How to Maintain Good Customer Service During Emergencies

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Nobody knows when an emergency may strike. They tend to be unexpected. This can include anything from accidents, natural disasters, and the COVID-19 pandemic is another excellent example of an emergency. For any company, the emergency can be different. This can include having login issues, a security breach, or so much more.  Emergencies need to be taken care of as soon as possible,  they’re very common and happen every day. However, this shouldn’t always have to impact customer relations.

 Facebook is a great example of this as they recently had an emergency where nobody was able to access their buildings. At the same time, there was a disruption within their server center which caused outages for all of their products and services. Even though this is a tech company, they still provide a product and service that customers rely on. 

No matter the type of industry, whether it be plumbing, automotive, tech, engineering, or anything else, customers need to be a priority. While it may be stressful to think about, even in the biggest emergencies, the customers still need to be helped out or else they’ll just move on to something else.  Here are some great ways that your business and team members can provide excellent customer service even during emergencies. 

Create talking points

It’s best to come up with realistic scenarios with you and your team and create talking points when talking to customers who may be in a complete panic. This can include emergencies that only the customers are in, but this can also include creating emergency scenarios and talking points that the company is in as well. These will help as a way to fall back on. Just ensuring your customers by stating “this is a high priority for us and we’re going to take care of it” will instantly relieve customers.  You and your team need to be aware of the urgency of the situation that the customer is in.  This is going to be the ultimate way to bring peace of mind during emergency maintenance to your customers.

Protect yourself and your team

Sometimes when it comes to emergencies, what really matters is staying protected. The safety of yourself and your team should be held at the highest priority. The COVID-19 pandemic was a great example as many services were temporarily shut down in order to protect employers. No amount of money is worth putting your team at risk.

Always stay prepared

Whether it’s an emergency maintenance situation, a security breach for your company’s data, or a natural disaster occurs, it’s so important to have a bootable drive for your computer so you can keep your most important company files in safety. Most businesses no matter the type will need to always have additional files that include their business’s information. This is usually uploaded to a cloud but it can also be on some sort of drive. Always look into protecting these important files through tight security. 

This is going to be the best way to avoid any security breaches. Hackers will look into threatening any business, no matter the service or industry. To avoid a cyber-related emergency, always be sure to keep your network and tech completely secured.

Be open and honest with customers

Whenever a customer is reaching out, even if they are in the same stressful situation as you and your team, it’s important to be completely open and honest with your customers. Consul them on these urgent issues, even the smallest amount of information is going to help. Even if your team at the time doesn’t have any information or updates, it’s okay to let the customer know.

Do the right thing

There are going to be a lot of angry customers who may threaten to stop using your service, threaten to leave a bad review online, or anything else. While this is stressful for your business especially during an emergency, your team and agents should try to keep the customer happy or at least calmed down. Doing the right thing is always going to be important during an emergency, if you’re able to help these customers, try and do so.

Express gratitude to the team

It’s very important to express gratitude to the customers,  especially those who have patience and are bearing with the business during an emergency situation. However, the team should also receive gratitude for their hard work. Trying to manage customer service during an emergency-related situation is no easy task. No matter what type of service your business provides, it’s crucial to understand how much you all achieved. Show appreciation by giving gifts so they know how important they are. 

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