Chapter 07 – Service Breakdowns and Service Recovery
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Chapter 7
Service Breakdowns and Service Recovery
Table of Contents
Teaching Tools …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 2
Instructor Teaching Tools ……………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Student Learning Tools ………………………………………………………………………………….. 2
Brief Chapter Outline …………………………..…………………………………………………………….. 3
Chapter Outline and Lecture Notes ……………………………………………………………………… 5
Class Activities and Sample Assignments …………………………………………………………… 17
Discussion Opportunities ………………………………………………………………………………….. 20
In the Real World Notes ……………………………………………………….………………………….. 21
Retail/Manufacturing—Coca-Cola ………………………………………………………………….. 21
Work It Out Notes ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 23
Work It Out 7.1—Handling Service Breakdowns ………………………………………………. 23
Work It Out 7.2—Service Breakdown Examples ………………………………………………. 23
Work It Out 7.3—Handling the Demandind Customer ………………………………………. 23
Work It Out 7.4—Dealing with Angry Customers ……………………………………………… 23
Work It Out 7.5—Responding to Rudeness …………………………………………………….. 23
Work It Out 7.6—Building your Skills ……………………………………………………………… 24
Work It Out 7.7—Focusing on the Customer …………………………………………………… 24
End-of-Chapter Material Notes ………………………………………………………………………….. 25
Key Terms ………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
Review Questions ……………………………………………………………………………………….. 25
Collaborative Learning Activity ………………………………………………………………………. 28
Face to Face—Handling Service Breakdowns at AAA Landscaping …………………… 29
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Teaching Tools
This book has several tools for both students and instructors to assist in the learning
and development on the topic of customer service. Those tools are listed below:
Instructor Teaching Tools
▪ Instructor’s Manual
▪ PowerPoint Presentations
▪ Asset Map
▪ Test Bank
▪ Customer Service Videos
▪ Sample Syllabi
Student Learning Tools
▪ Customer Service Interactions
▪ Customer Service Videos
▪ Chapter Objectives
▪ Flashcards
▪ Online Quizzes
▪ Practice Tests
▪ Glossary
▪ Spanish Glossary
▪ Worksheets
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Brief Chapter Outline
Learning Outcomes
➢ 7-1: Define what a service breakdown is.
➢ 7-2: Apply knowledge of behavioral styles in difficult customer situations.
➢ 7-3: Recognize different types of difficult customers and effectively deal with them.
➢ 7-4: Use the emotion-reducing model to help keep difficult situations from
escalating.
➢ 7-5: Explain why customers defect.
➢ 7-6: Develop effective strategies for working with internal customers.
➢ 7-7: Identify strategies for preventing customer dissatisfaction and problem solving.
➢ 7-8: Explain the six steps of the problem-solving model.
➢ 7-9: Implement a frontline service recovery strategy and spot roadblocks to service
recovery.
➢ 7-10: Discuss the importance of disaster planning initiatives in the service recovery
process.
I. What is a Service Breakdown?
II. The Role of Behavioral Style
III. Difficult Customers
A. Demanding or Domineering Customers
B. Indecisive Customers
C. Dissatisfied and Angry Customers
D. Rude or Inconsiderate Customers
E. Talkative Customers
IV. Handling Emotions with the Emotion-Reducing Model
V. Reasons for Customer Defection
VI. Working with Internal Customers (Co-workers)
A. Stay Connected
B. Meet all Commitments
C. Don’t Sit on Your Emotions
D. Build a Professional Reputation
E. Adopt a Good Neighbor Policy
VII. Strategies for Preventing Dissatisfaction and Problem Solving
A. Think like the Customer
B. Pamper the Customer
C. Respect the Customer
D. Exceed Expectations
VIII. The Problem-Solving Process
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A. Identify the Problem
B. Compile and Analyze the Data
C. Identify the Alternatives
D. Evaluate the Alternatives
E. Make a Decision
F. Monitor the Results
IX. Implementing a Service Recovery Strategy
A. Apologize, Apologize, and Apologize Again
B. Take Immediate Action
C. Show Compassion
D. Provide Compensation
E. Provide Compensation
F. Conduct Follow-Up
X. Disaster Planning Initiatives in the Service Recovery Process
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Chapter Outline and Lecture Notes
I. What is a Service Breakdowns?
• Service breakdowns occur daily in all types of organizations.
o They happen whenever the product or service delivered fails to meet
customer expectations.
• When a product or service fails to meet what the customer wants or needs,
dissatisfaction and frustration can result.
• Customer expectations can affect how service is delivered and perceived.
