Module six, why are some customers difficult? Well, many of your interactions with customers will be pleasant and positive, you inevitably will have to interact with customers who are difficult in some way. Keep in mind that just as all of your emotions communicate to us so you can assess your situation. This is also the case who the difficult customer regardless of why they are angry or upset, their feelings are valid. Understanding the different reasons behind their behavior can help you to resolve their difficulty. They have truly had a bad experience in one event.
Venting swing emotions such as anxiety and anger can be a useful strategy towards slowing down thoughts and reaching a more common emotional state. When customers want to vent they want a solution. But what may be more important is that they feel that they are heard that their concerns are valid. Listening actively with empathy can help customers who need to vent in order to de escalate their emotional state to a less aroused state. Empathy is the faculty to resonate with the feelings of others. When we meet someone who is joyful we smile.
When we witness someone in pain we suffer in resonance with his or herself. Matthieu Ricard once someone to be held accountable for customers looking for accountability, feel anxious and angry. Will anyone resolve their problem? Keep in mind that being accountable is not the same thing as accepting blame. And adult mode assessment of reality might understand that you personally did not cause their problem. But apparent mode assessment might perceive everyone at your business as incompetent as evidenced by the customers problem.
Customers who are looking for accountability may speak in terms of blame and fault. This, however, is not truly being accountable. To be held accountable is to acknowledge that you can be responsible for where things go from here. When you take responsibility, you are saying that you are able to respond to the situation rather than saying the situation is your fault. Often when you reassure a customer that you're going to help them and you offer a specific strategy on how you will do so. This helps the customer feel less anxious.
By providing specific information you help customers to de escalate their anxiety by showing a willingness to take responsibility. You speak to the customers parent motorists Once and shift them back into adult mode, they have truly had a bad experience in one resolution. When customers express that they are looking for a resolution they are operating in the adult mode. Even if they are angry or expressing frustration they can quickly de escalate when they know that you are working towards a resolution. Sometimes conflicts can arise when the resolution is not what the customer wants or expects, including the idea that a complete resolution may take time. In this case, being honest and offering multiple options can help a customer accept the range of resolutions being offered.
Remember that the emotion of frustration tells us that something isn't working. providing multiple options to a customer can let them know that you are looking for a solution that will work. They are generally unhappy. Customers who are generally unhappy people can be exceptionally difficult. When you ask what is wrong, they can launch into an entire laundry list. Often unhappy people pursue negative rewards in their interactions.
Consequently, they may want you to slip into a child or parent mode to complement their corresponding child. Parent mode because this confirms their negative view of life. destructive labeling is a common distorted thinking pattern that you'll find with this type of customer. When dealing with generally unhappy people, you can help them by refocusing their attention on the here and now and the problem at hand. Rather than asking what is wrong, you can ask how can I help you today? Or look for specific steps you can take to resolve a specific issue.
Remember that the way to counteract destructive labeling in yourself is to focus on specifics. This focus on a specific unresolvable problem in your impossible to please customer can aid in counteracting their destructive labeling, you may find that they continuously resist and try to lure you into a child or parents state. If possible, you may have to call a timeout to regroup yourself. The most important step in dealing with generally unhappy customers is to remain authentically positive and in the adult mode. Dealing with this type of customer can be a source of frustration. So be prepared to reframe the problem when you've identified this emotion in yourself or your customer case.
Study, Jenny's cellphone continue to drop calls and shut off on its own. This created some friction with her parents and her boyfriend because calls had been dropped during particularly tense discussions. She had called customer service twice and spent over two hours on the phone with him, including over an hour on hold. Yet she still hadn't had her problem fixed. Ginni resolved to let the next customer service person she talked to really have it because she was angry. And one of this problem resolved yesterday.
When Roger the customer service representative answered Jenny's call, she said, You guys are awful. Jenny launched into a long rant about the evils of her cell phone provider. Roger listen to Jim event without interruption except to offer empathy for what she was going through. He could understand why she would be so angry and frustrated after spending so much of her time dealing with her phone and not finding a resolution. When Jenny had finished venting, Roger paused a few seconds and replied, I'm very sorry that you've had to go through all of that. I'll help you to have a working phone as soon as possible.
Roger looked through Jenny's account notes and found an order had entered for a new phone but the order never completed. He said that the call had dropped with both of the previous representatives. Hmm. Roger thought the real problem is their phone not working. The real problem is that she's on the phone when she calls us so we are never able to complete her order. Roger asked her if there was an alternative number that he could call her back if the call dropped.
Roger assured me that he was on this and would continue to work with her until they found a workable resolution. Jenny was starting to feel better about the situation and gave Roger the phone number to her parents. Jenny said I guess you guys aren't all that bad.