How to respond to 12 tricky customer service scenarios

What are customer service scenarios?

Customer service scenarios are difficult situations that you’re likely to encounter as a support professional. You may encounter these scenarios while working, or you may be quizzed on how you would handle them while interviewing for a new job.

Some of these scenarios can be quite hectic to deal with when they arise, and that’s where a little preparedness goes a long way. Below are a handful of troublesome scenarios you may come across, plus some guidance on how to handle them.

If you’re looking to train new team members, engage in role-playing as a group, or just improve your own ability to handle tricky customers and situations like a pro, consider these flexible scripts for the 12 most challenging customer support scenarios.

. You don’t know the answer

You shouldn’t beat yourself up for not knowing an answer. After all, a support rep’s responsibility is to have the tenacity to make things right, not to be perfect (especially if you’re new).

The mistake many support reps make, however, is in using the knee-jerk “I don’t know” response, which doesn’t help the customer. Customers may be sympathetic that you don’t know, but they’re not interested in hearing about it.

Instead, try the following:

“Does the ‘Premium’ package come with X?” “Great question, let me find that out for you right now!”

Placing the emphasis on the customer’s needs over your own situation (“I don’t know,” “I’m new here,” etc.) lets them know that it doesn’t matter that you don’t know the answer because you’re going to do whatever it takes to find out for them.

2. An item isn’t available

No ecommerce store owner or support champion likes to tell a customer that an item isn’t currently available. Fortunately, there is a much better way to go about it.

One of the most important skills in interacting with customers is the use of positive language to help avoid accidental knee-jerk reactions.

Here’s an example: Let’s say a customer contacts you with interest in a particular product, but that product happens to be back-ordered until next month.

• Without positive language: “I can’t get you that product until next month; it is back-ordered and unavailable at this time.”
• With positive language: “That product will actually be available next month. I can place the order for you right now and make sure that it is sent to you as soon as it reaches our warehouse!”

Positive language replaces negative phrases (“I can’t…”) and instead places emphasis on the solution, which is what the customer actually cares about.

Try finding places in your response where a lot of negative language is present (“We don’t do that”) and see where positive language can be substituted.

3. You need to transfer the customer

There isn’t a single consumer out there who likes hearing, “Please hold while we transfer you. Your call is very important to us.”

The problem is that sometimes you do need to transfer customers in order to better help them. But many businesses don’t seek to help customers understand why they are being transferred.

Here’s a typical unappealing response some reps use to transfer people:

“My apologies, but I’m going to have to transfer your call to Department XYZ.”

As a customer, my gut reaction to this response is to believe that the wheel of misfortune has begun, and I’m going to get passed around and treated like another hassle.

Imagine using this language instead:

"Let’s get this problem resolved for you. I’m going to transfer you to our specialist who is the best-suited person to answer your question.”

Hearing that I’m being sent to the resident expert — and knowing that the rep who is sending me has my problem in mind — is much more reassuring than the vague “sorry, you’re getting transferred” response that most companies use.

Few customers will jump for joy because of a transferred call no matter how you handle it, but it’s better to assure them that the action was taken in their favor in order to solve their current problem.

4. You have to tell the customer no

Customers can often have some valuable insights on how your product is used and how it could be improved, but your product’s vision is your responsibility. Thus, the final call is up to you.

If it’s very obvious that a feature a customer requested won’t make the cut, you have to be able to tell them so. Saying, “We’ll take a look!” gives false hope that can end up with a customer checking in weeks later only to be disappointed again.

The truth is, you don’t need to be worried about a mass exodus of customers just because you regularly say “no” to many product features.

Here is some sample language we might use at Help Scout to tell customers a feature just isn’t the right fit:

"I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us. As of this time, however, [Feature X] isn’t a perfect fit, and we have no immediate plans to implement it. We do have some other exciting new features planned, and should anything change about your request, we’ll make sure you are the first to know."

If you’re using a simple feedback system like Trello to keep track of past requests, adding an email is easy, so if your stance on a certain feature does change in the future, it becomes a simple process to notify customers via email.

5. The customer wants you to bend the rules

Most requests from customers are reasonable, and every effort should be made to make them happy.

