English Listening Skills: How to Effectively Respond to Customer Complaints and Issues Over the Phone

In the previous lesson, we looked at how to deal with a problem on the phone by first identifying the problem and getting all the details and then by checking with the customer to make sure we have understood everything correctly. In this lesson, we'll look at how to resolve a problem. Here are the learning objectives. By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to list guidelines to handle a complaint and identify appropriate language to apologise, empathise and offer a solution to a problem over the phone. Let's start by listening to an example. Drew works for a publishing company and has hired a caterer to organise a breakfast reception for an international sales rep meeting. Listen as he calls Kayla the caterer. As you listen, answer these questions. What complaints does Drew have? Who does Kayla say is responsible? And do you think Kayla handled the call well?

Hello, Kayla James. Hi, Kayla. This is Drew Mann from Airroll Publishing. You organised our breakfast reception this morning. Oh, yes, I hope it was a success. Well, actually it wasn't. I heard back from my colleagues that they weren't very satisfied with it. Really? Yes, first of all, I heard that there wasn't enough coffee and... Well, we did order for the number of people you told us. Okay, but apparently there was only enough for a half cup per person. I also heard some complaints about the food. For example, some of the pastries were really hard. Well, if that was true, wouldn't be our fault. We get our pastries from a supplier. They must have given us some old ones. I'm afraid that's not good enough. I'm sorry, but we're not very happy with the service you provided and... Look, we did what you wanted. We're very busy and it's not really our fault. What do you want me to do about it? Well, we expect at least a refund for some of the money. I can't do that. We have a contract and we met our obligations. What, you can't give us old food and expect to be paid. Well, Drew doesn't sound very happy, does he?

Let's check the answers to the questions. For the complaints, Drew said there wasn't enough coffee and that some of the pastries were hard. Kayla said that Drew's company had told her how many people were attending and she had supplied the correct amount. She doesn't think she is responsible. She thinks it's Drew's company's fault. Maybe they had more people than they expected, or some people drank a lot of coffee. As for the pastries, Kayla says the supplier was responsible. Kayla didn't handle the call well because Drew was getting angry at the end and probably Kayla has lost any future business, which is not a good thing.

So, let's talk about what Kayla did that was not good. First, she didn't try to identify the problems and get the full details. This is what you learned about in the previous lesson and she certainly didn't check with Drew to make sure she had understood everything. In other words, she didn't clarify. She didn't really do any active listening, either. In fact, she didn't seem to listen to Drew at all. She interrupted Drew a couple of times and she shouldn't have done that. Also, she shouldn't have tried to blame someone else. At the end, she also sounded defensive. She said it wasn't her fault and that she was really busy. She was trying to defend the unsatisfactory service by blaming others and making excuses. And that's not a good idea.

Drew started to get very annoyed when Drew suggested getting a refund. Kayla said, I can't do that. It was very direct. And made Drew even more annoyed. So, we've talked about what she didn't do well. Let's list the guidelines that she should have followed. First, listen to the client. The client is probably upset and wants you to listen. But also remember that you need to show that you are listening and ask questions to help you understand exactly what the problems are or what happened. Next, if you're responsible for the problem, then you should accept that responsibility and apologize. You shouldn't try to blame other people or the client. If the client is angry, you should stay calm. If you get angry too, the situation will get worse. You'll make the other person even angrier. Using a calm voice will have the opposite effect. It can make the other person calm down. And don't be defensive by explaining that the client did something wrong or by making excuses because that will probably make the situation worse. Finally, once you've understood the problems, you should work with the client to find a satisfactory solution. Try not to reject solutions directly with we can't do that or that's impossible.