Handling customer’s special requests is often a challenge because you can’t always see the root cause behind that request and how it aligns with your standard operating procedures.
As I waited for a recent flight, I observed an interesting exchange between an airline gate agent and a customer.
A couple approached the counter and the man asked for a pass to allow them to do pre-boarding. The gate agent asked him two questions. He answered no to both. The agent said she was sorry but she couldn’t give him priority boarding.
The man immediately said, “Let me speak to your supervisor!”
While waiting for supervisor to arrive, the man made some other comments that allowed the agent to uncover the reasons why the man wanted pre-boarding. With these new details, the picture was clearer and the agent was able to see that pre-boarding was actually allowed in this case.
The gate agent told the man that she was “required to ask those two questions to allow pre-boarding. If you say no, then I can’t let you pre-board.” She followed it up with a “Please don’t get mad at me for doing my job.”
The customer, who never appeared to be in a good mood to begin with, snapped back, “I don’t need your attitude.”
To the agent’s credit, she never lost her temper or raised her voice. However, the entire exchange could have gone smoother if she had better understood the customer’s needs from the beginning.
Ask the customer why they need something and they’ll likely give you the information you need to make a more informed decision and give viable alternatives.
Get to the root cause of an issue and you can see if it really does meet your rules, regulations, or procedures. This will eliminate a lot of customer angst and will help diffuse tense situations.
I think you make a great point with this article, but I think that the problem goes beyond the employee not understanding the context behind the customer’s request. If a customer can answer both of the required questions with a “no” and still have a circumstance in which they are eligible for pre-boarding, then the airline should reconsider what their required questions are– or better yet, allow the employee to use his or her own discretion in gathering the relevant information. Often times, employees can get caught up between what the company wants them to do and what they think is right, and sometimes the customer suffers because of that, as illustrated in this blog post.
@Ian – I think that a problem at the core here was that the two weren’t communicating. The airline employee didn’t clarify the situation and the customer was mad from the beginning and didn’t express himself clearly.
However, if the situation keeps arising that the questions don’t match the reality of the situation, then the process and questions should be changed just as you have stated.
Joe, this is a great piece that could solve a lot of problems before they get heated. Your advice is right on the money. As this article (http://www.upyourservice.com/learning-library/customer-service-perception-points/the-words-you-choose-to-use) points out, the words people choose to use can make or break customer service experiences. A little understanding and flexibility can go a long way toward winning a customer for life.
@Tamara – words are vital to our communication. We should try to understand the intent of the words we hear instead of just assuming we know what people meant.