by Nancy Friedman
If you spend time in a customer facing position there’s a high probability you’ll encounter customers who are upset, rude, angry and irate. For some of us it’s thankfully a rare event and for others it’s a daily occurrence.
Having a solid strategy in place to handle these situations will be the difference between feeling frustrated and stressed out OR calmly guiding the situation back to a productive relationship. With the proper techniques you can do a great deal to diffuse your customer’s anger.Always keep in mind that an angry customer isn’t unhappy with you, they’re upset about a situation or your organization. That’s a key reminder. Don’t take this hostility personally. You’re merely the lightening rod in this situation, not the target of the anger.Remember to keep a smile on your face as you begin to handle the situation. Customers find it more challenging to be rude to someone who’s warm, genuine and friendly. Mirroring their rudeness will only escalate their anger. Try not to feed into the drama.
Use the ASAP Technique to diffuse irate customers:
Apologize and Acknowledge the Customer’s Feelings
You’ll need to spend about 80% of your time smoothing the customer’s feelings and about 20% of your time working on the problem. The apology needs to be immediate. Don’t wait to apologize. If your organization fouled up, ADMIT it. And notice we’re saying “apologize,” not “I’m sorry.” I’m sorry is when you step on someone’s toes.
A. “Ms Jackson, I apologize for the issues you’re having with your invoice.”
Sympathize (and Empathize)
It’s important to validate their feelings of frustration.
Sympathy means acknowledging another person’s emotional hardships and providing comfort and assurance.
Empathy means understanding how someone feels because you’ve experienced it also.
A. “Ms Jackson, I apologize for the issues you’re having with your invoice.”
S. “That’s got to be extremely frustrating.”
Accept the Responsibility
Every time you handle a customer you represent your organization. You should have the mentality that you’re 100% responsible for guiding this to a successful resolution. Accept the responsibility by re-introducing yourself. Even if you said your name earlier, this personalizes the situations and builds confidence.
Accept the responsibility by saying:
A. “Ms Jackson, I apologize for the issues you’re having with your invoice.”
S. “That’s got to be extremely frustrating.”
A. “Again, my name is Carlos and I’m here to help you resolve this.”
Prepare to Help
Ask intelligent questions that will help you get to work on sorting out what’s bothering them. Demonstrate with your voice that you sincerely care about resolving this situation.
A. “Ms Jackson, I apologize for the issues you’re having with your invoice.”
S. “That’s got to be extremely frustrating.”
A. “Again, my name is Carlos and I’m here to help you resolve this.”
P. “Let’s get started and see how I’m able to help. Now please…tell me exactly what happened.”
NO EXCUSES! Excuses are the same as screaming: “I’M NOT GOING TO HELP YOU NOW!!!” No one wants to hear “I’m new,” or “Our computer is down,” or “I’m the only one in the office.” That’s your problem, not theirs.
Research shows that clients who successfully have had their problem resolved end up being more loyal customers than those who never had a set-back in the first place.
How is that for a silver lining?
We encourage you to forward this article to colleagues or include it in your internal publication with the following credit line: “Reprinted with the permission of Telephone Doctor Customer Service Training www.telephonedoctor.com“
# Ready to implement a service training initiative that empowers your staff to best handle irate customers? Request a free demo of ServiceSkills.com.