• Today’s customers are more discerning and better educated, have access to
more up-to-date and accurate information, and are often more demanding than in
the past.
II. The Role of Behavioral Style
• Behavior style preferences play a major part in how people interact.
o Styles also affect the types of things people want and value.
• The more service providers know about behavioral style preferences, the easier it
becomes to deal with people in a variety of situations and help match their needs
with the products and services the service providers and their organizations can
provide.
• Service providers should keep in mind that everyone possesses one or a
combination of the four following different behavioral styles:
o Rational—prefer one-on-one or small-group interaction, are congenial and
patient, avoid conflict, and dislike calling attention to themselves.
o Inquisitive—rarely volunteer feelings, ask “why” questions, desire facts and
figures, and are formal, task-oriented, conservative, and punctual.
o Decisive—are decisive, directive, task– and goal-focused, confident, and
competitive; seek immediate gratification or results; and talk more than
listen.
o Expressive—are open, laid back, flexible, positive, enthusiastic, and
informal; prefer dealing with people; and easily share feelings and
emotions.
• Because customers can display various types of behavior from time to time,
service providers should carefully observe their behavior and learn about each
style as an indicator of the type of person with whom they are dealing.
III. Difficult Customers
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• Difficult customers are people who challenge a service provider’s ability to
deliver service and who require special skills and patience.
• From time to time, service providers will be called upon to help customers who
can be described in one or more of the following ways:
o Are dissatisfied with the service or products
o Are indecisive or lack knowledge about the product, service, or policies
o Are rude or inconsiderate of others
o Are talkative
o Are internal customers with special requests
o Speak a primary language other than the one spoken by the service
provider
o Are elderly and need extra assistance
o Are young and inexperienced who might need to be guided in making a
good choice
o Have some type of a disability
• A key to successfully serving all types of customers is to treat each person as an
individual.
• If service providers stereotype people, they will likely damage the customer–
provider relationship and might even generate complaints to their supervisor or
legal action against them and their organization based on perceived
discrimination.
• Service providers can deliver successful service through their effective
communication skills, positive attitude, patience, knowledge, service experience,
and willingness to help the customer.
A. Demanding or Domineering Customers
• Demanding or domineering are customers who have definite ideas about
what they want and are unwilling to compromise or accept alternatives.
• Some strategies for effectively handling demanding customers are:
o Be professional.
o Respect the customer.
o Be firm and fair and focus on the customer’s needs.
o Tell the customer what you can do.
• By being thoroughly familiar with the organization’s policies and procedures
and their limits of authority, service providers will be prepared to negotiate
with demanding customers.
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B. Indecisive Customers
• Indecisive customers are people who have difficulty making a decision or
making a selection when given choices of products or services.
• Strategies for dealing with an indecisive person are:
o Be patient.
o Ask open-ended questions.
o Listen actively.
o Suggest other options.
o Guide decision-making.
C. Dissatisfied and Angry Customers
• Dissatisfied customers are people who either do not (or perceive that they
do not) receive promised or quality products and services.
• In order to calm dissatisfied customers and make them, service providers
could try the following strategies:
o Listen with an open mind to try and discover the basis for their anger or
dissatisfaction.
o Remain positive and flexible while showing a willingness to work with
the customer or negotiate.
o Smile, give their name, and offer assistance.
o Be compassionate and empathize without making excuses.
o Ask open-ended questions and verify information.
o Take appropriate action.
• Angry customers are customers who become emotional because either
their needs are not met or they are dissatisfied with the services or products
purchased from an organization.
• Some possible tactics of handling angry customers are:
o Be positive.
o Acknowledge the customer’s feelings or anger.
o Reassure.
o Remain objective.
o Listen actively and determine the cause.
o Reduce frustrations.
o Negotiate a solution.
o Conduct a follow-up.
• Service providers should strive to do the unexpected and provide quality
service to create a memorable customer experience—underpromise and
overdeliver—and do whatever they can (within their authority) to rectify a
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situation in which a customer is dissatisfied with their product or service in
order to ensure customer satisfaction.
D. Rude or Inconsiderate Customers
• Rude or inconsiderate customers are people who seem to take pleasure in
being obstinate and contrary when dealing with service providers and who
seem to have their own agenda without concern for the feelings of others.
• Service providers could try the following strategies to deal with rude or
inconsiderate customers:
o Remain professional.
o Don’t resort to retaliation.
E. Talkative Customers
• Talkative customers are customers exhibiting extroverted behavior who are
very people-oriented.
