As far as the world of business is concerned, difficult clients, customers and situations come with the territory. You will have customers who are fickle, rude, talkative, and ones whose demands cannot be satisfied. But as a cliché goes, “the customer is always right.” This, however, does not make difficult ones any easy to deal with.
If you want to remain in business, you’ve got to devise workable strategies of dealing with them. This is why it is necessary for you to seek out strategies that will help you win over unhappy or dissatisfied customers and thus, give them a superb customer service experience. The following tips are sure to get you started:
Keep Calm and Don’t Take It Personal: When dealing with a difficult customer it’s easy to lose your calm or become defensive, especially if they are irate and upset and you are under a lot of stress yourself. If you lose control, you will annoy them further and increase your stress levels. Simply stay calm and think of that difficult customer as a challenge that can be resolved without pricking nerves. Remember that the customer may not be aware that you are probably having personal problems and is merely venting frustration at you as a representative of your company. Keep your calm and ignore personal comments. When you adopt this kind of attitude, you are less likely to take things personally and more likely to find a solution to any problem.
Have a Listening Ear: Always be attentive and let customers have their say, even if you can anticipate what they will say next, and even if they may not have all the information or be mistaken. Remember, their anger is not personal. These customers are angry because there is a problem irritating them and their emotion is channelled towards you with the hope that you can solve their problems. Letting customers vent their frustrations shows them that what has happened matters to you and you value their business. Apologize and acknowledge both the message and their feelings in a sincere manner.
Avoid Justification: A disgruntled customer is not looking for the rationale behind the mistake so don’t justify by giving excuses. Providing excuses as a means of absolving yourself of responsibilities will only make them angrier. Just stick to the facts; steer clear of what happened previously and concentrate on resolving the customer’s problem.
Empathize: It is amazing how a situation can be defused when you respond with a kind word as opposed to a harsh one. The cause of the altercation has already given the customer a substantial amount of personal grief. As a result, you are dealing with someone in an emotional state. This makes it crucial that the first words the customer hears are words of empathy. The best customer service professionals have the ability and the skill to penetrate the customer’s wall of pain and frustration to communicate vital information calmly and confidently so that a solution is reached and the customer’s confidence is restored.
Be Responsive: Even when you believe your client is being irrational, try to find a compromise where possible. They will feel better knowing that you have taken their concerns seriously and are working on it. If it is something that cannot be resolved immediately, ensure you contact the customer and tell him what is happening. Also, follow up the customer within a short period of time even if it is not anticipated. This gives you a perfect opening to invite the client to do business with you again.
Let Go: Sometimes in business, you are faced with a Catch-22 situation; that is, you lose both the customer and the sale. Author Robert Kiyosaki points out in his book, Rich Dad, Poor Dad, that “You must fire bad customers just as you would fire a bad employee… If I do not fire bad customers, not only will my good customers leave but many of my good employees will leave as well.” When a customer is constantly a source of ruckus in your business environment and all efforts to satisfy him/her have failed, look closely; it just might be time to lose that one.
Whether dealing with your customer face-to-face or on the phone, part of your job is to display professionalism, resolve their challenge, and make them happy. If you don’t, you just may lose them, and that is something you can’t always afford to do. Ultimately, the very best way to cope with difficult customers and situations is to prevent problems from occurring in the first place as best as you can. That way, you and your customer are both happy.
