Satisfying customers is paramount to conducting quality business in today’s fast-paced world. Thriving businesses find creative ways to deal with customers, satisfy their needs, and effectively manage conflicts. Mastering customer service de-escalation techniques is vital to the health and wealth of your business.
De-escalation training for employees has become one of the most effective paths to managing volatile situations. Customer de-escalation professionals often recommend the HEARD model since it offers a structured approach to handling customer conflicts. The HEARD model is useful for employees working directly with customers. Utilizing the right conflict resolution techniques is critical to diffusing tensions with customers.
What Is the HEARD Model and How Can It Help?
The HEARD model is a simple five-step approach designed to help customer service representatives with challenging encounters. Each step helps to further de-escalate troubling interactions with customers leaving them more satisfied and potentially increasing sales.
The HEARD acronym stands for:
- Hear
- Empathize
- Apologize
- Resolve
- Diagnose
When your customer’s concerns are addressed with empathy and professionalism, they’re more likely to continue doing business with your company. Overcoming conflicts collaboratively can help to build trust and brand loyalty with customers as well.
Hear and Actively Listen
Active listening is essential to any partnership and has been a pillar of therapy and positive interactions for decades. Hear emphasizes the importance of processing words and fully understanding the emotions and concerns behind them.
For example, let’s say a customer expresses concern over an order delay. When representatives listen attentively without interruption while the customer vents their issues, this helps the customer feel heard and reassures them that their concerns are respected. Maintaining eye contact, nodding along, and affirming their concerns by saying “I understand,” can demonstrate that you take their problems seriously.
Empathize To Build Rapport
After completing the first step and hearing the customer’s complaint, next, you’ll want to empathize with them. Empathy requires you to recognize what they’re going through and share how that could make your customers feel. Practicing empathy often reduces tension and establishes rapport.
Representatives could say, “I understand how irritating it must be to wait for something you need and it arrives late. It’s very normal to feel that way.” Choosing empathetic statements, and acknowledging the customer’s feelings can validate their problem and turn the problem into an opportunity to make a connection and fix their issue.
Offer Sincere and Constructive Apologies
A sincere apology can work wonders to calm customers, regardless of fault. Stating that you’re sorry about the issue can reduce frustrations and open a pathway for constructive dialogue.
Customer reps could state “I apologize that your order was delayed and we couldn’t meet our delivery promises or your expectations.” Apologizing without constructing excuses can acknowledge the inconvenience and offer a sincere commitment to fixing the matter.
Resolve Conflicts by Offering Solutions
Once your customers have felt heard, empathized with, and apologized to, the next phase is to resolve their issue. Resolving issues is one of the most important steps to following through on the apology you just offered. Finding a practical resolution to the customer’s concerns will increase their satisfaction with the product and your company.
Your customer representative could offer a refund on the shipping cost or compensate them with a discount on a future purchase. Offering multiple solutions to address customer problems can let them choose which solution best satisfies their needs. When customers choose a solution that they deem fair, they’ll leave the conflict feeling more engaged and satisfied.
Diagnose the Issue to Prevent It From Happening Again
Prevention is often better than the cure. Diagnosing an issue is an opportune time to improve your company’s systems to ensure that future clients don’t have to deal with similar issues. Investigating the root cause of the occurrence and taking measured steps to correct it can improve customer satisfaction and create the resources required to prevent the matter from recurring.
In this example, get your customer rep to record the problems in detail and report the logistical concerns to the right teams to avoid similar delays in the future. Following up with your teams to ensure that the issue is addressed at its source and creating new systems to stamp out the problems before they happen may do wonders for your company’s efficiency.
The HEARD method helps to improve communication, refine workflow, and outline areas where additional training can prevent future issues. Consider speaking with de-escalation training professionals about how HEARD can improve your business.
Guest writer.