• The following tips might help when dealing with talkative customers:
o Remain warm and cordial, but focused.
o Ask specific open-ended questions.
o Use closed-ended questions to control.
o Manage the conversation.
IV. Handling Emotions with the Emotion-Reducing Model
• It is important to remember when dealing with people who are behaving
emotionally that they are typically upset with the structure, process, organization
or other factors over which service providers and/or they have no control.
o In such situations, service providers should remain rational and should not
react to customers emotionally.
• Before service providers can get their customer to calm down, listen, and
address the situation, they must first deal with her or his emotional state.
o Once service providers do this, they can proceed to use problem-solving
strategies to assist in solving the problem.
• To help calm the customer down, service providers must send customer-focused
verbal and nonverbal messages.
o Service providers need to demonstrate patience and use positive
communication skills such as properly phrased verbal messages and
questions, effective nonverbal cues, and active listening skills.
• Service providers should remember that a customer generally wants to be
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respected and acknowledged as an individual and as being important.
o As service providers interact with a customer, they can soften the situation
and reduce emotion by providing customer-focused responses.
• The key to helping resolve any service breakdowns is to frame the problem
resolution with customer-focused messages through use of the emotion-
reducing model.
o The model involves five steps—customer-focused message, emotional
issue, customer-focused message, problem solving, and customer-focused
message.
V. Reasons for Customer Defection
• Customer defection occurs when customers take their business to a competitor
because they feel that their needs or wants are not met or if they encounter
breakdown in customer service or poor quality.
• Service providers must be especially careful to identify reasons for customer
defections and remedy potential and actual problems before they negatively
affect customers.
• The following are some of the reasons for customer defection:
o Poor service and complacency
o Inappropriate complaint resolution
o Unmet needs
VI. Working with Internal Customers (Co-workers)
• Service providers have external customers who purchase or use their products or
services.
o In addition to these external customers or organizations, if service providers
also have to deal with internal customers.
• Although interactions with internal customers may not be difficult, they can often
be more sensitive than the dealings with outsiders.
o This is because if someone within the organization becomes irritated or
dissatisfied with the service provider, he or she doesn’t necessarily go
away.
o Instead, he or she might tell co-workers or the supervisor about the
encounter, which can damage one’s reputation and even put one’s standing
in the organization in jeopardy.
• Service providers should extend all the same courtesies to internal customers
that they do to external ones—in some cases, more so.
• Sound internal customer service practices can help to boost employee
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communication and morale while helping to enhance processes and procedures,
reduce costs, increase productivity, and replace interdepartmental competition
with interdepartmental cooperation.
A. Stay Connected
• Since relationships within the organization are so important, service providers
should go out of their way to regularly make contact with internal customers.
• If one knows of a special occasion for a co-worker (e.g., birthday,
anniversary, etc.), one should consider sending a card or an e-card to
congratulate him or her.
• One might describe one’s co-workers as one’s “normal” internal customers,
but one should not forget the importance of one’s relationships with other
organizational employees, such as the cleaning crew, security force etc.
B. Meet all Commitments
• Too often, service providers forget the importance of internal customers.
o Because of familiarity, service providers sometimes become lax and
tend to not give the attention to internal customers that they would give
to external customers.
• To prevent, or at least reduce, the possibility of breakdowns, service
providers should honor all commitments they make to internal customers.
o If something comes up that prevents service providers from fulfilling
their commitment, they should let the customer know of the change in a
timely manner.
C. Don’t Sit on your Emotions
• Some people hold on to anger, frustration, and other negative emotions
rather than getting their feelings out into the open and dealing with them.
o Not only is this potentially damaging to health, for it might cause stress-
related illnesses, but it can also destroy working relationships
• Whenever something goes wrong or one is troubled by something, one
should go to the person and use feedback skills to talk about the situation.
o Failure to do so can result in disgruntled internal customers, damage to
the customer–supplier relationship, and damage to the service
provider’s reputation.
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D. Build a Professional Reputation
• Through one’s words and actions, one should go out of one’s way to let one’s
customer and one’s supervisor know that one has a positive, can-do,
customer-focused attitude.
• Part of projecting a professional image is to regularly demonstrate one’s
commitment to proactive service.
o Service providers should gather information, products, and other tools
before coming into contact with a customer so that they are prepared to
deal with a variety of situations and people.
E. Adopt a Good Neighbor Policy
• Service providers should take a proactive approach to building internal
relationships so that they can head off negative situations.
• Service providers can accomplish this in part by adopting the following work
habits:
o Avoid gatherings of friends and loud conversations in your workplacet.
o Maintain good grooming and hygiene habits.
o Don’t overdo call forwarding.
o Avoid unloading personal problems.
o Avoid office politics and gossip.
o Pitch in to help.
o Be truthful.
