This week has been a week for upset clients which led me to start thinking about my customer service in general and if it's 'good enough'.

Background - I rang a client to confirm it was ok to send his artwork to the printer and he basically said that he would pay me for my time and just leave it at that. He was rude, very 'short' (no pun intended :cool and I was baffled. I finished up on the phone call and I had this sick feeling in my stomach, my face was hot and I was ready to fire him as a client. To top it off, I know him personally too and had never known him to be like that.

Luckily for me my assistant Beckie was still working with me when I made the call and we talked it through. What could have happened to make him react like that? I know it was 5.10pm when I called but surely that didn't set him off. I truly had no idea and she wisely cautioned me to wait until the morning before deciding anything or deciding to walk away. (She's only 20 but I think she has an old soul..)

For the rest of the evening I mulled over it like a puzzle I just couldn't put back together. Just what went wrong? Why did he talk to me like that? As Beckie said to me, I am a professional business owner and I had done nothing to warrant his tone or language. And what really puzzled me was that the project was progressing nicely and there was no problems prior to this. At least I had no idea if there was. I always conduct myself with an ethical and professional approach to everything that I do. This of course led to my insomnia flaring up. I just couldn't get to sleep.

Finally at 3am I got back out of bed and I sat down at my baby (MacBook Pro :love and drafted the following email:

"Hi Client

I just wanted to write and say that I was baffled by your tone this afternoon and by what you said. If you have an issue, I’d like us to be able to talk about it and work through it. I’d like to talk with you about our conversation today to find out what your issue with the services provided are so we can work out a solution. I take complaints very seriously and will change our internal business practices if I need to.

Please call when you are available. I am in my office Monday to Thursdays.

Kind regards

Kylie Short"

You'll have to excuse the grammar - after all I wrote it at 3am but guess what?

He emailed AND called me to apologise. It wasn't anything I'd done at all. He was having a really bad day where he was questioning why he was in business at all and instead of letting my call go to voice mail, he picked it up and dumped on me. We had a chat where I told him that I not only valued him as a client but that I also valued him as my broker. Through following his advice we have been able to afford the mortgage despite the 12 consecutive rate rises we've had here in Australia and the change in my career plans. Things would have been very tough otherwise for us and I told him that.

Lesson here boys and girls....

- Ask your client for feedback. If they have made a complaint, be prepare to work through it so it doesn't happen again.
- Don't assume that you are automatically at fault.
- Take the time to get to the root of the problem so you can problem solve the situation.
- Know when to walk away and when to stay and fight.

So how would you have dealt with this scenario? Are your customer service policies (both formal and informal) adequately representing your business to the wider community? If so how? What would be your little nugget of wisdom to share with new and aspiring VAs about Customer service/relations?

__________________
Kylie Short
Tilda Virtual Services - Making virtual personal

Kylie - I commend you for taking a step back and looking at the situation objectively. I recently went back to school and one of the classes I am in is Interpersonal Communication. Perceptions can be a good and a very bad thing all at once. Had you not taken a step back, you would still be under the impression that it was "you" and that would have ultimately affected you moving forward. You handled the situation perfectly.

I agree that feedback is important and having a customer service policy is recommended, which is something that I need to write out myself. Having the steps in place will guide you through an effective process that will hopefully lead to a successful outcome.

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Doreen R. Patrick, MVA, ACS, CIVA
www.virtualbusinesspartners.net

Initially as I started reading your post I chalked it up to them just having a bad day. I think communication is important in any relationship and it is imperative to address any issues that cause you concern. Taking a step back was key and it is something I always try to do.

You handled it well, after all look at the outcome!

__________________
Dawn Riley
A Virtual Assistant in Paradise
Our business is about making yours better

Great work, Kylie. Isn't it amazing how despite all our fears and inadequacies, we're all alike, really. Nobody anywhere ever does anything except for love.

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Mary H. Ruth/Virtual Writing & Communications
http://www.writingVA.com

Kylie,

I commend you for taking the initiative to contact the client to clarify the situation. Many a time people jump the gun and assume that the other person is "mad at them", and do not follow up with the other person to find out what really is going on. That in turn puts you in a bad mood and it affects your morale and may affect the rest of your business as well. Yesterday, I received a note that upset me and put me in a bad mood, and I had to fight myself the whole day to not respond with a similar nasty note. The person ended apologizing this morning and turns out she had actually sent the note to the wrong person. Sometimes waiting a few hours to respond can work in your favour as well.

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Bette Creek
http://bettecreek.blogspot.com/
www.ashbusinessservices.com

Kylie,

I admire the way you handled that situation!

I don't know how I would've handled something like that in the past, but I know how I'll handle it in the future now, thanks to you!

__________________
Tammi Metzler ~ The Write Associate
Free call: "How to Write Email Subject Lines That Grab Attention!"

Great post Kylie! I can definitely relate to all of the points you made. I admittedly do tend to take things personally when it's not necessary - fortunately I'm learned to slow down and of course being virtual helps make that happen anyway

Wonderful that your diplomatic handling of the situation, and your sincere approach to your client as another human being going through a tough day, resulted in a positive outcome!

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Hi Kylie,

I think you handled that really well. I probably would have just sat around feeling sorry for myself then ended up resenting the client for dumping on me.
I'm glad you got to sort your issues.

Also, just wanted to add I used to live with a girl called Kylie Long. Just amused me when I saw your name.

Hi Kylie,

I too admire the way you handled that situation! As a newbie I appreciate your post. We covered this topic a few weeks ago in my couching class. This is how
I plan to handle a "concern"

1. Never take it personally (I'm going to try )
2. Wait at least 24 hours
3. Learn from it

I'm glad it worked out for you!

All the best!!

Bravo! You handled that with dignity and grace. More than I think I could have done. I think my biggest thing is to always not read too much into things in electronic media. In our homeschool forum we recently had a huge blow up and members leave because of what turned out to be a misunderstanding. Because its so hard to read someone's tone in an email or forum post, things can get out of control fast.

Bravo again! Great Job!