Bob Farrell describes this as “giving them the pickle,” a phrase which refers to a letter he received from an unhappy customer who wasn’t able to get an extra pickle for his hamburger. Fulfilling a small request can often leave a positive impact on a customer, which is why it’s almost always worth it to just “give them the pickle.”

But what about requests that you truly cannot say yes to?

I can give you a very candid story of when this really mattered to me: I was checking in to a hotel with a few of my friends, one of whom had a severe allergy to cats. I vividly remember watching a couple plead with the front desk employee to let their cat stay (the policy was “No Pets”).

If the front desk employee had given in to their request, he would have (unknowingly) made our group upset, trading one potentially unhappy customer for an even bigger problem.

I remember being impressed with how he handled the situation, and I’ll paraphrase his response below:

“As much as I like fulfilling our customers’ requests, I’m afraid that the ‘No Pets’ policy we have in place is too important because it impacts the safety and comfort of other customers. Can I perhaps call around for locations where your cat might be able to stay?”

It was a stellar response to a pretty wacky request; after all, pet owners should know to check a hotel’s pet policy before booking a room.

Remember that a customer’s perception of your service quality is greatly affected by how attentive, thoughtful, and sincere you are. In an awkward scenario where you simply have to refuse a request, showcasing your empathy and willingness to find an alternative is one of the best ways to lessen the sting of saying no.

6. The customer asks you to override security policies

Support professionals’ natural inclinations to help can leave team members open to social engineering if they aren’t careful. For example, if your product has different permissions that deal with security or payment responsibilities, you may have customers who ask you to switch their roles or transfer account ownership.

You’ll want to assist right away. You might even hear, “Please, we need this right now!” Hold steady. You’ll need approval from the current account owner.

Let the requestor know you’ll need approval from the account owner with a response like this:

I'd be happy to make the change for you, but I will need approval from Veronica since she's the current account owner. It’s all about keeping your account safe! I've emailed her so we're all on the same page. Once she gives the okay, I'll pass the ownership role to you.

Email the account owner (separately so the reply can’t be spoofed), and don’t copy the original requestor. When the owner responds, check to make sure the original message you sent is included in the reply.

You may still run into something like, “But the account owner is on vacation/has been fired/is very busy and important!”

For these situations, it helps to have a policy you can point to on your website. That way, they know you’re not being obstinate; rather, you’re serious about security and unable to make exceptions. That isn’t always easy for people to stomach, but you still have to do the right thing.

7. The customer received a defective product

Having a purchase come up short is disheartening from the customer’s perspective. I’m sure we’ve all run into this scenario: After finally convincing ourselves to pull the trigger on a purchase, we wait with excitement until it’s delivered … only to have it arrive broken.

We all internally recognize that even great companies can’t build and ship everything perfectly, but it’s so frustrating to be the person on the receiving end of a dud.

Showing empathy for the customer’s situation becomes important, followed by an immediate explanation of how you’re going to fix the situation. Consider the following example:

“I’m so sorry about that; that’s very disappointing! There might have been a slight mistake in the manufacturing process, or perhaps it was damaged while being shipped. Can I send a new one out to you right away?”

This script completes three important objectives: It empathizes with the customer’s frustrating experience, it explains what the problem might be (instead of having a customer assume you make bad products), and it offers a clear and immediate solution.

Depending on what you sell and how you conduct business, you might also add, “or should I send you a full refund?” Either way, know that in this situation, it’s the ability to relate with a customer that counts.

8. The customer is extremely angry

Support champions are often required to act as lightning rods, to take the brunt of an emotional, angry customer despite the fact that it is not their fault.

Sometimes, this anger from customers is unjustified; other times, they have a cause for their actions. Either way, it’s often quite hard to win back an extremely angry customer.

