Customer Service Excellence

Make It Right: -Responding When Moments Matter

Learning Objectives:

1. Recognize when a customer situation carries heightened emotional impact.

2. Use the Make It Right mindset to guide decisions, not just resolve issues.

3. Assess responsibility using tiers as judgment tools, not rigid rules.

4. Pause, escalate, and act with empathy to support trust repair and Win Back.

Introducing Emotional Impact:

• Standard Emotional Impact What happened: A service issue occurred.

• How the customer feels: Disappointed or frustrated or annoyed.

• Why: The issue is inconvenient, but the moment itself is not significant or emotional.

Tier 1: Examples:

• Regular Birthday

• Thank-You or "Just because" gift

• Late delivery with no special timing

• Product quality issue without emotional content

• Elevated Emotional Impact

• What happened: A service issue affected an important moment.

• How the customer feels: Upset because a meaningful occasion was impacted.

• Why: The gift was tied to a special or important event, not just a transaction.

Tier 2: Examples:

• Milestone birthday(30th, 40th, 50th, etc.)

• Anniversary or significant or planned moment -Important surpriseor planned moment

• Any tier 1 issue where context makes it more emotional

• Highest Emotional Impact

• What happened: A service issue occurred during a deeply sensitive or once-in-a-lifetime moment.

• How the customer feels: Emotionally vulnerable, distressed, or deeply disappointed.

• Why: The moment is irreplaceable, and trust in us may be seriously affected.

Tier 3: Examples:

• Funerals or memorial services
• Weddings or engagements -Once-in-a-lifetime milestones
• VIP customers or escalated situations

What Make It Right Looks Like in Practice: We do not:

• Argue with the customer
• Get defensive
• Minimize the customer's experience
• Haggle with the customer

We do:

• Listen fully
• Use empathy
• Take ownership
• Focus on restoring trust

take ownership on where we fall short

sincerity, respect, care help rebuild trust

Practical Ways to Make It Right: To Listen Fully:

• Let the customer finish before responding
• Avoid interrupting or correcting
• Use short phrases like “I understand”

To Use Empathy:

• Acknowledge the moment, not just the issue
• Match your tone to how serious the moment feels
• Stay calm and sincere

To Take Ownership:

• Use “we” instead of blaming systems or processes
• Acknowledge where we fell short
• Focus on what happens next, not what went wrong

To Restore Trust:

• Avoid arguing or debating details
• Do not minimize the customer’s experience
• Escalate when more support is needed (Escalation is part of Making It Right.)

Before you respond, pause and ask yourself one question:

What does this customer need right now?

What to Remember:

• Not every issue has the same emotional impact.
• Pause and consider the moment behind the issue.
• When a moment can’t be fixed, lead with care and escalate.
• When in doubt, always aim to Make It Right.

The positive experience as a customer that stood out for me is when I was having a problem with my Grab Payment refund because I requested for a refund because my order wasn't delivered to me but in the online order receipt it indicates that the order was already delivered to me but I still haven't received the food.