Balancing Customer and Employee Conflicts: Who Should We Prioritize in Tough Situations?

Dear All,

We come across many situations where customer and employee conflicts occur, leading to either the customer leaving or the employee resigning. I recently encountered a case where an employee absconded due to ill-treatment by a customer. One day, the employee called HR and said, "I am not coming in now due to the ill-treatment by the customer."

These incidents are more common in the service sector. The question arises: to whom should we give priority? Of course, the customer. But what about the employee, who nowadays is often the "only means of production and/or services"?

Regards,
Manish

Hi Manish,

I think you should call the employee and counsel him. These things are common in today's world where the customer/client is the "king." So the employee, especially if he is in Sales, should be able to handle these situations. Even if he absconds, he may face the same thing in his future job.

As HR, you need to counsel the employee and make him aware of these things and also assure him that your company will extend full support to him and take care of him. If possible, you can assign this case to his senior who may be able to handle it better.

Regards,
Deepa

Hi Manish,

I agree with Deepa; you should counsel the employee and make him feel that you care for the employees. Customers are given the utmost importance, but employees are the priority for management. Employees are easily convinced when their immediate superior conducts the counseling session. After all, ill-treatment should not matter to him; he should only be bothered when his superior/management or someone who matters to him ill-treats him.

I have experienced a similar situation in my company. Initially, when I joined, one of our old customers called my superior to complain about me. Despite the customer being arrogant, there was nothing wrong with my actions. My superior asked me about the issue, I answered well, and the matter was resolved immediately. My boss knew it was not my mistake, so he did not say a word to me or the customer. I still interact with the same customer, showing that I am a key person in an indispensable position within the organization, and the customer quickly forwarded a complaint.

It's best to speak to the employee personally, helping him understand that there is no guarantee he won't face a similar situation in his next job. He shouldn't shy away from difficulties; instead, he should be brave and confront them. Make people understand his capabilities.

Regards,

Arc

Hi Manish,

These are the common issues faced by a salesperson, and a thorough sales professional is always used to it as it is a part of his job. Maybe the person hired was not suitable for the job, and he should not continue in sales as these situations are faced everywhere, and the employee should be in a position to handle such situations. Before hiring a salesperson, we should be very choosy and see if he/she is willing to take the stress and how well he can handle customers. You just can't afford to lose customers. Because of that customer, we get our salaries... HAHAHA... Anyways, part of the HR job, man.

Regards,
Abhijeet

Hi,

Here's how I would handle this:

I will first try to get to the root cause of the "ill treatment" - Did the customer abuse the employee or just shout because the employee did not do what was expected?

In case of abuse, you can go back to the customer and tell him/her that every individual in the organization needs to be respected irrespective of caste, creed, color, or whatever, and go that route. If necessary, speak to your manager and ask them to speak to the customer's manager.

If the situation is that the employee missed a very important deadline, then I would speak to the employee to determine if he had a reasonable time and resources to do what was expected from him.

If yes, then I would counsel the employee to be sensitive to the customer's priorities and let his manager know if there is something he cannot deliver.

If no, then I would speak to the employee and ask him to speak to his manager a couple of days before the "due date," and also ask the employee's manager to ensure employees have the right resources to do the job.

In both cases, I would advise the customer to speak to the manager if he is not comfortable with the way things are, and preferably a couple of days before the end date.

However, the solution needs to be done on a case-by-case basis.

Anurag

Dear Manish,

With so many replies given, I have only a few things to say:

a) Find out the root cause of the customer dissatisfaction - was it imaginary or real?
b) Change the process of your work if required.
c) If the process is correct, make this case study a part of the staff training.

Thanks,
Dinesh V Divekar
Soft Skills Trainer