Just because you can’t do exactly what a customer asks doesn’t mean you can’t do something.

Let’s say someone was going to ride a 105 mile endurance bike race and the day before the ride their bike broke.  First they would freak out with the thought of four mountains and over 11,000 feet of climbing ahead of them and the months of training behind them.  Then they would hustle down to the local bike shop – your bike shop.

“Can you fix it?” is their plea.  “Sure” is the reply from your mechanic, “When do you need it?”  “For the race tomorrow!” they nearly shout.  His eyes narrow and as he begins to check the computerized schedule he asks “Why do you need it tomorrow?”

“I’m riding in an event tomorrow” they tell him.  “You definitely need something light but also with a little give” he says, then looks up from the computer and tells them “I’m sorry, but we can’t get it done today.”

They groan.

“But” he quickly adds “We have a Domane (nice bike) we’re using for test rides, and it’s the right frame size for you.  It’s super light but also designed for endurance and comfort.  You could rent it for the day if you want.”

They do.  Problem solved.  They didn’t get what they thought they wanted, but they did get what they came for – a bike for the event the following day.  The mechanic used a process Matthew Dixon, co-author of The Effortless Experience terms “Just because there’s nothing you can doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do.”

He describes the process:

1. Don’t be so fast with a “no”.

The key to making an alternative suggestion work for a customer is to avoid immediately sharing what is not available.  Take a little time, since the customer has no idea how long it actually takes to process their request.  Use that time to focus on the customer’s actual interests, not just their stated request.

Try to determine what’s really going on, and how flexible they might be.

In the case above, the mechanic probably knew right away that he couldn’t fix the bike in a day.  Instead of saying so though, he asked a few questions to find out what alternatives he might be able to suggest.

The request was to “Fix the bike today.”  The real need was “I have to have the right bike for tomorrow’s ride.”

2. Don’t try to explain your way out of a high-effort situation.

According to Dixon, the average rep at the average company wastes way too much of a customer’s time and mental energy explaining why the customer can’t have what they want.  While doing so might seem logical, typically it comes across to the customer as defensive or combative: “All you’re doing is justifying why your company can’t give me what I want.  How does that help me?”

And, as Dixon says, in customer service if you’re defending, you’re losing.

The mechanic didn’t tell the customer why he couldn’t fix the bike.  He didn’t talk about a backlog of work or needing to order parts.  He said he couldn’t and quickly moved on to finding solutions.

3. Don’t take the customer’s request quite so literally.

In many cases, the service a customer requests and their actual issue may be very different.  When you understand the full context, a different need may emerge.

The customer needed the right bike for a specific ride they had made a huge physical and emotional investment in.  All they could think was “I need my bike fixed,” too frantic to consider that it didn’t have to be “the” bike, but the mechanic did because he didn’t take the request literally.

Will this approach always work?  Of course not, but the percentage of situations when alternative positioning could work definitely makes it worth trying – if you give your employees the latitude (and training) to address customer issues, that is.  To make it work, you must allow your employees to tailor the resolution to the customer and the needs and outcomes that individual wanted to receive.

In the bike case, the “Just because there’s nothing you can do doesn’t mean there’s nothing you can do” approach succeeded on multiple levels:  One, the customer got a great bike for the ride and two, they liked it so much they later bought one!

Side note: The Effortless Experience describes a number of practical ways you can improve customer touch points, experiences, and service.  It’s definitely  worth the read – not just another boring customer service book.