In our May Office Hours for CSMs we were joined by Anita Toth who walked us through some structure to help us set up for success when preparing for a difficult customer conversation.
Anita shared her Intro Statement framework that she uses to help herself and others prepare. These types of customer conversations can be intimidating, and during the heat of the moment, without some prep and tools, you can find yourself struggling to have a conversation that walks through the issue in a positive way. That ‘deer in the headlights’ feeling happens to everyone, so a bit of forethought and effort can really make these constructive and a way to show that you are a valuable partner in their journey.
The 7 parts of the Intro Statement contain:
- Lead in
- Main issue
- Specific example
- Clarification about what is at stake
- Your contribution
- Your wish to resolve the issue
- Invitation to the customer to respond
Questions to consider:
- What’s one thing you’ve tried that works well in difficult conversations?
- What’s one thing you’ve tried that doesn’t work well in difficult conversations?
Attendees spent about 25 minutes together in small groups discussing this topic and questions. Here is a summary of their takeaways:
Works well
- Attitude
- Be empathetic, honest, transparent, genuine
- Let customers know we are here to help
- Lead with calmness and be in the right frame of mind
- Frame your questions carefully
- Validate the customers view – make sure they feel heard (active listening)
- Preparation
- Take your time! Get a full picture of the situation, verify the info, assess how the customer is feeling about the situation as much as possible
- Focus
- Practice
- Utilize as many internal resources as possible to support (people, teams, documentation)
- If you are bringing someone into the conversation, have a pre-conference call to make sure they are aligned with goals and situation
- Pick up the phone or schedule a video call. Don’t deliver the message via email
- We are working together to solve a problem
- Provide solutions, but be sure they are created with the long-term in mind to avoid quick fixes that don’t last
- Show them the value that has been generated thus far
- Ask WHY? and other questions that invite the customer into the conversation. Don’t just talk at them
- Be sure to ask the difficult questions too, but in a constructive way
- Allow customers to vent
- Don’t sugar coat the situation
- Be accountable if the issue is on your side
- Protect your company while still advocating for the customer
- Be clear about what is and is not technically possible
- Repeat back what the customer has said to check for understanding
- Help prioritize the issues they are facing
- Communicate facts and not assumptions
- Be clear (but kind) about issues being caused by lack of adoption, etc.
- What issues are having the most impact?
- Any quick wins you can show the customer?
- Be flexible, adapting to the needs of the customer as they become apparent
- Document Next Steps for all parties
- Avoid blame
- This is not personal, and keeping conversation directed away from ‘you/me’ statements can help
- Closing the Call
- Ask “did we resolve your issue today?”
- Empower your customer to complete their part of the Next Steps process
- Post Conversation
- Frequently update the customer so they feel heard and acknowledged
- Perform a follow up to ensure the issue is resolved
- Identify any coaching that may need to occur for effective implementation
- Use QBR’s to proactively troubleshoot common issues
- Share info across the company (marketing, sales, dev, etc.) to allow them to benefit from the lessons learned
- Report on metrics customers should be aware of
- Try to come up with next steps or a resolution when possible
- Evaluate the type of conversations your CS teams are having repeatedly
- Ex. Are pricing models being renegotiated frequently? May need to readdress this internally
Doesn’t work well
- Talking at a customer (lecture)
- Rushing to speak instead of pausing and digesting
- Not involving the customer in the solution
- Poor judgement surrounding enforcing a policy when there are negative consequences (holding firm to a policy when you could be more flexible)
- Lost customer
- Negative review
- Lack of preparation before a customer call
- Not having basic details of customer and situation
- Lacking a strategy for objection handling
- Responding to (or with) frustration
- Over promising
- Not setting boundaries around your purpose/focus
- Making up an answer to a question when caught off guard
- Not getting customer buy-in
- Creating work arounds prematurely that can backfire
- Outright lying
- Answering a question you don’t actually know the answer to – don’t be afraid to let them know you will find out anything you don’t know right now
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After 20+ years working in research at 2 top-ranked universities, Anita Toth now uses her qualitative research skills to help Chief Customer Officers and Customer Success Leaders gather comprehensive customer feedback through her company’s Customer Insights 360 system. The data gathered allows CCOs and CS Leaders to determine the best course of action for winning outcomes based on context-driven data rather than on gut-feeling or intuition. Anita also teaches the highly popular Difficult Customer Conversations course with Success Coaching.
