The snatch-and-flip call control strategy

- When your customer tears in, ranting, explaining, venting, and you're at a loss for how to take the reins from them and move into problem-solving? Try the three-step snatch and flip technique. Number one, listen to grasp the problem your customer is explaining. Number two, try to identify the theme that is most upsetting to your customer. This tends to be the theme they bring up repeatedly. Number three, snatch the topic you think is most upsetting to your customer and flip the conversation to how you might help. Steps one and two are easy. You do them every day, but snatching the topic, that takes some practice. When customers vent, it's often about their inconvenience and how they felt about the difficulty. They talk about wasted time, money lost, or about their frustration. Listen for these cues because that's the thing that you'll snatch and flip. Let's take a look at the snatch and flip technique in action. - Hi, I rented a car from your Columbia, South Carolina location and the check engine light came on. So we pulled off about an hour ago and now the car won't restart, okay? I can't believe this is happening. Me, my sister, and my kids are on the way to my aunt's funeral. I, the whole reason I rented a car was so my car wouldn't break down, okay? My kids are only four, three, and one. They're hungry, they're tired, and my one-year-old is sick. I mean, my kids don't deserve this, okay? I don't deserve this. - This customer has brought up her kids four times. So that's the topic to snatch and then flip. - I'm, I'm sorry this sounds like a really frustrating experience for you and I don't want your kids or you to be stranded a moment longer, okay? So we're going to find out exactly where you are and we're going to send a tow truck out with a new rental car and we'll bring your rental car back with us. And if you want to grab some food for your kids, please do so. Just hang on to the receipts and we'll reimburse you, okay? Now the first thing that I'm going to need is your rental agreement number. - Okay. It's GL 187008. - Okay, thank you, now- - By snatching the thing that was most upsetting to the customer, her kids, and their inconvenience, the employee was able to acknowledge the customer's pain point and flip right into problem solving. When you snatch and flip, don't make the mistake of diving right into fixing the problem. You have first to acknowledge your customer's feelings about the issue. Just like in the scenario when the employee led with, "I'm sorry, you've had a frustrating experience." If you don't recognize the customer's emotion or trouble, they're likely to continue venting.