When Matt drowned in a fast-moving river, it fell to me to cancel his credit cards, close out the utilities at his apartment and manage his cell-phone account.
With one notable exception, the person on the other end of the phone gave the same reply: “Ma’am, we need to speak to the account holder. We aren’t authorized to give any information.”
People die every day, but companies often have no policies in place for dealing with death. And ineffective and insensitive responses from customer service reps don’t just affect those making the calls. They have real-world effects on your business. Surely we can treat each other better than this.
One exchange I had stands out in my mind. Shortly before he died, Matt had been hiking in the Rocky Mountains. He called from a ridge overlooking the valleys below. His voicemail message said, “Hey—it’s me. Calling from 9,000 feet above you. It’s so beautiful here, and I wanted to say hi. I love you.”
I called customer service, and the rep asked how they could help. I told them the story, how I couldn’t bear to have Matt’s last message erased. The rep’s voice softened. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “What an impossible thing to live through.”
He paused, then continued, “Messages do get erased after 60 days. There isn’t anything I can do to change that. I know that isn’t the answer you wanted.” The rep remained calm and kind as I started to cry. He offered suggestions for how I might record the voice message, thereby preserving it before it was erased from the server. He told me again how sorry he was for my loss, wished me well, and we ended the call.
I felt like I’d spoken to a real human, one who genuinely cared. And I told everyone about it. Kindness and acknowledgment was all it took to make me a lifelong customer.
I have a few ideas about how leaders can start the discussion with their customer-facing employees.
First, your company needs to clearly articulate what its response should be when a request to close or transfer accounts has been made in the event of someone’s death. Map out all the possible circumstances that could precede such a request and come up with different response paths.
Second, educate your reps on the key words a caller or writer might use to indicate they’re in emotional pain. Then, give reps an appropriate script for the situation.
Finally, seek out grief experts on answers to questions you may have.
Losing a loved one is so painful and isolating. Your customers may forget a lot as their lives move forward from their loss, but they’ll always remember how your company treated them. All it takes is one kind response to change everything. Megan Devine
Megan Devine is the author of It’s OK That You’re Not OK: Meeting Grief & Loss in a Culture that Doesn’t Understand.
Image credits: Sheftsoff/Dreamstime.com