Dealing With The Irate Customer Dealing With The Irate Customer - - PDF document

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Dealing With The Irate Customer Dealing With The Irate Customer

• Dealing with difficult conversations
• Dealing with angry customers
• Dealing with dissatisfied customers
• Problem solving model
• Three breakthrough techniques

Dealing with Difficult Conversations

There has to be a balance between communicating something difficult and being as sensitive as possible to those concerned. The skills required to do this may seem somewhat contradictory, as you need to be both firm and gentle in your approach.

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Recommended Skills

• Information Gathering
• Being Assertive
• Being Empathetic
• Be Prepared to Negotiate
• Use Appropriate Verbal/Nonverbal Language
• Listen
• Staying Calm and Focused
• 1. Information Gathering

Make sure you have your facts straight before you begin: ‐ Know what you are going to say and why you are going to say it. ‐ Try to anticipate your customers questions or concerns.

Closed Questions

• Closed questions invite a short focused

answer.

– are usually easy to answer, as the answer choice is limited. – They can be used effectively, early in conversations, to encourage participation. – Can be very useful in fact finding and information gathering. – example: What exactly is wrong?

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Open Questions

• These questions allow for much longer

responses and therefore potentially more information.

• Good for:

– Defining Issues – Gathering Information – Clarifying

Leading or Loaded Questions

• Usually points the respondents answer in a

certain direction.

Recall and Process Questions

• Recall questions – require something to be

remembered or recalled

• Process questions – require some deeper

thought or analysis

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• 2. Being Assertive
• Once you are sure that something needs to be

communicated, do so in an assertive way.

• Do not find yourself backing down or changing

your mind mid‐conversation.

General Techniques of Assertiveness

• 2 Key Techniques:
• Fogging technique
• Stuck record technique

Fogging Technique

• The fogging technique is useful if people are

behaving in a manipulative or aggressive way.

– Rather than arguing back, fogging aims to give a minimal, calm response, using terms that are placating but not defensive, while at the same time, not agreeing to meet demands. – Fogging involves agreeing with any truth that may be contained within statements.

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– By not responding in the expected way, which is being defensive or argumentative, the other person will cease confrontation as the desired effect is not being achieved. – When the atmosphere is less heated, it will be possible to discuss the issues more reasonably. – Fogging is so termed because the individual acts “like a wall of fog” into which arguments are thrown, but not returned.

Fogging Example

• “What time do you call this? You’re nearly a

half an hour late, I’m fed up with you letting me down all the time.”

• “Yes, I am later than I hoped to be and I can

see that this has annoyed you.”

• “Annoyed, of course I’m annoyed, I’ve been

waiting for ages. You should really try to think about other people a bit more.”

• “Yes, I was concerned that you would be left

waiting for almost half an hour.”

• “Well, why are you late”?

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Stuck Record Technique

• Involves repeating a response time and time

again, without raising the tone of your voice, becoming angry, irritated, or involved in side issues.

• Imagine that you are returning something that

is faulty to the store. The conversation may go something like this: I bought these shoes last week and the heels have fallen off. I would like to get a refund please. It looks like they have been worn a lot and these shoes were only designed for occasional wear. I have only had them a weekend and they are

• faulty. I would like a refund please.

You cannot expect me to give you your money back after you have worn them out. The heels have fallen off after only a week and I would like a refund please.

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• Continually repeating a request will ensure

the discussion does not become sidetracked and involved In irrelevant argument. The key issue is to stay calm, be very clear in what you want, stick to the point and not give up.

• Accept compromise only if you are happy with

the outcome.

• 3. Being Empathetic
• Put yourself in the other persons shoes.
• Think about how they will feel about what you

are telling them.

• How would you feel if the roles were

reversed?

• 4. Be Prepared to Negotiate
• Often a difficult situation requires a certain

amount of negotiation.

• Be prepared for this, aim for a win – win
• utcome, that is some way in which all parties

can benefit.

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Six Stages of Negotiation

• 1. Preparation
• 2. Discussion
• 3. Clarification of goals
• 4. Negotiate towards a win‐win outcome
• 5. Agreement
• 6. Implementation of a course of action

Preparation

• Ensure all of the facts are known.
• What is your policy?
• To whom is help given?
• When is help appropriate?
• What are the grounds for refusal?
• Undertaking preparation before discussing the

disagreement will help avoid further conflict.

Discussion

• During this stage, each side puts forward their

understanding of the situation.

• Key skills required

– 1. Questioning – 2. Clarifying – 3. Listening

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10 Principles of listening

• 1. Stop talking
• 2. Prepare yourself to listen

– Relax – Focus on the speaker – Put other things out of your mind – Concentrate on the messages being communicated

• 3. Put the speaker at ease

– Remember their needs and concerns – Use body language to encourage them to continue – Maintain eye contact – Show you are listening and understanding what is being said

• 4. Remove Distractions

– Focus on what is being said – Avoid unnecessary interruptions

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• 5. Empathize

– Try to understand the other person’s point of view – Look at issues from their perspective – Let go of preconceived ideas – Have an open mind

• 6. Be patient

– A pause, even a long pause, does not necessarily mean that the speaker has finished. – Never interrupt or finish a sentence for someone.

