I have had a lot of interactions with customer service lately. Some of it I pursue aggressively to actually get to a resolution but for the most part I think I am just looking for answers.
The bottom line with any form of complaint is transparency. When you are in a sales situation being transparent with your process builds value. An example of that is what the membership sales staff at LA | Fitness would walk their prospects through on the tour. “This machine has Kevlar belts on it to ensure the smoothest operation possible and prevent any interruptions to your workout schedule day after day because it’s more durable than the alternatives.” You don’t need to be an almanac of knowledge but it is really good to know some of the things about the product you are representing to make the sale. When you field a complaint to customer service it should really operate the same way.
Even if the result is the same you can improve your customers’ perception of you by building value in the offer of resolution. “So just to let you know, the reason we charge so much for roaming services in Canada is because we have to strike agreements with Tel-West and they charge us an arm and a leg for every MB we don’t prepay for. That’s why as soon as we detect you’ve entered the area we send you a notification where you can opt-in to our travel plan where we pre-pay for your service.” Go deeper, explain the process, this can also help you refine your service standards. Is the notification sent to the travelling phone or just the account holders? Was it sent by text? Email? Maybe there is a better way? Explaining this process will allow you to even make corrections for the future. What if you are notifying an email the customer no longer checks? Or communicating with an employee who no longer works for your clients company?
Build value in the process, you and your customer will both appreciate identifying where the error occurred and this makes you partners in it’s resolution.
The Magnus Effect 