Susan, a Customer Success Manager (CSM), was in for a shock when one of her long-time customers called and spoke roughly to her. She had no idea what had triggered the outburst. Due to the lack of awareness, the further conversations took a hit and went spiraling downward.
What are difficult customer conversation?
Differences in people’s expectations from the conversations and the real value that they get
- Sometimes miscommunication contributes to misaligned hopes and expectations
- People tend to react emotionally and these emotions influence and sometimes steer most of their conversations
- Understanding your customer’s expectations and aligning them with the business’s goals is an important parameter in avoiding tough situations
Difficult conversations within the team
Emotions are bound to be high when dealing with customers, team members, and/or customers
Start with why
Why is this conversation crucial?
- What am I assuming here? What’m I missing out on here?
- Is there any other information needed to fully understand the customer’s concern?
- These questions will help identify the root cause of the issue at hand.
Address customer concerns honestly
As a CSM you want the customer to continue the business with you, and for that to happen you must be genuinely concerned about the problems faced by him/her. Honest conversations are the best way to handle those difficult conversations
Other elements which make difficult customer conversation even more difficult
Non-verbal cues can directly affect discussions and conversations with stakeholders
- Make faces when you hear something you don’t agree with
- Avoid eye contact with the customer
- Cross your arms
- Raise your voice during a conversation
- Focus on the negative points of the conversation instead of the positive ones
Hold your ground
Customers are not always right! They might make mistakes and inadvertently blame that on you or your team.
Examples of courageous yet difficult customer conversation for a CSM
Customer has made up mind not to renew yet to go to pitch as a last chance to show what your product brings on table
- You & your team failed a customer (bug, not meeting timelines etc) still going to customer, have a conversation & act on thing which will get the trust back
- If you are a leader, let someone go
Do your homework
Understand the customer and the issue you are trying to solve before approaching them
Focus on rebuilding the relationship
Don’t let the customer leave when you can make them stay
Final thoughts
Customer Success is about being proactive rather than reactive
- The job of a CS manager is to be proactive
- To do that, they should understand what could go wrong, how to approach the situation if something goes wrong, and what perspective shifts they need to take for handling tough conversations
Don’t be judgemental
Many times the customer’s anger, frustration, etc. arise out of genuine concerns. You can’t know until you keep an open mind and try to understand their point of view
- You should suppress your judgmental instincts when having tough conversations with the customer
Listen Actively
Active listening is a skill that you need to possess unquestionably
- When you are listening to your customers, do it actively – pay attention to what they have to say, let them feel that you care
- Acknowledging the problem is really important – active listening does exactly that
Let the customers be themselves
Create an air of trust and confidence in them as it encourages them to open up
