Should You Let Employees Break the Rules to Make Customers Happy?
Summary. Some customer service experiences are simple and can be automated. But others, particularly those that involve challenging and complex customer needs, often require creative solutions by frontline employees. In these situations, should employees be empowered to break rules and protocols in order to come to a satisfactory conclusion? Research suggests that certain situations can benefit from this type of employee empowerment, improving not only a brand’s relationship to its customers but also improving frontline workers’ engagement as well.
Organizations are increasingly relying on technology to deliver simple transactions in a standardized way. Things like self-order kiosks at McDonald’s, bank mobile apps for check deposits, and FAQ chatbots that enable consistent and efficient service delivery to customers. Most day-to-day service encounters, from mobile ordering for a cup of coffee to returning products online, are relatively simple and straightforward.
However, not all customer needs and wants can be met in these ways. Despite the widespread use of technology, frontline employees continue to play an important role in delivering quality customer service, especially when automation cannot help solve complex customer problems. For example, when support from a virtual agent does not help with their issue, customers call in and receive tech support from a live agent.
Furthermore, customers’ needs, problems, or demands are often unique, distinct, complex, or irregular. As a result, employees sometimes encounter challenging situations where it may be difficult for them to successfully help or satisfy a customer when they try to work within the bounds of their organization’s rules. In fact, service employees may be faced with a dilemma: What should they do in situations where providing an excellent customer experience and ensure satisfaction requires them to break, bend, or deviate from an organizational rule or procedure?
We refer to such behaviors as pro-customer rule breaking, and it often involves adapting service delivery, communicating information differently than parameters or scripts allow, or using resources in ways that defy prescribed rules or expectations set by their organization. Examples include a retail employee granting extensions to a customer requesting product return that is a few days beyond the 15-day return policy, a salesperson arranging for the product to be repaired free of charge when a warranty has expired, and an airline employee helping passengers who missed their flight rebook another flight service at no extra cost.
Does frontline service employees’ pro-customer rule breaking help build a genuine relationship with customers by adding a human touch to service? And can it ultimately be a key differentiator at your organization and enhance customer loyalty?
Why Employees Should (Sometimes) Break the Rules
Services marketing research sheds light on the positive customer outcomes of pro-customer rule breaking.
