Two major life events in the last three months radically increased my contact with customer support reps. 1. I got married and merged bank accounts, property, billing, and so on. 2. I took over growth marketing and led configuring, connecting, and using around 20-30 marketing tools.
Applying Never Split the Difference principles, I’ve had a nearly 100% success rate with customer support, even in some pretty frustrating situations.
The ONE thing: they’re almost all not allowed to hang up on you if you still claim to have needs and aren’t being mean.
Here’s the worst and how to handle it:
- Them: “I’m sorry, but I cannot help you with this / [some other completely unsatisfying answer]”
- Me: “Is there anything else you’re authorized to do?” (often, this question is magic because the answer is yes)
- Them: “No. That’s our policy / I can’t do anything differently.”
::drumroll::
- Me: “What’s your plan to put me in touch with someone authorized to do it differently than that policy or change the policy?”
- Them: “[insert horrible plan]”
- Me: “How am I supposed to accept that?”
- Them: “Let me get you a manager…”
Magic. Three times I got that far (and got what I wanted: someone able to hear the issue and make a real decision that I expected to fit the brand in the first place.)
