Sometimes, complaint handling is quite difficult, even with an outstanding mindset. There WILL be times when you and the customer do not agree on the ‘facts’. For example, boards that are late against the REQUESTED date, yet on time against the CONFIRMED date. Or, when the board meets the technical specification, but is perhaps not in line with what the customer WISHED was in the technical specification.

And when this happens, step 4 in the CHRIS-process – the “I GOT THIS”-step – becomes a bit tricky. You can LEAN IN, but you do not want to take full financial responsibility if it’s obvious that we have fulfilled the obligations of the purchase order.

For the just competent person, this type of situation is a huge relief; “Well, call me if I can help you. Good luck solving your problem!” With an outstanding mindset, you can’t do that. You don’t want to do that.

You will need to manage the gap between what you believe you have agreed to work to, and what the customer perceived (or wished) you had agreed upon. To do this, and move into the Solutions-stage, you have to discuss each person’s perspective. Documenting and focusing upon the facts.

It’s important here that you don’t downplay or shy away from the differences – because this is where you form the solution. As always: lean in – be clear that you still want to work with them on solutions. When doing this, it’s important to remember that you’re not arguing about perception – you’re working towards preventing similar problems from arising in the future.

Once you have agreed on the facts, you can focus on the solutions – even if the fact is that we have not caused the problem. With your outstanding mindset, you can still help to find a solution for the customer based on their needs. Remember, we’ve got some really good techniques for getting to what are the needs of the customer [HEED the NEED, open questions & SPIN].

There are some points that I really want you to remember:

• Never over commit or agree to something you are not sure about. Do not be afraid to tell the customer that we need a little bit more time to check some facts/elements before we can fully commit. And if you need to – get help from your colleagues. But it’s important that we always under promise & over deliver.
• Always use positive language.
  Example (without positive language): “I can’t get you that part number until WAY into next month; lead times are currently running really really long.”
  Example (with positive language): “I can get if from the factory next month. I will arrange our customer service team contact you and see what we can do about arranging that order and getting it into production as quick as we can.
  Now, which one, as the customer, would you be happier with?

• Always be happy to negotiate on solutions. And remember – if you‘ve got to give something away, get something back in return.
• And always be bold. If we are not at fault, then don’t be afraid to keep that in mind when working on the solutions. Of course, be supportive, absolutely – but do not be afraid to stand your ground.

Doing this, and leaning in to the customer and we can see that a complaint becomes an opportunity to earn a gold star back.