By Jason Schepers 
As everyone knows, relationships can be complicated. Some are easier than others. The factors that determine the complexity of a relationship are broad. People react differently under different situations. The state of mind or condition of the individual can also be a factor. There could be anything from stress, illness, or something as simple as too much caffeine in the morning, which can create a false distrust. The triggers are endless. If you know that the person you are talking to might be tense, you can try to help the situation. If the person knows you and trusts you, assisting them is much easier. In a professional setting, having someone trust you or knowing you personally is not always the case.
Trust is one of the most powerful building blocks for any relationship. Every relationship involves trust, whether you’re with family, in marriage, among friends, or at work. Even a relationship with your four-legged friends would not be successful without trust.
Regarding Customer Service, you want the customer to trust you. Trust fosters relationships and enables the development of long-term relationships. Professional relationships are similar to personal relationships, as they will go nowhere without authenticity.
Good Customer Service and positive experiences create trust. The lack of trust is often caused by poor customer service and negative experiences.
Something worse than no trust is distrust. Distrust is the feeling that someone cannot be relied upon. The customer doubts what you tell him. The distrust puts you in a negative situation with the customer. Nothing positive will happen until the distrust is resolved or at least improved. A slight improvement will allow you to take steps to resolve the issue. You will need to make an effort to resolve this situation.
In a professional setting, when two people are meeting for the first time, they typically have little to no trust, but the customer may harbor some distrust. If the person is angry, the distrust can be heavy even though you have not done anything to deserve it. Remember that you represent a company, a product, or an organization. The customer may be upset about a recent purchase from the company or a conversation with one of your coworkers. You may not figure it out at first. The best thing that you can do is to listen and be helpful. When proper trust is built, you’re in a highly favorable position. Every action thereafter will involve some element of trust, in one measure or another.
Building trust can be challenging when you’ve only known the customer for a minute or two. Not knowing the individual’s history makes it more difficult when the customer is upset. If the customer is upset, their trust factor is already in a negative state. It becomes something you have to handle quickly. Thinking quickly in these situations is essential. The ability to navigate these situations comes with practice, and unfortunately, you need to experience these situations to improve.
There could be many reasons someone is upset with you, making trust impossible for them. It could be your products, your company, or something else. You may have said something that the customer did not like. Since the customer does not know you, they do not trust you. The first step is to make it easy to build trust. Be kind and understanding. Show them you’re willing to make things better. Building trust is the first key to effectively assisting anyone who is upset.
It is important to listen to a customer when they are upset. Do not attempt to address the situation before the customer has finished speaking. If you do not allow the customer to explain every point of their dissatisfaction, you are working with an incomplete understanding of the issue. The customer should feel that he explained everything thoroughly and that you listened and understood each of their concerns. Letting the customer talk allows you to understand the entire story, giving you more to work with. You can start building trust by just listening without interruptions.
When trying to gain trust with an upset customer, you need to set aside your personal feelings. The customer will test you in this area. You need to remember that this is not a time to express your sentiments about the situation. You need to maintain professionalism. Your goal is to gain the customer’s trust as much as possible. The customer might use language that is considered offensive. He might express personal values that you do not believe in. You need to listen and figure out the issue while blocking his unnecessary comments. Just absorb the facts, which is another practice point.
Trust is important. When two people who do not know each other are having an emotional conversation, one of them will have to give in for the conversation to conclude. The customer will not likely back down so it is up to you.
Example Story:
John has a large piece of property and has been using a clunky push motor for the last five years. Between having to push an old heavy mower and taking a few breaks along the way, it takes him around three hours every Saturday to maintain his yard.
John has been dreaming about a shiny new riding mower since the first day of using the push mower. This new mower is everything he ever wanted and has been saving to afford the top-of-the-line grass cutter. He splurged on buying all the attachments. The mower was shiny green with yellow lettering. Everyone knows the brand reputation that comes with this mower. It is the best of the best, with a tremendous amount of consumer trust and brand loyalty. John purchased so many accessories that the salesman gave him the cup holder as a gift. It was John’s best day in a long time. John wrote the check for the mower, and the worker at the lawn mower shop drove the mower onto the store trailer. The plan is to deliver the mower to the house in the next couple of hours.
John went home and cleared a space in the garage. He moved his old clunker to the side of his house and gave the entire garage a good sweep. He was making his final touches on the garage. As he was hanging up his sign saying “Lawn Mower Parking Only”, the truck pulled up with the mower on the trailer. The sun glared on the surface of the mower. John felt like he was looking at a precious diamond. John could hardly control himself. The delivery person started the mower, drove it off the trailer, and onto the driveway. The delivery person left the keys in the ignition, said “here you go”, and drove away with the trailer. After a few minutes, the neighbors came out of their homes to admire the new purchase, and it was time to test out this new tool.
John jumped on his new dream of a machine with wide eyes. He could not believe it. He looked around to check out all of the buttons and then turned the key. Nothing happened. The neighbors recognized the issue, and all the men on the street approached John to give their advice. Nothing worked.
The neighbors helped John push the shiny new machine into the garage to park it in the designated area that John had set aside for the mower. John called the shop to ask for help, and the phone just kept ringing. This was strange as it was only 1:00 PM on a Saturday. Finally, someone answered to tell him that there was no one there who could help him and that he would need to call back on Monday. John has been waiting for this magical Saturday for so long, and now he has to wait until Monday.
John called on Monday. The Service Department said they could be there in 2 hours, but John was at work and could not make it. They refused to offer assistance over the phone. John worked the same hours that the shop was open. They also informed John that he would have to pay a service fee to return to his house. Saturday arrived, and the service person showed up. The service person jumped on the mower, and it started right up. The only difference was that the service person stepped on the brake when turning the ignition key. This cost John $100 for a visit and a week of waiting.
Story Analysis:
There were a few bad habits in Customer Service that the shop demonstrated here:
1) The shop did not offer assistance after regular work hours.
2) There were no instructions or training on how to use the mower.
3) It wasn’t easy getting in contact with someone.
4) John had to pay $100 for service just a week after the purchase.
After John’s experiences with his purchase, he feels that the shop prioritizes its profits over providing excellent customer support. He experienced discouragement and difficulty that could have been prevented with just a little effort by the lawn mower shop. This took away from the excitement of purchasing his dream mower. Not only will he think twice about doing business with them again, but it will also be very easy for a competitor to win John’s future business. The best advertisement is word of mouth. It can also be the worst advertisement. Online reviews are really popular these days. Retailers and service providers must be cautious. There are potential customers everywhere that will go elsewhere once they hear a negative review.
Many new customers feel that they have an instant relationship when they spend a significant amount of money. The customer would not spend the money if there was no initial trust in the product. That trust needs to be supported by providing customers with excellent Customer Service. Poor customer service can destroy trust quickly. The customer needs to feel that you went the extra mile for him. Remember the Sales Team sells the first product to the customer. Then, Customer Service sells the future products through positive customer relationships and support.
Take Away:
Trust is not instant. The key is building relationships through the best business practices. In Customer Service, you have a very short time to earn customers’ trust, so everything you do and say will matter. Be intentional from the start to show every customer that they can trust you. If they don’t feel you are listening, they will become frustrated, which will work against building trust. There are two options: building trust or building frustration. In many cases, the customer is already feeling the frustration. The challenge is to turn the disappointment into trust and provide exceptional customer service.
Bring it Home:
It is essential to understand the importance of trust and how to establish trust with others. Not only will you create new relationships, but you will also strengthen existing ones. Be careful. You can’t trust everyone. Decerment must be used when bringing relationships close to home and your loved ones.