Customers can be difficult. They can be pushy, aggressive, angry, annoyed, and sometimes even obnoxious. A world-class customer service rep is trained and confident in their ability to handle such customers. They understand the importance of being consistent and courteous, while also garnering the respect of their customer.
Here are some techniques you can employ the next time you have a difficult customer:
1. Neutralize your emotions
Do not take a customer’s negative comments or outbursts personally. Remember, they hear a voice on the phone…they don’t know you. Because difficult people can be emotionally challenging, the more your emotions are in check, the more you can be in control of the conversation and outcome of the call. You can do this by committing to being polite and respectful to each and every caller, by having pride in your work and the company, and by not jumping to conclusions.
2. Listen to the caller to control the conversation
If they have reasonable complaints or requests, and are simply stating them in an unreasonable way (raised voice, curt sentences, demanding attitude), respond in a polite but firm manner by repeating their request or complaint. Example “what I hear you saying is that the blade is not pretty, but is working just fine.” Use this technique to clarify the customer’s request, but to also encourage the customer to speak in the same manner as you.
3. Offer a solution
Unless a customer is threatening or abusive, you have the ability to solve their problem. Always respond with an attitude of “we can do this”. Never blame a co-worker, never offer an excuse as to why something wasn’t done correctly. Instead, let the customer know that you appreciate that they brought the matter to your attention and it will be investigated to prevent this situation from happening again. Then, offer the solution to the problem. It may be that you have to accept the return of a product, it could be that the customer is willing to purchase a different product, it may be that the product is acceptable but delivery time was not.
Abusive, threatening calls
If a caller begins by being verbally abusive (name calling, derogatory remarks, swearing), in a calm voice state to the customer that if they stop this behavior you are willing to work with them. But, if they continue to speak to you in this manner, you will hang up the phone. If the behavior continues, hang up the phone. No one needs to tolerate being verbally abused.
If, during the conversation, the caller becomes verbally abusive, get the caller’s attention and remind them that you are willing to continue the conversation if they will calm down and speak to you in an appropriate manner.
My opinion is that one warning is sufficient. Confirm your company’s policies and follow them if they are different than my own. I have always trained customer service reps to respond to abusive calls this way, and if the abuse continues, they are to let the caller know that they are hanging up because of their abusive behavior. Then the customer service rep is to note the incident by date, time, customer name and reason for initial call to be filed with the supervisor. This way if the customer calls back and brings in the previous customer service rep’s name, they can be transferred directly to the supervisor.
