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How to handle customers cancelling services is a concept in which many companies are likely to invest a great deal of money in staff training. It is essential to any company that they not only acquire new business but retain their existing customers if they are to succeed and flourish in the long term and the process of how to handle customers cancelling services forms a large part of the customer retention programme.

Perhaps most particularly for staff in telephone call centres, customers cancelling services is something which they are going to be required to deal with almost every working day of their lives. The very first step in the process is for the salesperson or customer services' agent to apologise to the customer for them finding that they wish to cancel the service. It is important that the agent immediately create the impression with the customer that they and the company do want to retain their business and that they do consider them to be of value, rather than merely a statistic on a sales sheet. For this same reason, it is important that the customer be politely addressed by name throughout the exchange.

How to handle customers cancelling services is next about establishing why the customer wishes to cancel the service. There will always be a reason for this request and it is important that the agent establish this as soon as possible if they are to have any chance of addressing it. Very often, the reason for the customer wishing to cancel the services will be one which the agent can successfully deal with and retain the customer's business.

Clearly, how to handle customers cancelling services when the reason for their wishing to do so has been established will relate very specifically to the nature of the services and the stipulated reason. There are some general principles, however, which can be considered in this respect and adapted successfully to almost any set of circumstances.

One of the most common reasons for customers cancelling services is due to the fact that they have found a cheaper provider of the services. If a customer services' agent is to deal with this reason most effectively, they will have to have some knowledge of the services the alternative company provides and how they compare head to head. It is therefore a good idea for agents to make themselves aware of the services of other major competitors and to be able to counter the customer's perceptions accurately, informatively and hopefully effectively.

Another common reason for customers cancelling services is that they have been let down in some way by the service provider. Where this is the case, the agent must again apologise profusely before examining with the customer how the problem can be resolved, how to ensure it does not raise itself as an issue again in the future and how perhaps some token gesture of recompense can be made to the customer to make up for the failure.

It will of course not always be possible to handle customers cancelling services to a successful conclusion but if the agent follows the above tips and remains polite and respectful all the way through the conversation, they are likely to stand the very best chance of retaining the customer's business.

Learn more about this author, Gordon Hamilton.
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