Telephone training

Resolving complaints needs the right state of mind

As well as knowledge and skill, your agents need the right mind-set to handle challenging calls.  Glenn Bracey, of Future Vision Training, has advice you can use

RESOLVING complaints and challenging calls have as much to do with our mind-set as any structure, skill or technique.  The ways in which we think and feel, before, during and after a testing conversation creates our behaviours and it is our behaviours that make for a successful complaint resolution.
Naturally, the first step is to ensure staff and managers are equipped with the knowledge and structure to handle a complaint.  This includes being confident with the pre-agreed process and detailing the responsibility level of each individual, so that a complaint is structured from start to resolution.
This may appear obvious, at first, but you’d be surprised at the number of organisations that have not got around to a) putting a clear complaint structure in place or b) ensuring that their staff are confident and clear about using the structure.
Once the knowledge-based structure is secure, confident understanding of the most effective skills and techniques is required.  This includes language skills of what to say and what not to say. Beneath this, mind-set work is paramount, because unless the “right” mind-set is selected, inadvertently the “wrong” skills, language and techniques will be used.

The way in which we express ourselves in challenging relationships literally begins to affect the functioning of our immune system

Should we not realise that it is our thoughts and feelings that determine the successful outcome of complaints and emotional calls we unknowingly display inappropriate behaviours in our conversations and take our ineffective thoughts, feelings and beliefs into the next call.  Further, this is also when, (in our head at least) we start blaming the customer!
To ensure that your teams learn the art of welcoming, transforming and eventually benefiting from complaints there are three fundamental aspects to master:

Knowledge
Skills
Mind-set

Mind-set and complaints In the last issue, my colleague, Tony Dain, mentioned studies that have been conducted on doctors who receive higher numbers of complaints and are sued by their patients. The reasons why they are sued are not because they lack knowledge, technical ability or appropriate qualifications but because they create poor relationships with their patients and are unaware they are doing so.  In their mind set, they believe their behaviour is appropriate and justified.
A worthwhile behaviour and skills model to assist in handling complaints is the SAVER Model, co-developed by Mark Hawkswell. The model identifies four main thinking-behaviour types:

"With respect..."

Comforter Those who demonstrate “comforter” behaviours tend to shy away from being assertive, with a passive mind-set that is “afraid to rock the boat”

Deserter Those with “deserter” behaviours tend to have a mind-set that supports getting rid of the complaint to ensure these calls don’t negatively affect their daily life

Combatant Those with a combatant style are supported by a mind-set that has to win and control

Agents throughout call centres unknowingly communicate contempt and superiority within the language they use…further igniting negative customer responses and increased stress levels

Saver The “saver” mind-set, and subsequent behaviours, is the most effective style, based upon thoughts and behaviours that display integrity and fairness.

Thought, emotions and behaviour  Psychological research from the University of Washington reveals the most damaging thinking and behaviours to display within a conversation with others.  The extensive studies carried out by psychologist John Gottman have allowed him to predict, with alarming accuracy, those aspects of mind-set and behaviour that are the most corrosive. They are

Defensiveness
Stonewalling
Criticism
Contempt

Interestingly, there is one out of the four that is the most damaging – contempt.
Gottman explains: “You’d think that criticism would be the worst, because it is a global condemnation of a person’s character.  Yet contempt is qualitatively different from criticism.  With criticism I might…respond defensively…and that’s not good for our problem solving and interaction.  But if I speak from a superior plane, that’s far more damaging, and contempt is any statement made from a higher level…It’s trying to put that person on a lower level plane than you. It’s hierarchical”.
Gottman has even established that the presence of contempt in an important relationship such as a marriage can predict such things as how long the couple will stay together and how many colds a husband or wife gets.
In other words, the way in which we express ourselves in challenging relationships literally begins to affect the functioning of our immune system. I wonder how often this affects health, sickness and absenteeism in the work place.
Agents throughout call centres unknowingly communicate contempt and superiority within the language they use.  When they do so, they not only mishandle the situation but further ignite negative customer responses, increase stress levels and unnecessarily elongate a negative conversation.
 

Listen out for agents unknowingly communicating contempt and superiority with language such as, “Sir”, “Madam”, “As I just told you”, “Can I just say”, “Yes, but”, “Yes, however” “With respect”  “Obviously”, “If you’d only let me speak”, “You’ve come through to the wrong department”.
Defensiveness is often communicated in language such as, “I don’t have to tell you my name”, “Unfortunately”, “I’m afraid”, “I’m sorry but”, “The computer system (or other department) is a bit slow”, “All I can do is…”  “I can only do…”
Typical stonewalling comes in the forms of, “Hold on”, “Hang on”, Bear with me”, “You’ll have to write in about that”, “The managers not available”
Once agents realise the hidden messages they are sending to their customers within their language, which only serve to aggravate the complaint, challenging or emotional call, they begin to re-think their approach and learn the art of choosing clean, influential language instead.
In 25 years of call centre experience I still find it amazing how little training, learning and coaching is given to staff in the areas of mind-set change, transforming emotions and using appropriate, influential language.

"I don't have to give you my name"

Summary  Because thoughts, feelings and emotions affect our behaviour and therefore every relationship we have, your business results depend on understanding these vital elements. Ask yourself: “How do the thoughts, feelings and emotions of my staff affect the complaints and challenging calls we receive?” Further, you may decide to Ensure you have a clear process to handle complaints and staffs are confident of the do’s and don’ts of this structure. Introduce a behaviour model, such as SAVER; this not only aligns the right behaviours but also determines which staffs are best suited to a complaints role; which staffs aren’t currently suited and which require further development. Implement learning on emotions; how emotions affect our communication style and effectiveness and how to avoid the four most damaging responses (as detailed in the psychological research) Introduce clean, influential language, as you work to rid staff of ineffective communication that exacerbates complaint, challenging and emotional calls.

PROFILE

Glenn Bracey is the co-founder of Future Vision Training.   He leads the company’s training team; presents workshops focusing on behavioural, mind-set and performance change.  He is a regular speaker on human communication and is soon to publish his first book: The awareness to Never Have a Bad Day Again’.
Contact: glenn@futurevisiontraining.co.uk