The Customer Service Survival Kit: What to Say to Defuse Even the Worst Customer Situations
- 2h 51m
- Richard S. Gallagher
- AMACOM
- 2013
The worst customer situations demand more of front-line employees than good intentions and the right attitude. These kinds of issues can send seasoned service professionals into red alert, and require the communication skills of a crisis counselor. The Customer Service Survival Kit explains how to use the right words to turn volatile scenarios into calm and productive customer encounters. Anyone can learn this delicate art with the book's blend of clear techniques, lessons from behavioral science, case studies, situation-specific advice, and practice exercises. Readers will discover: the power of leaning into criticism; trigger phrases that can make bad situations worse; the secret to helping people feel deeply heard in a crisis; how to use the divide-and-conquer approach to safely deliver bad news; indispensable problem-solving tools; how to become immune to intimidation; how to wrap up transactions so that customers are happy; and more! Best yet, learning to handle worst-case scenarios has the spillover effect of boosting the skills and confidence needed to deal effectively with any customer - the key to radical improvements in every organization.
About the Author
Rich Gallagher MA, MFT is one of the nation’s leading experts on workplace communications skills. His nine books include What to Say to a Porcupine: 20 Humorous Tales That Get to the Heart of Great Customer Service (AMACOM, 2008), a national number one customer service and business humor bestseller and finalist for 800-CEO-READ’s 2008 Business Book Awards in the Fables category; as well as How to Tell Anyone Anything: Breakthrough Techniques for Handling Difficult Conversations at Work (AMACOM, 2009).
A former customer service executive and practicing psychotherapist as well as a popular public speaker, Gallagher focuses on the mechanics of what to say in difficult situations, based on the latest principles of behavioral psychology. His track record includes helping to lead a West Coast software startup to become a major NASDAQ company as its director of customer services, as well as leading a 24/7 call center to near-perfect customer satisfaction and near-zero turnover. His training and development firm, Point of Contact Group, has taught over twenty thousand people how to take control of any interpersonal situation.
Gallagher is a member of the National Speakers Association, and he is a veteran of numerous speaking engagements, media appearances, and corporate workshops. He also was the subject-matter expert for the American Management Association’s Communication Boot Camp program.
In this Book
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Understanding the “Uh-Oh” Moment
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Leaning Into Criticism
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Achieving Deep Acknowledgment
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Avoiding Trigger Phrases
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Divide and Conquer: The Safe Way to Deliver Bad News
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Powerful Problem Solving: Beyond “Yes We Can” and “No We Can’t”
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Reframing Your Message
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Grounding an Angry Outburst
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Becoming Immune to Intimidation
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The Wrap-Up
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You’re the Boss
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Don’t You Know Who I Am?
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The Concert That Never Was
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I’ll Be Suing You
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Quelling a Social Media Firestorm
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Just Plane Terrible
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Anger Management
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Not So Smart
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When Talking Isn’t Enough: Keeping Yourself and Your Customer Safe
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From Customer Crisis to Excellent Service: Lessons for the Whole Organization
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