• 7. Avoid personal prejudice

– Try to be impartial – Focus on what is being said and try to ignore styles of delivery.

• 8. Listen to tone

– Volume and tone add to what someone is saying. – Watch for nonverbal clues

• Listen for ideas

– Don’t just listen to the words, try to get the true meaning. – You need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces.

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• 9. Listen for ideas

– Don’t just listen to the words, try to get the true meaning – You need to get the whole picture, not just isolated bits and pieces

• 10. Wait and watch for non‐verbal

communication

– Gestures and facial expressions – Eye movements – We don’t just listen with our ears but also with

• ur eyes

Use appropriate verbal and non‐ verbal language

• Speak clearly
• Avoid using jargon that others may not

understand

• Give eye contact
• Try to sit in a relaxed way
• Do not use confrontational language or body

language

Listen

• Listening is a learned skill and must be

practiced to become proficient:

– Stay Calm, when stressed we tend to listen less well. – Relax and listen carefully. – Use body language to demonstrate that you are listening.

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Staying Calm and Focused

– Communication becomes easier when we are calm. – Take some deep breaths and maintain an air of calmness. – Keep focused on what you want to say. – Don’t deviate or get distracted from the reason you are communicating.

Dealing with Angry Customers

• Dealing with angry customers requires you to

move beyond emotions to discover the real reason for their anger.

9 Steps to Dealing with Angry Customers

• Be Positive
• Acknowledge
• Reassure
• Remain Objective
• Determine the Cause
• Listen Actively
• Reduce Frustrations
• Negotiate a Solution
• Follow up

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Dealing with Angry Customers

• 1. Be positive – tell the customer what you CAN

do rather than what you CANNOT do.

• 2. Acknowledge the customers feelings or

anger: “I can see you are upset. I want to help you solve this problem, so could you please help me understand what’s happened.”

Dealing With Angry Customers

• 3. Reassure – Indicate that you understand why

he or she is angry and that you will work to solve the problem: ‐ “I am going to do my best to help you solve this quickly.” ‐ “I can assure you that this will be resolved by Monday.” ‐ “I am going to make this a priority.”

Dealing with Angry Customers

• 4. Remain Objective – Becoming part of the

problem is not the answer, even if the customer raises their voice, remain calm.

• 5. Determine the cause of the problem:

‐ Ask questions ‐ Listening ‐ Analyze the information you receive

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Dealing with Angry Customers

• 6. Listen actively

‐ When people are angry, they need a chance to vent their frustrations and be heard. ‐ Avoid interrupting if possible ‐ Don’t use yes……but……….statements. It is natural to feel like you are personally under attack.

Dealing with Angry Customers

• 7. Reduce frustrations – don’t say or do

anything that will create further tension.

• 8. Negotiate a solution.

‐ Elicit ideas from the customer on how to solve the problem. ‐ If the customers suggestions are realistic, try to implement them. ‐ If anything goes wrong later, well… it was their idea in the first place.

Dealing With Angry Customers

• 9. Follow up.

‐ Follow up to ensure all went well ‐ rule of thumb, under promise, over deliver.

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• Try to make customers happy with the

following strategies:

• 1. Listen – take the time to listen actively.

When people are upset, all they want to know is that you’re willing to attend to their concerns.

• 2. Remain positive, don’t mirror their

anger. ‐ if appropriate, SMILE

Dealing With Dissatisfied Customers

– Interject positive comments into the conversation – Try to determine an effective course of action

• 3. Smile, give your name, offer assistance

‐ Try to be a friend, someone they know who is trying to assist them. ‐ Law enforcement officers are trained to introduce themselves and use a persons name.

Dealing With Dissatisfied Customers

• 4. Don’t Make Excuses

‐ Look for ways to correct a mistake rather than cover it up. ‐ Remember, if you get defensive, you become part

• f the problem and not part of the solution.

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• 5. Be Compassionate.

‐ Try to remain warm, compassionate and empathetic while you are trying to uncover the cause of the problem. ‐ “I see” ‐ “I can relate to that” ‐ “I understand what you are saying”

Dealing With Dissatisfied Customers

• 6. Ask open ended questions – use these

questions to obtain the information you need to serve the customer.

• 7. Verify Information – this prevents

misunderstandings or the possibility of escalating an uncomfortable situation.

• 8. Take appropriate action – gather all the

information you need to make a decision and work with the customer to satisfy their needs

Problem Solving Model

• Step 1. Identify the Problem
• Step 2. Compile and analyze data
• Step 3. Identify alternatives
• Step 4. Evaluate alternatives
• Step 5. Make a decision
• Step 6. Monitor the results

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Three Breakthrough Techniques

• 1. Transfer The Customer
• 2. Take A Timeout
• 3. Draw The Line