Are you teaching your trainees the skills they need to deal with customers who are not only dissatisfied, but angry . . . or even hostile?
“Dealing with Difficult Customers,” a post that Mark Lamendola published on the Electrical Construction & Maintenance blog on February 7th, describes some strategies we like for dealing with highly dissatisfied customers. We believe they are worth teaching in your training programs.
Some Strategies from Mark Lamendola . . .
Avoid saying, “I am sorry for your inconvenience.” Because an angry customer already feels he or she is dealing with more than just an “inconvenience,” that phrase can only raise the complainer’s temperature.
Also, avoid saying, “I am sorry if we made you unhappy.” That phrase makes it sound as though you are questioning whether you did in fact make your customer unhappy. Say instead, “I am sorry we made you unhappy.”
Express regret. One good way is to say, “I am genuinely sorry to hear about this issue.”
Say, “let me understand what the problem is.” Then without interrupting, listen attentively while the customer explains the problem in his or her own words.
Next say, “May I explain the problem back to you in my own words?” After you do, ask the customer if your understanding of the issue is correct.
Allow some time if needed. If you cannot resolve the issue immediately, explain that you will do some research and call back within an hour. Then call back at the time you stated. This allows the customer time to cool down and become more receptive to what you will say.
Close the interaction in a positive way. Mark Lamendola recommends closing with what he calls the magic words, “thank you . . . I am glad you called.”
One More Step to Take
In addition to those strategies, we would recommend asking for an agreement about what you and the customer will to do to resolve the issue that caused the customer to become dissatisfied.
Say something like, “Let me review what we agreed to do,” and then include specifics like:
“We will send you a refund check for $79.00 by the end of business today, and you will use the return label I email you to send the product back to us so by next Wednesday or before . . . is that what we agreed upon?”
“As soon as we end this call, I will email you a coupon good for a two-night stay in any of our hotels . . . is that what we agreed upon?”
Then close with Mark Lamendola’s words, “Thank you . . . I am glad you called.” And follow up immediately with an email to the customer that outlines the specifics of your agreement.
