Participant Guide
CUSTOMER SERVICE CASE STUDIES– How to
Deal with Difficult Customer Interactions
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
About the Training Program
This session is designed to build an appreciation of the value of customer service and an
awareness of the behaviors that attract and repel customers and to provide practice utilizing
effective service behaviors, the opportunity to assess the organization’s current customer
readiness, and a forum to allow for the planning of effective, long-lasting customer-service
strategies with difficult customer interactions.
Training Objectives
This program will provide participants with the following opportunities to:
• Plan for the really difficult customer interactions;
• Reinforce what we do well to maintain a positive customer service climate;
• Develop personal and organizational customer-service improvement plans.
Participant Guide
PROGRAM OUTLINE
Activity Time: Method
10 min
I. Opening Activities
A. Introduction Presentation
Dealing with Angry Customers Discussion
Activity Time: Method
40 min
II. Hallmarks of High-Caliber Customer Service
Satisfying the Dissatisfied Lecturette
Case studies - Analysis Activity
Activity Time: Method
10 min
III. Planning for Successful Service
Creating a High Caliber Customer Planning
Service Organization Discussion
Wrap Up
Participant Guide
ν Satisfying the Dissatisfied
• Hear the customer out—Allow the customer the opportunity to let off steam and to
air his or her complaints.
• Empathize—Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. Demonstrate that you
understand where he or she is coming from.
• Apologize—Apologize for the customer’s dissatisfaction (even if you don’t agree
with him or her).
• Take responsibility for action—Work with the customer to find a solution to his or
her problem.
Participant Guide
νDealing with Angry Customers
Customer relations often “heat up” and challenge our abilities to be responsive. As
customer-oriented providers, our job is to remain cool, calm, and collected, no matter how
hot our customers get. Dealing with dissatisfied customers requires skill, knowledge, and
grace.
Angry customers break our concentration, raise our stress level, and rob us of our
effectiveness. They make it difficult for us to maintain our professionalism and our sanity.
• What tactics do angry customers use?
• What can you do to keep yourself from becoming upset and unraveled?
• How can you maximize the angry customer’s satisfaction?
Participant Guide
Customer Service Case Studies
1) A student comes in with her demanding father to meet with one of our financial counselors
about a financial issue. Our system had incorrectly calculated her fees, which incorrectly
overcharged her. The father demanded that he receive a cash refund right now. The counselor
explains that the University would be refunding the overpayment in about 10 days, but the father
is adamant that he wants it immediately. The daughter is in tears and the father resorts to yelling.
2) The late student is ill-prepared: A student who comes in mid-September or October, saying
"I filed my application on time. I turned in all of my paperwork. Where is my financial aid that
I am entitled too?”
Background:
“on time” = the week that school started;
“all paperwork” = paperwork that may have been sent to the wrong department or not sent at
all. Or we’ve been asking for verification forms.
3) Misplaced files. How do you handle this specific issue? What we should say and what steps
we should follow to resolve the situation.
4) Conditional holds—Student is angry because they’re trying to register and there are holds.
The student exclaims, "What do I do? I need to register now!"
6) Recipient of poor customer service, resulting in Angry student/parent: transferred numerous
times or bounced from office to office to get something done and/or receiving different
information from each contact.
7) Demanding or Difficult Parent – Parent arrives with his two sons, had been demanding from
the first moment he called to schedule a campus visit, making last minute changes to the visit
itinerary, filling a financial aid employee's ear with his opinions on financial aid, chose to skip
the guided tour at 9:30 a.m. to meet early with a faculty member in the another department.
Returns later still demanding personal tour.
8) Disgruntled Parent: A parent is participating in a campus tour with his two children. The
entire time he was on the tour he appeared to be dissatisfied and bombarded the student guide
with questions. When he returned from the tour he did the same thing at the front desk. He spoke
in a very loud voice and wanted to know if Boise State offered any courses in agriculture. He
continually stated that he wanted us to sell the University to him.
9) Parent and student conflict in your office that doesn't directly involve you. Parent conducting
student's business, student struggling to take care of it on their own, voices raised and student
finally in tears.
10) Cultural-based challenge: Female student from culture where the male is dominant and
women are submissive. The husband conducts business for the wife (student) and is
forceful/aggressive with female staff.
Participant Guide
CUSTOMER SERVICE CASE STUDY – ANALYSIS
Stated Issue Core Issue Customer What Can We do Support:
Behaviors for them? Systems,
Customer Service Processes
Response
Customer requesting a
cash refund
Participant Guide
Stated Issue Core Issue Customer What Can We Do Support:
Behaviors for Them? Systems,
Customer Service Processes
Response
Participant Guide
ν Planning for Successful Service
ν Creating a High-Caliber Customer-Service Organization
Develop a service strategy—Create a list of actions your organization could take to improve
its customer service (responsive to difficult customer service issues, improve processes,
etc.).
Participant Guide
ν Personal Planning
Instructions: Take a few moments to reflect on the information, tips, and strategies we
have covered today. Think about your own customer readiness. Identify what you do well
and two areas that you would like to improve. Develop a personal action plan to
accomplish these goals.
GOALS:
What I do well and plan to continue doing:
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One thing I want to improve is:
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Another thing I want to improve is:
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