We are all human, and all humans have a remaining piece of dinosaur brain that absolutely wants to avoid problems. Nowadays, this is shown in a civilized way by not answering the phone, or blaming others (the factory, the weather, the customer – anybody). This behavior is very common; even competent people may sometimes do it.

But, when you set your mind to outstanding, it means something beyond just being just competent. Competence is not a bad thing – I’m sure we achieve that every day – but just being just competent may not be enough to handle a frustrated customer.  

Sometimes, it is obvious that a problem is caused either by our actions, or those of the customer. But quite often it’s somewhere in between. This determines who will eventually own the liability, and therefore perhaps the costs, and as businesspeople (and dinosaurs) it is tempting to focus on pushing the blame over to the customer as soon as possible. That is a very bad idea.

The first part of being outstanding is this: when you see the problem, own it. Switch off your problem avoiding-instincts and switch on your outstanding instincts, so that you start working at this problem with a mindset that you are going to win a gold star.

Any complaint will have two elements: a problem and a person. It never starts on a personal level, but when a customer sees a problem, he or she will start worrying about what impact this may have on them. The longer we let them worry, the more personal it gets. So if you leave them alone in their worrying, the personal element will grow.

The supplier who is just competent, will deal with the problem while thinking it’s very annoying how the customer’s emotions make his work harder. So, a worried and angry customer is now also personally insulted by this supplier’s lack of empathy and lack of responsibility.

The best advice I can give you here is to ALWAYS separate the person and the problem, and to ALWAYS deal with the person FIRST. Lean in to the person. This gives you a chance – not just to fix the problem – but to come out ahead, with a stronger relationship with the customer than what you had before. The outstanding supplier – and hey, I’m talking about you here now – realizes that even when the problem may be the customer’s fault, you can take responsibility for the person. When the customer sees that you are helpful, that you are supporting them to fix the problem, they become easier to work with. And in doing that, now both of you can focus on what the priorities are, what can be done, where you should start.

Don’t shy away – lean in – to the person.