However, the smart folks at Telephone Doctor have a great system called “ASAP” for dealing with the most difficult of customers:

• Apologize sincerely: “I’m sorry” is a mandatory response in these situations, even if it isn’t your fault. Consider your “I’m truly sorry about that” as a personal apology to the customer that the experience wasn’t up to their expectations — not that you are to blame.
• Sympathize: Many times, angry customers are just as interested (if not more interested) in hearing that someone empathizes with their situation over getting the actual problem fixed. Even if you cannot understand why a customer is so angry, you can imagine how you’d like to be treated if you happened to be that upset. Even small phrases like “I understand how upsetting that must have been” can have an impact on getting the customer to realize that you’re on their team in this pursuit to make things right.
• Accept responsibility: As the ambassador of your company, you accept responsibility for the customer’s unhappiness. Again, this doesn’t make you at fault — and it doesn’t give the customer leeway to demand whatever they want — but it does give them someone to talk to instead of being angry at a faceless company.
• Prepare to help: With angry customers, the actual “fix” tends to take up a small portion of the entire support process. Placing a replacement order likely takes you very little time, but that fix doesn’t address the underlying problem of the customer’s frustration and unhappiness. These emotional fixes are often the most important element: refunding someone may take you 15 seconds, but did you make sure enough time was spent trying to help them calm down and leave happy?

It’s hard to come up with a perfect solution for a customer in this state, and know that even if you handle things perfectly, some people simply cannot be appeased. But don’t let that stop you from making your best effort.

9. You’re in the wrong

Whoops! Say a bug deletes some of a user’s settings or your site is under a DDoS attack. Excessive technical details won’t placate many customers or make the inability to use your product or access your site any less annoying. Instead:

• apologize outright
• explain the game plan
• let them know how you’ll be in touch
• follow up when it’s fixed

A few years ago, Help Scout faced some uncharacteristic downtime. It was a terrible feeling, but we knew we couldn’t just stick our heads in the sand and hope people wouldn’t notice. We sent our customers the following email:

Hello friend,

Help Scout had two notable status events this week, resulting in roughly 51 minutes of downtime. Considering our track record and only 61 minutes of downtime in the last year, this week's performance was disappointing for our whole team.

I'm writing you this note to apologize for such a poor experience. We understand how critical it is for Help Scout to be up and running at all times and we take that responsibility very seriously.

We learned a lot from the challenges this week and feel very confident in our ability to prevent them from repeating. We'll get to work on improvements right away. In the meantime I hope you have a great weekend!

Nick Francis
Co-founder at Help Scout

We were touched by how understanding people were. Nearly all the replies we received were along the lines of “That’s okay, folks; we know how it goes sometimes! Keep up the great work!”

When you own up to your mistakes, follow up promptly, and take steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again. You’ll find your customers can be a forgiving bunch.

10. The customer asks to speak to a manager

If you messed up, pass the conversation on with context to the team lead, and you’ll both figure it out from there. Mistakes happen.

The buck should stop with you, however, if a customer requests “the manager” just to get around an accurate, honest response. When you’re acting with certainty, speak with kind authority:

“I’m afraid my supervisor would have to tell you the same thing. I’m really sorry we don’t have a better answer for you!”

If they don’t drop it, well, that’s what team leads are for. I’ve also seen it work where one team member hands off the conversation to another who reiterates the message in different words: “I’m afraid June is right — we currently don’t have a feasible workaround. I’m so sorry about that!”

Often, a second opinion is enough to convince the customer there’s nothing more to be done.

11. The customer asks for a refund you can't provide

Something went wrong and now a customer is asking for a refund. Say a bug deletes some of a user’s settings, and you’ve never seen this happen before.

The team determines that a refund as not the right response for this situation. You’ll run into those instances, and problems aren’t always fixed with freebies — even when someone asks. Try responding like this:

"I'm sorry, Mark, but in this case I cannot offer an account credit. I understand this wasn’t ideal. Your settings can be fixed with a few changes, and I’d be happy to help you set them up again."

Offering some of your time is a fair exchange for a small glitch. Be polite but firm that you’re unable to offer financial compensation — but you’re ready to make things right through any alternatives available.

12. The customer is abusive

An abusive customer and an angry customer are not the same thing. An abusive customer is someone who has clearly crossed the line and is mistreating you.

Shut it down, no exceptions. But don’t lose your cool; you must notify leadership so they can commit to a swift, immediate action. Loop someone else in — a support lead or other team leadership. Do not handle this situation yourself.