VII. Strategies for Preventing Dissatisfaction and Problem Solving
• Strategies for preventing dissatisfaction refer to the techniques service
providers use to prevent a breakdown in needs fulfillment when dealing with
customers.
A. Think like the Customer
• Service providers should research and learn to use interactive
communication techniques.
• Once service providers have mastered the interactive communication
techniques, they should set out to discover what customers want by
observing nonverbal behavior, asking specific questions, and listening to their
comments and responses.
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B. Pamper the Customer
• Service providers do not have to give into a customer’s every whim and
request, but they should certainly attempt to provide the products and
services promised in a timely manner, provide the best quality of service that
they can deliver, and address their concerns quickly and professionally.
• Service providers should make customers feel special and important.
C. Respect the Customer
• To demonstrate customer respect, service providers have to demonstrate
that they care about, listen to and are concerned of their customers and their
well-being.
• When problems arise, service providers can show their respect by actively
listening to their customers and empathizing with them.
D. Exceed Expectations
• Service providers should work hard to understand what the customer wants
and expects.
• Service providers should provide the service faster, better, and more
efficiently than others, and exceed customer expectations.
VIII. The Problem-Solving Process
• To solve a problem, service providers need to first identify the problem and
determine if the problem is one that should be solved.
• Once service providers decide to solve the problem, they follow the six proven
steps to problem solving—the problem-solving model.
A. Identify the Problem
• Before service providers can decide on a course of action, they must first
know the nature and scope of the issue they are facing.
• Service providers should begin their journey into problem solving by
apologizing for any inconvenience they or their organization has caused.
• To learn as much about the issue as one can, service providers should
collect all available documentation or background information.
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B. Compile and Analyze Data
• To be able to effectively determine a course of action, service providers need
as much information as possible and a thorough understanding of what they
are dealing with.
• In gathering data, service providers should also do a quick assessment of
how serious the problem is.
• Once service providers have collected information through questioning and
from other sources, they should spend some time looking over what they
have found.
C. Identify the Alternatives
• Service providers should let the customers know they are willing to work with
them to find an acceptable resolution to the issue.
• Service providers should offer suggestions or viewpoints that the customer
may not see or has overlooked.
• Service providers should be willing to listen to the customer’s suggestions
and to “think outside of the box” for ideas other than the ones that they and
their organization typically use.
D. Evaluate Alternatives
• Once all the facts have been collected, service providers should look at their
alternatives or possible options.
• A little extra time and money spent to resolve an issue could save a customer
and prevent recurring problems later.
E. Make a Decision
• On the basis of questions like “What is the most efficient way to solve this
problem?”, “Which are the most effective options for solving the problem?”,
etc., and any others the service providers wish to use in evaluation, they
should make a decision on what their course of action will be.
o To do this, service providers could ask the customer, “Which option
would you prefer?”
o This simple question puts the customer into the decision-making
position and he or she feels empowered.
o If the customer’s request is reasonable and possible, service providers
should proceed and resolve the issue.
Chapter 07 – Service Breakdowns and Service Recovery
o If not, service providers should negotiate a different alternative.
F. Monitor the Results
• Once service providers have made the decision, they should monitor the
effect or results.
• Service providers can be monitor the situation with a follow-up call, by asking
if the customer needs anything else when they next see or speak to him or
her, or by sending a written follow-up.
IX. Implementing a Service Recovery Strategy
• The best service providers can hope for when something goes wrong is that they
can identify the cause and remedy it quickly to their customer’s satisfaction.
• The primary purpose of any good service recovery program should be to return
the customer–provider relationship to its normal state.
• Some typical reasons that necessitate service recovery action are
o A service provider lacked adequate knowledge or skills to handle a
situation.
o A customer request or order was not handled properly.
o Attempts to return or exchange an item were hampered by policy or an
uncooperative employee.
o A customer was given the “runaround”, being transferred to various
employees or departments and being required to explain the situation to
each individual.
o The customer was treated unprofessionally or in a rude manner.
• According to a consumer survey by the internationally known training company
AchieveGlobal of Tampa, Florida, customers—regardless of industry, geography,
or product/service—want the service they receive to be:
o Seamless.
o Trustworthy
o Attentive
o Resourceful
• Typically, there are five phases to the service recovery process—apologize,
apologize, and apologize; take immediate action; show compassion; provide
compensation; and conduct follow-up.
A. Apologize, Apologize and Apologize Again