When Did You Last Apologise in Business? – Case of global customer service
Some time ago I was training help desk personnel working for a Europe-based company with global operations. My task was to train them to work better with customers from different cultures, especially from the collectivistic cultures of the East (mainly Asia and Middle-East) and we ended up working on the topic of business apologies.
These customer service specialists operate in a very hectic and stressful environment trying to keep their customers happy and provide them with the crucial spare parts and components to continue operating their business.
High stress levels in hectic work environment
The help desk specialists get tens of calls and emails every hour, and try their best to satisfy the urgent demands of their customers.
In this business time really is money, and everyone is stressed – both service desk people and the purchase specialists from the customer companies whose job it is to get their business going. Conflicts are sometimes unavoidable.
European service desk staff said that they have more problems when serving customers from certain cultures. So, we decided to concentrate on those cultures.
There were two main nominators in the cultural differences causing the problems: individualism vs. collectivism and low vs. high power distance.
High stress triggers your instinctive cultural behavior
Our multicultural training team analysed some of the service desk’s customer email threads and realised, once again, how culturally based our writing styles are.
They also realised how difficult it is to change them when you have a clear perception, based on your own culture, of what is the right way to handle the issue in emotional and stressful situations requiring quick actions.
We saw wonderful examples of how the strategies and tactics used to solve problems differed, not only person by person, but culture by culture.
Our culture affects the ways that we see as ‘normal’ ways of coping in problematic situations, but of course, our personality affects our strategies, as well. The more stressful the situation is, the more automatic choices we make.
What do you do in stressful international business situations that cause conflicts?
As a customer, do you stress your point by using a lot of emotional expressions, commands and capital letters in your emails when you try to get what you want asap, even though the situation is not yet critical?
- If you come from hierarchical country (high power distance), you probably do.
As a supplier’s service specialist, how confrontational are you in your correspondence when you know you are right and the customer is wrong? Do you correct the customer by blankly pointing out the mistake they have made in the order procedure of your company and attach to your letter the instructions?
- If you come from an individualistic, masculine, and high uncertainty avoidance country, the likelihood is that you do.
As a service desk specialist, do you apologise to your angry customer on behalf of your company in delivery delays when the situation may or may not be your company’s fault at all?
- If you come from a collectivistic country, you likely do.
Under stress we all have our own personal ways of operating. Many of the ways of coping are also culturally bound, that is, acceptable in our own culture, but feel wrong in other cultures. The Hofstede 6 D model explains the values behind cultural differences in relationship to hierarchy, other people, time, pleasure, competition, rules and structure that affect the cultural reactions to the above situations.
What is the meaning of an apology?
In this particular company culture, there was an unwritten rule never to apologise. Most of the help desk people knew it and newcomers learnt it quickly from their peers. This was one thing we decided to tackle, as its consequences can be surprisingly big.
Cultural differences begin with expectations surrounding business apologies. During the discussions in the training, the participants understood that there is a clear mismatch between the emotional needs of the collectivistic customers to receive an apology and their own reluctance to apologise. This, of course, results in further escalations of conflicts and reduced customer satisfaction.
Asian cultures are about preserving relationships
When you work with Asian cultures, for example, you should understand what collectivism means. One of the key things to understand is the relationship orientation. Maintaining relationships goes beyond business tasks and issues.
Preserving harmony and saving face is one of the key emotional needs people of the East have, also in business.
Meaning of apology in the East and the West
In the collectivistic East, an apology can simply be a recognition of a burden suffered by someone else. For people from individualistic countries, an apology often means an admission of personal responsibility and an expression of real regret.
When you think of the above statements, you can see the difference in thinking and see the business apology as a risk. In the West it is usually seen as a legal, reputational and financial risk.
So, people in individualistic countries view an apology as a means of assigning blame and rebuilding personal credibility. By contrast, people in collectivistic countries view an apology as a general expression of remorse rather than as a means of assigning blame. (Maddux et Al., 2011).
In the West, the word ’sorry’ is often saved for very special occasions. ‘Sorry seems to be the hardest word, sang Elton John. That is why hearing ’sorry’ repeatedly makes many people in the West who see it as a real apology feel a bit awkward.
Brits, as representatives of individualistic culture, seem to be the exception to the rule in their day to day communication. Brits also say sorry all the time – but rarely as a sincere apology. When they really mean it, they say they are ‘really or truly sorry’.
However, when people in the East apologise often, it means they also have the reciprocal need to hear apologies often. That goes for a business apology, too.
What can you do when you are expected to apologize but have to be very careful about it?
In the training we realized we have a problem when a situation with a customer has escalated and we want to prevent it going any further, but at the same time, we must avoid apologies.
What can you do to serve your Eastern customers well when you can’t really apologise in the sense of taking the blame and you know that they have an emotional need to hear an apology from you?
In our customer email correspondence case, we found quite a simple compromise – re-phrasing common expressions. At the beginning of your email, you can always express regret or say you are sorry that the customer feels bad about the situation, and offer further assistance at the end of the email.
You don’t have to apologise directly for causing the situation when you feel that the risks of financial or reputation losses are too high.
`I understand from your words that the situation has caused you stress and I am sorry for that’, for example, is certainly different than ’I am sorry for the trouble we have caused you by making this mistake’.
Business apologies make a difference – learn to avoid problems with the right phrasing
To summarize, in collectivist cultures, an apology can be an effective means of reducing conflict and maintaining customer satisfaction regardless of whether you are to blame. However, when apologising (meaning taking the blame) in individualistic cultures, be sure to take into account legal, financial and reputational risks. In cross-cultural context, it is very important to be careful with the phrasing of apologies.
’When did you last apologise in business?’
Resource:
“Cultural Differences in the Function and Meaning of Apologies,” by William W. Maddux, Peter H. Kim, Tetsushi Okumura, and Jeanne M. Brett. International Negotiation, 2011.
Photo by Host Sorter on Unsplash (When did you last apologize in business)