3440 Stevenson How to Deal With Difficult Customers

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How To Handle DifficultCustomers

Hope Stevenson

Dave Pomeroy Signature Training

Hope Stevenson has 16 years of training and customer service experience in business settings. She

studied communications at Messiah College in Grantham, Pennsylvania and she began working for

Kinney Corporation where she was responsible for weekly sales

HPBExpo Education

March 13, 2013 – March 16, 2013

Orlando, FL

Sponsored by:


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How To Deal With

Difficult CustomersHope

Stevenson

Welcome...How To Deal With DifficultCustomers

Satisfied customers are a must!

What customers expect

What makes customers difficult

8 steps to handling difficult customers

Using body language

Welcome...How To Deal With DifficultCustomers

Different types of difficult customers and how to

handle each

Tips


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Best Ideas

Satisfied Customers Are A Must!

Have you ever been a

difficult customer?

You will always have

difficult customers

• Flight attendant in the

news


It is yourrespons y

Intentional

Your employees


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The customer is not an interruption of our businessthey are the purpose of our business


The most important person in our business is our

customer

It costs 7 times more to find a new customer than take

care of an old one


Dissatisfied customers tell 10-12 people about

their bad experience

Satisfied customers tell 5-6 other people


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What Customers Expect

What customers want:

Well...what do you expect???


Respect (focus on them)

Solve their problems

Basic courtesies (pleasant and good

attitude

Fairness


Speed

Honesty (don’t fail to live up to

Skill

Appreciation


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From products:

Be available

Fairly priced

Be safe and do what’s advertised

What Makes a Customer Difficult?

When they don’t get what they

expect

Outside issues

Tired

Stressed

Feel no one is listening


The customer is always right – no but – they are thecustomer

Perception is reality

You can win the fight but lose the customer

They may not be right in court but if they’re unhappy

they’re right to complain


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Customers may be fired… (management makesthat decision)

Not all dissatisfied customers com lain

94% of dissatisfied customers simply take theirbusiness somewhere else because it is easy to do


Why don’t they complain?

’

No one does anything

You must defend your position

It’s too easy to just go else where

What Makes a Customer Difficult?

We WANT customers to complain

We can’t fix it if they don’t, we want

the opportunity to keep their business

Chances are others have the same

problem


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Best Ideas

8 Steps to Handling Any DifficultCustomer

There are 8 basic steps to use when handling ANY

difficult customer

1. Know the situation

. n e rue pro em

3. Repeat concerns

4. Thank them

5. Apologize

6. Seek best solution

7, Act quickly

8. Follow up


Step One - Know the

situation

e a e no you can

Technician/Salesman

Manufacturer

Past history


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Don’t make customerrepeat

Do intro when

transferring on phone


Learn the customers

name

Don’t make judgements

Adjust your mindset


Step two - Find the true problem

Don’t avoid. Act immediately

Always return calls promptly


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Listen intently

Listen to understand, not with the intent to reply


“Let’s go over what happened”

“Please tell me why your upset”

“I see, I can appreciate” - don’t be fake


Take notes

Don’t worry about solution yet

An angry person needs to vent

Do not correct


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No interruptions

By you

Outside


If the customer addresses

you y an ema or over e

phone

Offer to meet them in

person (harder to be angry

to someone’s face)


Step three - Repeat concerns

“What I’m hearing is...”

Give them a chance to agree or add


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Step four - Thank them

“Thank you for sharing withme and giving me the

opportunity to make things

right for you.”

Make sure customer

believes you believe them


Step five - Apologize

Sincerely

Stop saying sorry...“I don’t blame

you for being upset, I apologize

we’ve inconvenienced you”

“I can fully understand why you are

upset, I apologize this occurred”


If fault is yours, admit it - don’t make

excuses

ou may ose e a e u w n

the customer

Be careful if there are liability

issues

Make it clear you want to help


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Step seven - Act

quickly

Do it! Immediately!

They will focus on

your willingness


Step eight - Follow up

Call customer after solution is in

place and make sure it is

satisfactory

Always communicate on time even

if you don’t have the answer

If internal solution, “report” to

customer


Follow up one month after

Depending on generation, send thank you card


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Using Body Language

Body language is imperative throughout the process

Customers will have their guard up

Using Body Language

People respond to us by:

55% how we look to them (body language)

38% interpretation of our attitude (voice tone and

intonation)

7% the words we say

Using Body Language

Smile, with eyes

Good posture

Calm, low tone of voice

Nod when customer is talking


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Using Body Language

Maintain eye contact

Don’t break downward

86% caucasian

61% african american

53% hispanics

Using Body Language

Foot, legs toward

customer

Body open, not crossed

Palms/fists open

No fingers, chopping

Using Body Language

No chewing

Multi tasking

Avoid sighing

NO physical contact


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Best Ideas

Different Types of Customers andHow to Handle Them

Different types of customers respond to different

tactics

Angry

Acknowledge anger “I can see you’re upset, I

want to help solve this problem so please

help me understand what has happened”

Move beyond emotions

Be positive, not “I can’t do that” but “what Ican do is...”


Dissatisfied

Even if from previous experience

Remain positive, don’t mirror or agree

Don’t make excuses, just solve the problem

Smile and positive wording

“Would you mind...”, “Can I ask you to...


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Indecisive

Don’t know what they want, afraid of wrong

decision

Be patient

Open ended questions

Offer choices that will help narrow down

Don’t chose for them...they won’t be

satisfied later


Demanding or Domineering

Could be personality or past wrong

Always be professional - stay in adult

mode

Show respect, use customer’s name

Positive eye contact

Apologize if appropriate


Rude or offensive

Often they are insecure so will raise voice,

demand to speak to supervisor, useprofanity

Remain professional

Calm but assertive

No retaliation

Walk away if it gets too bad


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Talkative

Usually irrelevant - takes too much time

-

acknowledge what they said but return to

point

Use response to questions to steer back

Make it about them...”I know you said

you had a lot of shopping to do so I won’t

keep you any longer...”


For all:

se pos ve wor s... nsea o pro em

use situation, challenge, concern

Write down complaint (even on phone)to keep record

Ask supervisor or employee to join you


If customer won’t listen, say their name

and beginning and/or end of sentence

Stand if necessary


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Never swear!

If customers swear at you, “Mr. _____, I

haven’t said or done anything to

disrespect you, could you please treat

me with the same level of respect so we

can move forward to me helping you”

If continues reschedule, “Mr. ______, I

can see your extremely upset. I will

happy to discuss this with you tomorrow

when things aren’t so fresh.”

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5 Final Tips

5 must do’s!!!!!

1. Follow SOP’s

2. Listen to customers

3. Control inflection and tone of voice

4. Be positive, friendly, helpful

5. Be responsive to feedback


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5 Final Tips

Remember:

Don’t take it personally

Some people will just take their bad day out on

you

Debrief situation afterwards - what can you do

differently next time

Train and practice

You’re good at what you do!!!!

Group List

Action Items

Documents

3440 Stevenson How to Deal With Difficult Customers