491: Answer to Abusive Customers: Shut Down Support?

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Customer service isn’t easy. This isn’t breaking news to CX people, and it might not be breaking news to many of our listeners, but it should be discussed. Agents don’t have it easy, especially when encountering problematic customers. Is there a point when they should stop dealing with a specific customer? Should the entire customer support do the same with all customers when it gets too bad?

“I have a bit of a newsflash for you and some of our listeners – customer service isn’t easy!”

There certainly are instances where things get so bad that the only solution seems to be shutting down specific lines of communication. What’s more, in some cases, customers tend to complain of something that’s not even in the job description of the agents. So, what’s the solution? Naturally, it’s not as simple as some think, so tune in to hear what Jeannie and Adam have to say.

“At what point does that line cross from It’s your job to This is nobody’s job?”

In this episode, you’ll learn:

The time when an airport shut down their phone line because customer service got too hard
When it gets bad, should customer service shut down for the moment?
What to do when the customers complain about something that’s not in the job description
When to shut down specific customer support channels