Fuzzy II (cont’d): dealing with unclear requests from customers

By J. N. Halm

It came to light from the above study that employees complied less with special requests that have to do with financial and knowledge deficiencies. This is because, concerning financially-based requests, customer special requests were mainly illegitimate.

Employees also respond less to knowledge-based requests because most of those requests were against company policy, were illegal, were beyond the employee’s ability or were outside the scope of the company’s services.

Knowing the kind of requests a customer is making is one thing but it is a different ballgame to know what factors determine whether the employee would comply or refuse these requests.

In the November 2012 edition of the Journal of Marketing, there was a report of a study carried out among retail employees in the United States. Titled, “Employees’ Decision Making in the Face of Customers’ Fuzzy Return Requests”, the study sought to determine what influences the compliance of employees with these fuzzy requests from customers.

The study concluded that the orientation of the employee and the way the one handled conflict were two indicators of how the one would handle a fuzzy request from a customer. Customer-handling employees with a higher customer orientation were more likely to handle the fuzzy requests in a friendlier way and were more likely to put in more effort. It was also found that employees who were more likely to avoid conflict were also more likely to grant the customer’s fuzzy request.

A customer’s requests were also more likely to be granted if the customer acted in an Affiliative manner. The study however found that when customers were domineering in their requests—making it seem like they were in their right to make such demands—the likelihood of the customer service employee agreeing to the requests became slimmer.

It was explained that this was because the employee began to reason that the fuzzy request was less legitimate and this makes it more difficult to acquiesce to the request.

Another set of factors that determined the response of employees to special requests from customers was related to the organisation the employee worked for. For instance, if it was the kind of organisation where employees had flexibility, then there was a greater likelihood that the customer’s request would be complied with. However, if it was the kind of organisation where there were expectations of punishment for mistakes committed, it was less likely that the employee would risk going out on a limb for a customer.

The risk factor cannot be taken out of a discussion on special customer requests. Studies have found that the perceived risk of complying with special requests is always a consideration when customer service employees are faced with these requests. Another factor is the employee’s own risk-taking tendency. There are individuals who, by their nature, are risk averse. Such individuals are less likely to comply with special requests from customers.

The importance of handling special requests from customers is why businesses must always consider empowering frontline employees to use their discretion to solve customer problems or, in this case, to comply with special requests from customers.

When employees know they have the freedom to adapt their actions to customer needs (or requests), they will be more willing to adapt to see these special requests, especially if these requests would benefit the company in the long run.

The results of another study carried out on the subject matter of fuzzy requests from customers were published in the July 2021 edition of the Journal of Business Research. The said report was titled, “Frontline Employees’ Compliance with Fuzzy Requests: A Request–Appraisal–Behavior Perspective”. Using data collected from more than 250 restaurant employees, this study came out with findings that largely buttress the findings of the earlier studies.

For instance, the study found that employees turn down special requests when they perceive that there is a likelihood of conflict between the request and company policies. Another reason found by this study for a refusal to comply with these kinds of requests from customers was the severity of the requests.

In other words, if fulfilling the requests would not lead to any dire consequences, then employees have no problem responding to them. The third reason that causes employees to turn down special requests is an expectation of punishment when things turn out bad.

However, much like in the earlier studies, this study found that when employees have autonomy on the job, they are more likely to be more helpful when they come across these special requests.

Also, when employees expect to receive a reward for the help offered, they are more likely to respond positively to these special requests. Additionally, employees with a customer orientation were more likely to help.

Organisations need to understand that in the times we find ourselves, the one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with customers will not work. There is a need to customise a service to suit different customers. Employees must be trained and empowered to handle special requests from customers.

Empowering employees can indeed have deleterious effects, but this is when empowerment is done blindly. It is important to thoroughly evaluate the particular employee before giving the one any form of discretionary power. The one is going to be given powers that might end up causing financial loss to the business.

Employee empowerment has some other drawbacks. There is a possibility of inconsistent service provision. One employee may not do things the same way as the next employee. If one customer happens to be served at two different times by two different employees, the service experience could be markedly different and this could lead to confusion.

Another potential danger with frontline employee empowerment is that there is always the potential of what experts refer to as “service sweethearting”. This has been described as the practice by frontline employees of giving unauthorised freebies or unapproved discounts to friends and acquaintances. If empowered customer-handling employees are not given boundaries, they could overstep their authority. This may end up costing the business money.

One other way by which organisations can handle special requests is to urge customers to always put their fuzzy requests in writing. There is good reason for this. If it is a genuine help the customer seeks, then the one will have no problem putting the requests in writing. However, if the customer is up to some mischief, then the one will not be willing to go through the hassle of filling out a form.

One of the takeaways for businesses from these studies is that special requests from customers stem from customer deficiencies. It is incumbent upon businesses to be able to look at these deficiencies and as much as possible anticipate some of these requests. An ability to anticipate would afford the business competitive advantages that would be most beneficial in a highly competitive marketplace.

By anticipating a wide variety of special requests that employees might come across in the line of duty, a business would be able to arm its customer-facing employees with the right kind of responses—responses that would win the customer over, even if the said request is turned down.

It is only important for organisations to use every opportunity they get to keep educating their customers on what the organisation does and what falls outside its policies. If the company signs a contract with customers, such as is done frequently in the finance industry, it helps if the business takes time to inform the customer as to what is contained in those contracts. This is important because many customers do not take their time to read through voluminous contract documents.

For so long as customers remain customers, they will always try to get as much as they can from their interactions with organisations. It is just the way humans are. We would always want to get as much advantage as we can from a given situation. There is actually nothing wrong with this because every business would also want to get as much as it can from its engagement with customers.

This “competition” with the organisation is among the reasons why businesses must ensure that they always train their employees very well, especially those who deal with customers directly and regularly. Front-line employees should be able to quickly identify fuzzy requests and be able to handle them with as much professionalism as possible.

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