Issue Resolution and Prevention Specialists
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Top 6 WORST Things You Can Say to a Customer
Saying the wrong thing at the wrong moment can turn a challenging situation into a catastrophe. We've found that many teams struggle to maintain customer confidence during issue resolution. Let's examine what not to say (and why).
The 6 worst things you could say to a customer while dealing with an issue:
6) "It couldn’t be our fault"
Jumping immediately to a defensive position only causes the customer to push harder. Approach problems with an open mind - maybe the problem is on our side, maybe it's on the customer side – we're going to systematically explore the possible causes until we find the offender. You're going to need to collaborate with your customer to collect relevant evidence during your root cause investigation - don't alienate them right from the start.
5) "My supplier made the mistake, not me"
Excuses don't fly. You selected and qualified your supplier, therefore you are responsible for your supplier's performance. Managing your supply chain is your responsibility. Finger pointing is not going to help your position. The customer wants to see you taking responsibility. Note: This applies to both external suppliers (another company) and internal suppliers (your company but a different functional team, site, or department).
4) "We’re waiting for…"
The customer is in crisis due to an issue involving your product or service and your contribution is WAITING?!?! This will irritate the customer. Customers want to see proactivity. If you are in a situation where you need inputs, show the plan for how you're going to get the needed info/parts/etc. and the expected timing. "Waiting" is never a good look when there's a problem at hand.
3) "We're too busy..."
You're resource constrained. So is everyone else. This is not your customer's problem. Telling your customer you were too busy working on something else to help them will infuriate them – you're basically telling them they aren't important. That's the fastest way to get them looking for a new supplier. Instead, escalate within your organization to shift priorities or get the needed resources to address the issue with urgency.
2) "No"
If the customer has asked you to do something unfeasible, not valuable, distracting, or otherwise ill-advised, "Yes, but..." Is a much better strategy than "No." Show the customer the trade-offs involved in their request and focus attention on what you can do. "We could do [customer suggestion] but that would take resources away from [current plan] which we agreed was the best chance of success. Our recommendation is to stay the course until if and when the data suggests otherwise."
1) "Yes"
Many teams are quick to give in to customer demands and wind up over-promising. You might get out of the first meeting unscathed, but you're set up for tough times ahead when you can't deliver on commitments. The best strategy here is actually the same as for #2 above. Lay out the various options and collaborate with the customer to develop and agreed plan of action. Involving the customer in the planning helps them see what's involved in the investigation and issue resolution and tends to keep their requests reasonable.
Danger is lurking around every corner in a new product development / new product introduction project. Avoidable risks wind up blindsiding teams, always at the worst possible moment. Risks blow up into problems because teams misjudge their nature and origin, and lack the right tools and processes to effectively identify, assess, and mitigate them. Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction
There are dozens of tools for reducing risk in new product development and introduction. We know because we've used them to successfully launch dozens of new products in highly demanding industries like automotive and aerospace. Let CAEDENCE show you a few of our favorite tools that you can use immediately to dramatically reduce the chances of disaster on your next NPD/NPI project.
Risk is inherent in new product development and introduction. Regardless of your personal risk tolerance, it's critical to understand that unmanaged risk could ruin your business. We're not saying "don't take risks". We're saying "take risks with your eyes open". Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction.
Many risks in NPD & NPI are visible. New process steps that must be implemented with caution and back-up plans. Unique product features that are challenging to accomplish. But there are other risks lurking. Things that can derail your project before you even realize. A bit nervous now? You should be! But, don't worry. Let CAEDENCE introduce you to a systematic approach and toolkit for managing and reducing risk in new product development and introduction.
Successful new product development and introduction projects require carefully balancing dozens of critical parameters, any one of which could sink the ship. At the end of the day, each of those dozens of NPD/NPI success measures relates to an aspect of just 4 main stakeholder care-abouts: Launch timing, Project budget, Product margin performance, Quality / delivery (customer experience). Learn the systematic method to reduce risks in your new product developments.
CAEDENCE has decoded decades of business experience to reveal the intuition and practices of top performing teams and individuals to radically accelerate people and teams toward excellence. We know the theory, but we've also lived everything we teach and honed best practices for decades. This arms us with tons of real-world examples to engage students and clarify techniques. We often help clients out of crisis situations, but our passion is preventing crises from occurring in the first place. This means (a) establishing robust systems, (b) empowering leaders, and (c) upskilling teams.
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“The people we nominate to help in this situation are either going to be the chicken or the pig.” The room went silent. The “chicken or pig” comment came specifically in response to resistance someone had to sending some people to the remote site. After a pause, the executive went on to explain “when you are making breakfast, the chicken contributes, but the pig is committed”. We weren’t going to resolve this problem with remote and part-time help. To get the job done, we would have to send people truly committed to working hands-on and to staying abroad for weeks until the job was done. “chicken or pig” became team shorthand for level of commitment. Next time your team is faced with a big challenge, I strongly encourage you to reflect - are you and your team sufficiently committed for the team to succeed? Are you going to be chickens or pigs?
When trying to improve or optimize a business or manufacturing process, there is one main rule: your actual process is never what you think it is. You need to "walk the process" (literally follow and watch every step of the process) to understand every step and detail. This will reveal steps and activities that are non-value added or causing significant pain. In addition, when working with teams, if people see that you’re really listening to them, they will be open to listening to you.
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