that you understand and care about the customer;
- Apologize: when necessary, apologize sincerely. It can help diffuse customer frustration and pave the way for effective conflict resolution.
Milvus – all your customer service management, from pre-sales to post-sales, in one place
You need efficient tools to facilitate conflict management and improve customer experience, such as Milvus. This intelligent customer service management platform allows you to:
- Receive and organize customer requests from all channels in one place;
- Create a self-help center;
- Provide intelligent support;
- Optimize team tasks;
- Manage all actions from one place;
- and much more.
Therefore, with features that monitor and analyze every interaction, Milvus helps your company quickly identify and resolve conflicts. It also provides valuable insights to continuously improve your processes.
To learn more about our platform and its features for customer service management, contact us now for a free trial.
