If you travel often, it’s only a matter of time before things go wrong. When things go wrong, you often have to interact customer service in order to make things right. This can be in the form of a voucher, monetary compensation or miles and points. In certain cases, it may be about getting you on the next available flight. When things go wrong, how do you get the desired outcome after interacting with customer service?
Customer Service Interactions
Before you start your interaction, please take cognizance that there’s a real person who is interacting with you. As dire your situation may be, it always helps to keep this in mind. The employee has a job to and wants to help you out. It’s your job to help facilitate the interaction in order to get an outcome in your favor. Also, the employee deals with many disgruntled customers each day. If your approach is different and refreshing, they’re more likely to go out of their way and set things right for you.
Setting the tone
Any communications expert will tell you how tone of speech is a lot more important than the actual words you speak. Here’s a simple process to keep in mind before you interact with the agent:
- Define your problem in a concise manner
- Explain the issues that arose out of the problem and how they affected you
- End by clearly outlining what your desired outcome would be
Airline and Hotel employees interact with hundreds of customers each day. If you set the correct tone and explain the situation in the most succinct way possible, it goes a long way in reducing tension and getting a resolution.
Escalation
Every now and then, you’ll bump into an agent who is just not well trained or plainly refuses to help. In such a case, it’s pretty reasonable to ask for a supervisor. I was once trying to redeem an award certificate at the Waldorf Astoria Maui. The first agent I spoke to told me that there was no availability. I kept telling her that the previous agent had told me that one standard room was available. When she refused to budge, I requested to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor looked into it and then helped me complete my booking.
Over the last few years, this has been my favorite way of getting speedy resolution to customer service issues. Almost all of the major travel brands have Twitter handles that are out there to help you out. There are many advantages to reaching out to brands via Twitter for customer service issues.
- All communication is the written form. If things go wrong, you have written evidence of your interaction. The question of he said, she said doesn’t arise.
- Unlike calling customer service, you don’t have to hold on for long. Customer service calls can go on for hours, especially during peak hours. In contrast, you simply send a direct message via Twitter and wait for an agent to respond.
I’ve almost ditched the phone for getting a customer service issue resolved. My Twitter account bears testament to the high quality customer service that I’ve received over the years. I’ve found the agents to be well trained and helpful in most cases.
Before you start interacting with brands on Twitter, please make sure that your profile is genuine and complete. For example, you display your full name and have all the necessary details completed. If you have a profile that’s complete, agents are more likely to take your request more seriously.
The Pundit’s Mantra
Social Media is a part and parcel of our digital diet. Social Media can be a good servant but a bad master. We’ve already seen the perils of how social media can be manipulated in order to control opinion. However, when it comes to interacting customer service, I’ve found the experience to be really rewarding. It saves me a ton of time, I don’t have to wait on the phone listening to recored music and have all my interactions documented in the written form.
Which is your favorite way to get customer service issues resolved? Do you still prefer to do it the old school way and call in? Let us know in the comments section.
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