Customer conflicts that drone on only make for tired and frustrated customers and edgy service reps. That’s why you should strive to rectify your customer’s problem on the first try.

Resolving customer conflicts on the first encounter has multiple benefits, including:

1. You’ll increase customer satisfaction because your customers won’t have to call back a second or third time.
2. Spending less time with each customer translates to saving money and having more time to help other customers.
3. Solving a customer’s problem during the initial encounter means you’ll have fewer pieces of unfinished business to track and follow up with.

The next time you’re faced with a customer problem that you can’t solve on the first time, identify why. Ask yourself these questions:

• Did the customer want something that I lacked the authority to provide?
• Was I not in the mood to be helpful today?
• Am I unsure what to do in certain situations?
• Do I lack creative ideas or do I rely on my script to get me through my phone calls?

Once you identify why you weren’t able to solve your customer’s problem on the first try, meet with your manager to brainstorm ways to overcome your obstacles. For example, if your customer has a very complex problem that requires communicating with people in different departments, a viable solution might be to initiate a quick conference call to iron out the details.

Filed under: Customer Service Corner