The leader should cancel the account and tell the customer not to contact you or anyone else on your team again:

This is Cynthia Kapa, CEO.

I’m stepping in to let you know I’ve followed this conversation since the beginning. Given how it’s played out, it’s best that we part ways. The members of my team deserve to be treated with respect, and I haven’t seen that in this exchange.

I’ve canceled your account and refunded you for the rest of the month. You will not be able to reactivate the account.

Cynthia

Nobody enjoys these situations. They’re a mess. But the chances of not running into something similar over years or decades of experience is slim, so be prepared.

Closing conversations with challenging customers

One of my favorite tips for dealing with customers is to make sure that you always “close” a conversation. This has everything to do with making sure the conversation with a customer is complete.

This is relevant here because the average business only hears from 4% of its dissatisfied customers. Don’t add to that harrowing statistic by leaving people you’ve helped with an unsolved dilemma.

Your willingness to ensure a customer is leaving perfectly happy shows them three important things:

1. You care about getting it right.
2. You’re willing to keep going until you get it right.
3. The customer is the one who determines what “right” is.

Try ending your conversation with a phrase like the following:

"Excellent! I’m glad we were able to get that sorted out for you. Before you go, was there anything else I could assist you with today? I’m happy to help.”

Believe it or not, there are some people who might walk away with another problem if they aren’t asked about it. Adding “I’m happy to help” is a very small gesture you can make that has a big impact. It shows the customer that asking for another favor isn’t being a burden; in fact, you’d be happy to do it.

And in some cases, this gesture is even what prompts the customer to leave a positive review.

THANK YOU AND CREDITS TO 

Gregory CiottiDecember 11, 2019  •  

10 Customer Service Response Templates and Examples

 Thanks Mathew Patterson

Even when you’re a highly skilled customer support professional who’s capable of holding friendly, nuanced, and helpful conversations with your customers, some conversations can get pretty tricky. What’s the best way to tell someone they can’t have a refund or that you can’t let them log in to an account they claim to own?

To make those difficult conversations easier, we’ve put together these templates that you can use for inspiration to craft the perfect responses. Use these 10 customer service response templates and examples to craft your own replies to these tricky support requests:

“I want a phone call, now!”

A customer is demanding a phone call to solve their issue, but you don’t offer phone support and/or aren’t able to call them. They may be threatening to escalate above you or cancel altogether.

Recommended approach

In a time of stress like this, your customer can feel like you are refusing to help them at all, even though it’s really a conflict about where the help will come from.

Your answer should:

✓ Be firm about what you can and can't do

✓ Reassure the customer that you are there to help

✓ Make it clear the customer is in control

Example Response

Hi Jane,

I understand your frustration. For some customers, a lack of phone support is a deal breaker, and that’s completely understandable, but it’s not something we offer at this time.

I want to help you get you the answers you need, and we can definitely get that done by email, but I will need your help.

If you can provide the following information, that will help us track down what’s happening and figure out the best way forward.

<reiterate your specific questions>

I really appreciate your help, and I know it’s stressful when you’ve got work to do and you’re stuck like this. As soon as you reply, I’ll be automatically notified so I can start investigating for you.

You can omit this if the customer isn’t threatening to leave.

Position yourself with the customer against the problem, and gently remind them that they are the one holding up progress.

Now that you’ve reset the conversation repeat what you need to help them.

People often want phone calls because they worry about speed or being ignored.

Build their confidence by explicitly telling them what happens to their email when it arrives.

Alternative options:

➤ Offer live chat (if possible) as a perceived “faster” option to a solution.

➤ Try offering an outbound phone call, but only if you and the customer try solving it by email first and fail. “I’m confident we can solve this by email, but if we try that and still can’t get you on track, then I’d be happy to call you.”

➤ Hand off to a teammate who can focus on a solution without having the baggage of disagreeing about support channels.

“When are you going to add [feature]?”

A customer is asking for a product feature you know will not be added.

Recommended approach

It’s a compliment when your customers come to you for help because they like your work and they want it to solve more problems for them. So turning them down can be tricky, but better they know the truth than be strung along, hoping for something that will not arrive.

