Solving Worst-Case Scenario Customer Service

If you’re starting to sell a product or service for the first time, you might be particularly concerned about one thing: customer service. 

It’s absolutely alright to be concerned about this. Once you open your doors for business, it’s your responsibility to serve people who want to buy from you. If you claim to be able to solve a problem, you must show up and solve that problem as a professional–regardless of how you feel or what’s going on in your life. 

In the world of Amazon, consumer expectations for service and accountability are through the roof. Products arrive cheaper and faster than any time in human history. 

With these things in mind, you might be feeling a bit nervous about opening your doors for business. The horror stories of angry Karens and unhelpful customer service reps are endless. 

But remember one thing:

You can always make things right by treating people like humans. 

Most customer service horror stories come from massive corporations that have outsourced and systemized their customer care until it’s nothing more than minimum wage workers overseas reading a script. These people aren’t empowered by their organizations to make decisions. They are only allowed to follow the protocol that maximizes profit. 

In the worst-case scenario, you can make the customer feel heard, offer a refund, give a discount, explain the situation, or apologize. In my experience, 95% of the time this solves the issue. People usually aren’t mad about a shipping delay or a miscommunication. They’re mad about not being seen and heard. If you can show up as a human, more often than they’ll show up the same way as well. 

You’re in control of the worst case scenario. Control it as a human with empathy.