Telling a frustrated customer “we will have this fixed today” may seem like a good thing, but when you haven’t checked the queue, staff availability, necessary approvals or the reason for the problem, it becomes a service issue in itself. It’s not about offering an instant answer but rather making what you know and what you have to find out clear, so that the customer knows when they’ll hear from you.
It’s helpful to make a distinction between how fast you can respond versus how fast you can resolve. Response time is how quickly you get back to the customer or review their issue, while resolution time is how long it will take you to complete that work. You can confirm you received the request in an hour but can’t guarantee resolution, so you can say, “We received your request and will give you an update by 3 p.m. after the technical review,” instead of promising that the issue will be solved by 3 p.m.
The next time you need to update is often the safest time to make a commitment to your customer. It gives them a time without having to pretend that every aspect of the behind-the-scenes process is predictable. If you give a good status update, your customer can learn what the current category is, who is or will be in charge, what the work is about, and when you’ll communicate with them again. Your response doesn’t have to give a final resolution to be useful: If they’ve assigned ownership to someone who is actively working on it, they don’t have to feel like their request was lost in a pile.
To practice this, use scenarios in which a request is delayed, such as a booking change or a delayed product, or even a service outage. Draft one reply that makes an unsupported promise, then rewrite your response to share what you’re able to confirm, and commit to the next communication. Instead of saying, “This will be completed shortly,” say, “The request is being reviewed by the scheduling team. We’ll check the availability tomorrow morning.” See which option sets an expectation without pretending to be something you are not.
Honesty isn’t the same as sharing too much. In many cases, customers don’t want a long-winded explanation of the reasons for an issue, like an internal handoff or approval, or system limitation; all they want to know is what they can do next. Say why there is a delay, describe the current situation, and share when they can expect the next update. Don’t use vague terms like “soon,” “as soon as possible,” or “we’ll get back to you.” These are all nice to hear, but they don’t constitute a service standard.
If circumstances change and you’re going to miss an update, tell your customer before the original commitment passes. Even when a service issue may be forgivable, it can be harder to get past a missed communication. If a review is taking longer than expected, share what has changed and recommit to a time you can update. Don’t wait for the customer to ask again. Letting your customer know that you will follow-up shows that you are still taking ownership of the issue, even in the event of delays or other teams’ involvement.
Take a beat before you send a response to think about whether the time, action, and owner are all set in stone. If there are any uncertainties, make a commitment to the next review or update, rather than a resolution. It’s not always the statement that comforts the service-seeker that is the most helpful; it is the statement that the service process can stand behind.