Your answer should:

✓ Be honest about the situation

✓ Explain why

✓ Acknowledge their need and address it if possible

Example Response

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the suggestion; I appreciate you explaining how it would help you out. While that feature isn’t currently in our development roadmap, we are working on big improvements that will be helpful for the majority of our customers, and you’ll see those rolling out soon.

While we can’t build exactly what you’re after, I do have a suggestion that might get you most of what you need.

<your suggested workaround>

Thanks again for taking the time to talk to us! We always appreciate feedback and suggestions.

If it’s a “never, ever” you can use a stronger version here. “It’s not something we will be building in".

We're not saying “no” to you, we’re saying “yes” to as many people as we can at once.

Only offer this when you have a genuinely useful option. If it’s too complex or not good enough, just leave it out.

Alternative options:

➤ If you have a public roadmap, link to it and share some of the upcoming improvements.

➤ Sometimes, your customer would be better off with a different product, and you may help them by offering that option.

“I want a refund!”

When you can’t (or have decided not to) offer the customer a refund.

Recommended approach

Asking for a refund is often a sign that the customer feels like they haven’t gotten value from your product. If you can acknowledge and address that issue, the refund may become less important to them.

Your answer should:

✓ Be explicit and give a reason if possible

✓ Dig for the underlying cause

✓ Listen carefully

Example Response

Hi Li Wei,

I’m sorry to hear you’re not happy with our product. While I’m unable to offer a refund (please see our terms and conditions here), I can *<offer a billing extension/store credit/other alternative>*

As we arrange that, though, I would love to understand your situation better and see if there’s any other way we can help.

Could you give me a little more detail about what you needed to get done? It looks like <your best understanding of what they are trying to do, and where they got stuck>, is that right?

If you have a few moments to elaborate on that, I can talk to the team here, and we can give you our best advice.

Be upfront about your decision to avoid misunderstandings.

If you have a policy on refunds, link to it directly.

Give your support team a range of non-refund options if you can.

Alternative options:

➤ For small refunds, the cost of discussing it with the customer may well exceed the funds saved. Perhaps you can just give the refund and invest in long term goodwill.

➤ Even when you can offer a refund, a refund request is an opportunity to understand your customer’s needs better. Let them know you are happy to refund, but then open up the conversation to understand why. Sometimes they won’t even want a refund at the end of the conversation.”

➤ A clearly written and accessible refund policy will make these conversations easier.

“Tweet me back”

When your customer is on a social channel, but you need to move them over to another channel to answer effectively.

Recommended approach

You should respect the customer's choice wherever you can, but if you need to move them, explain why and reassure them that you will resolve their question. Read "Migrating a Customer Query Between Support Channels" for more details.

Your answer should:

✓ Smoothly transfer information

✓ Minimize the work of the customer

✓ Retain customer confidence

Example Response

@hannah Sorry for the trouble, let’s get this sorted out. We'll need to loop in our engineers, so I’ve started an email thread for you, with all the relevant information you’ve shared. It should be in your account email inbox now. I'll see you over there!

Explain why you need to have them switch channels.

Reassure the customer that they won't have to repeat themselves.

Keeping the same team member in the conversation builds confidence.

Alternative options:

➤ Whenever possible, take the question to completion in the same channel your customer began it in.

➤ Explain the issue, and let your customer choose an alternate channel from the possible options.

➤ In the case of legal restrictions, make it clear up front where you can and can't help people.

“Bring back the file export feature!!!!!”

A customer is upset that a feature or product has been removed.

Recommended approach

You know how it feels when you lose access to something you value, so make sure to express that empathy, but also give your customer context.

Your answer should:

✓ Empathize with the customer

✓ Give them context on why the change was made

✓ Present the hopeful future

Example Response

Hi Marcin,

Thanks for letting us know about your situation. I can understand that it’s frustrating to lose a feature that you’ve come to rely on like that. While it’s not something we plan to replace, I can give you a bit more detail about why we made the change and how it will hopefully benefit you in the long term.

The short answer is that this was a complex feature to maintain. It wasn’t being used by the majority of our customers, which meant we were spending a lot of development time and resources on something that wasn’t making our product better for most people.

