In the Fall of 2021 Charlotte Ward asked a number of CX leaders to share a fundamental belief they hold about Customer Support. Here’s my thoughts:
In support, I believe it’s all about making a human connection.
Let’s face it, pretty much no one is contacting us because they like our product and hope we’re having a wonderful day. They’re contacting us because our product didn’t work as expected. Or because they couldn’t find the answer themselves in our knowledge base. Or they weren’t properly trained. Whatever the reason, they needed to stop they were doing, set aside their plans for the day, and reach out to us for help.
At it’s core, the goal of support is to fix a problem. You have a problem. I have a solution. Transaction done.
If we leave it at that, a pure transaction where we did what the customer needed, they’ll likely go away pleased to have their day back on track and satisfied with the resolution.
But people aren’t just robots. We’re complex creatures with complex emotions. Instead of simply solving the problem, It’s much better if we can connect with them as human beings, understand their problem, and make sure they feel heard.
I’m not talking about fake empathy. “I hear your problem, sir, and will take personal responsibility to resolve it.” That doesn’t help. The words are right, but the heart isn’t in it. This isn’t something you can just pretend to to.
Great support goes beyond the transaction. Make the effort to connect on a human level. Truly listen to the issue, don’t jump right to the solution. Acknowledge what’s going on. Then, solve the problem if you can.
In the instance where you can’t immediately solve their problem, the customer you connected with will have more grace with you in turn. They’ll be more understanding of the time it takes you and your team to fix their issue.
In either case, connecting at the human level will meet their need and leave them feeling better about you and your company or product than when they first reached out. This is what true customer satisfaction looks like.