10 Tricks When Handling Difficult Customers
As a business , you will not do without difficult customers. You will have to manage it. You cannot send people away just because they are frustrating you. you have to learn how to manage them. On this article, I want to talk about ten ways that you can manage difficult customers when you have an encounter with them.
Of recent , we experience what happened on Ibom Air flight where a customer have to slap the Air hostess. We see how the customer nude was on display and it ended up giving the Airline a bad reputation which will remain with them for a long time. That issue was not well manage and it will affect them. it would have been better if the issue has been well managed.
Follow me as we will look at that in this article.
#1 Your response set the tone
When a customer is angry, you do not have to join that madness. You have to calm down and understand their point of view. If the customer is raising his voice against you, just allow him to rant. Don’t argue at that moment.
#2 Listen ! Listen !! listen !!!
Please note that customers wants to be heard. They want to be in charge of the conversation. You have to stay silent and listen to the customers. Do not take action in a hurry.
#3 Show empathy
There is a need for you to also show concerns for the customer. You need to put yourself in the customers shoe. You have to have concerns and use words like, “I am so sorry for what you are experiencing? “, ” So sorry about that Sir” among others.
#4 Avoid taking it personal
When customers are angry, you need to understand that they are angry with the situation not you personally. Don’t take whatever they take down to heart. Just allow them to express their opinions.
Stay calm.
#5 Clarify the issue
There is a need for you to clarify the issue. You need to understand the root cause of the problem. This will allow you to find solutions to the exact problem that they are having.
#6 Offer solutions , not excuses
Most times , when it comes to situations like this, you have to provide solutions not excuses. You need not try to justify yourself. You have to allow the customer to take the day.
#7 Set boundaries politely
The fact the it’s your customer does not mean that you should access all the trash that they have to offer. You need to set boundaries based on the terms and conditions that the customers agreed to before the business transactions.
#8 Know Your Limits
Most times, there are some employees that do overreact . There is a need for the employee to understand where there effort stops. You have to understand where your effort stops.
The employee needs to escalate to the Manager where necessary.
#9 Follow Up
Most times, like I said you need not take the issue personal. You have to make sure that the matter is resolved to a logical conclusion. Follow up on the issue and you will delight the customer.
#10 Learn from each case
As a good business owner, you do need to allow the same sad occurrence to occur twice. You need to understand what has went wrong and make sure that you learn from it. This must be reflected in the policies of the organisation.
Action Point
PS: I know you might agree with some of the points raised in this article or disagree with some of the issues raised.
Please share your thoughts on the topic discussed. We would appreciate it if you could drop your comment. Thanks in anticipation.