By making the hard decision to drop it, we’ve been able to move those resources into new areas like <x> and <y>, and you’ll now see those improvements launched and available in your account much sooner than we otherwise could have achieved.

I realize that doesn’t solve your immediate issue, though. Some of our other customers have found that <alternative> is a good substitute for that functionality. If you’d like to share more detail on how you were using it, I’d be happy to give you my best advice.

If it’s never going to happen, it's more kind to make that clear right away than leave them hoping for it.

Instead of over-apologizing for the removal, focus on what benefits that removal allows for all customers.

Alternative options:

➤ If this is not a “set in stone” decision and could be rolled back, then be sure to not just record the feedback, but ask questions to understand the particular usage of each customer. The answer may not be rolling back, for example; it may be changing future plans to allow for other use cases.

“I need access to this account!”

A customer wants access to an account, but can’t (or won’t) pass security.

Recommended approach

Customer service teams are increasingly the target of social engineering attacks. Being secure while also providing service is a tricky line to walk.

Your answer should:

✓ Be clear about what is needed to give access

✓ Position your team as a protector, not a blocker

✓ Rely on published policies

Example Response

Hello Rafi,

I understand you just want to get into your account and back to work, and I am here to help you. However, as I’m sure you can understand, we have to be careful to protect the details that you and all of our customers trust us to store. You can read up on our security policy and practices here: <url>

Here’s what you can do to regain access to your account:

<reiterate your steps in bulleted list>

If any of those steps are unclear, let me know, and I’m happy to explain further. I know it’s stressful, but for the protection of all of our customers (and to comply with information security laws) I’m unable to give you access otherwise.

Thank you for your understanding.

Align yourself and your customer against outside people who might try to access their data.

Mentioning legal constraints (if any) can be helpful and most people will more easily accept that reason.

Alternative options:

➤ Security isn’t really an area for workarounds, but you can reduce some of the stress by having public policies and directions on how to regain account access (and what happens if they can’t).

“Your plugin is failing, bigly!”

A customer needs support for a third-party tool or system about which you can’t answer detailed questions.

Recommended approach

Customers don’t always know the right person to contact when they run into issues. Make the process as smooth as possible for them, even if you have to send them elsewhere.

Your answer should:

✓ Tell them why you are sending them away

✓ Make it easy for them to take the necessary steps

✓ Be clear that you’re still there to support them

Example Response

Hey Priya,

I’d love to help you with this, but I’m afraid we don’t have access to that information on our side. I can help you with questions relating to (our product), but in this case, the <other system> support team will be best positioned to investigate and help you move forward.

To save you some time I’ve looked up their support options, and you can send your question in here: <contact link>

It may be helpful to include this information in your request: <your clearer explanation of the issue>

If their team needs any further information from our side, just let us know and we can pass that on. Sorry I couldn’t be of more help directly, but thanks again for using <our service> and best of luck getting this issue resolved quickly.

Add some details about why you are unable to help them out.

Improve their chances of success by helping them write a clear support question to the third-party team.

Alternative options:

➤ If your team has developed some skills in the third-party system, consider creating your own knowledge base entries for the most common issues.

➤ For really high value relationships, consider submitting a question to the third party yourself, looping the customer in so you can monitor their experience and jump in if necessary.

➤ If you have a software product, try to make it easier for customers to identify third-party issues by writing clearer error messages.

“I can’t believe it still hasn’t arrived!”

You’ve told the customer what will happen, but they’re angry about waiting after 2 days (for example).

Recommended approach

From your side, everything is working exactly as it should, yet the customer is still upset. Try to reframe it in your head as a customer who is so keen for your product that the wait is upsetting them, instead of a customer who is unreasonably angry about reality! Then be empathetic and take the customer’s side, even when nothing can be changed.

Your answer should:

✓ Avoid being pointlessly defensive

✓ Align yourself with the customer

✓ Give them a chance to feel heard, not blamed

✓ Avoid accepting blame incorrectly

Example Response

Hi Iminathi,

I can totally appreciate how frustrating it is to be waiting for your delivery, I wish there were a way for us to get it to you sooner (when will those Star Trek transports be invented!). It might help to start with some background on what happens on our end once you place an order:

When you ordered, the shipping process started on that same day automatically. Your package was picked up from our warehouse on *<date>* and it’s now with Planet Express, so it is well on the way to you. You should receive delivery on *<date>*, according to their last update.

To help you know what to expect, during the ordering process we show an estimated delivery date, perhaps that wasn't visible enough for you? I’d love your feedback on that so we can improve for the future. In this case it looks like we’re going to beat that estimate by about 3 days.

Once your parcel arrives, if there are any issues at all please hit reply and we can get right back to you.

Just naming this will help them feel acknowledged - the customer wants the goods, you want them to have the goods.

Offering them some more detail into what happens can help them understand the time taken, and build their confidence that this is all normal.

This paragraph points out that you did try to let them know, but in a way that leaves the customer an opportunity to give you feedback and not feel like you’re blaming them for not seeing it. Consider including a screenshotfor clarity.

Reinforce that they will be receiving it soon, and that you’re still there to help.

Alternative options:

➤ If you see a genuine issue with the information provided up front being unclear, tell the customer what you’re going to do about it to help future purchasers.

➤ Offer to contact the delivery provider and pass on more detail about how the delivery process works.

“I’m not doing your job for you”

Your customer has a tricky problem, but they refuse to provide you with the troubleshooting information you need to help them.

Recommended approach

A customer who is not experienced in technical troubleshooting may not have an understanding of the iterative, trial and error approach that can sometimes be required. You need to be a little more explicit about what the process will be, and why it’s worth their time to help you help them.

Your answer should:

✓ Avoid making ultimatums

✓ Convince the customer you need their help

✓ Be explicit about what you need

✓ Show them a positive outcome is coming

Example Response

Hi Joao,

 I can understand that it is frustrating to contact us about a problem and have me ask you to do some work! I’d be frustrated too in your position. It’s true that I really do need your help to figure this out, but I should have explained earlier how I’ll use the information I asked for to get this problem sorted as quickly as possible.

Once you send me the following:

*<required information>*

My next step will be to replicate that same setup on our side. Then I’ll be able to tell if it’s something broken on our side, and work with our developers on it. If not, then it’s possible there’s something specific to your setup that we will need to dig into together.

Narrowing the problem down in that way will make it much faster for our team here to help you, because we won’t have to waste your time while we’re testing systems that don’t apply to your case.

I’ve set a notice on this conversation so that once you reply, it will come right back to me and I can keep this moving for you. I look forward to hearing from you, and thanks again for your help.

Put yourself in their shoes—in your head, you’re already thinking of what you’ll test next, and how you’ll move closer to an answer. They don’t know that yet.

Reiterate in detail what you need your customer to provide you with, and link them to resources for how to get it if necessary.

Adapt this section for the specific situation—technical troubleshooting, identifying their account, whatever applies.

Flip their concern to show how you are valuing their time by reducing wasted effort (and gently remind them that the ball is in their court).

Alternative options:

➤ If you’ve tried and failed to elicit their help, at least be clear that you are ready and willing to help as soon as the information has been provided.

➤ Tell a story about another customer who faced a similarly tricky issue, and who worked with you to get it resolved.

“I need a discount!”

When a customer does not want to pay the stated price.

Recommended approach

While your price may be non-negotiable, you can still demonstrate value and help your customers get more for their money. For more help, read "How to Deal With ’Tightwad’ Customers".

Your answer should:

✓ Remain firm on the price

✓ Help the customer understand the value

✓ Offer useful options

Example Response

Hi Arjun,

We really appreciate your business with us! While we don't offer discounts, I do want to make sure you're getting the most you can for your money. You mentioned that XYZ Widget is cheaper, but there are a couple of key differences you might not know about.

Of course, I can understand that you may have an immediate need to reduce your ongoing costs. If that’s the case then I have a couple of options for you:

You could move down to our basic plan, and save $Y, though you would lose accesss to <features> that I can see you’re frequently using.

If we can help you understand these options better, or if you’d like help getting more out of your account, hit reply and let us know! We’re here to help whenever you need it.