It’s nothing personal
Monday morning and an angry customer is walking into the office, and for your own self-preservation, you never want to trade insults, yell back, engage in sarcasm, or be intimidated. You must first understand an angry customer at the simplest level.
They’re not angry at you; it’s only because you are an employee and representative of the company, but since you’re there in front of them, you naturally become the target. That angry woman who reminds you so much of your mother wants her problem solved, and your job is not to get her to that particularly hostile point we’ve all heard, ” Well it’s the principle,” because at this point even if you could work something out, she would still be dissatisfied.
So what do you do? Let’s start at the beginning as the angry customer walks in:
- Observe body language. You never want to be blindsided by someone’s temper. Are their arms crossed, shoulders hunched, restless, staring or acting rude? You need to always remember the person isn’t mad at you, so try to be as unpolitical as you can be. Introduce yourself, and be polite. Ask the person her name and address her by name. Try not to make her wait; look up from your paper work immediately and never say “NEXT”.
- Listen to the customer. You must always let the customer tell her story. Do not interrupt her, and listen intently until she is finished speaking. Show her that you have been paying attention by paraphrasing her problem and assuring her you understand and intend to help.
- Phrases to avoid. An angry customer doesn’t do well with such stock phrases as: ” I only work here,” “It’s against our store policy,” or probably the most annoying of them all, ” I’m only following the rules.” Never come back with one of those answers, but again assure the person you will do your best to solve their problem. If the problem can not be solved at the time, make sure you confirm with the customer when you will have an answer, and make sure you follow through with a response at the agreed upon time. Check out the Big List of Things Not to Say for more tips.
- If I cannot help. If for any reason you feel that you can not mitigate the complaint, it is acceptable to refer the customer to your supervisor, but make sure you give the customer their name and their contact information. What you never want to do is just push the complaint on to the next person, and not have the customer’s complaint resolved.
Angry customers are always going to be around as are Monday mornings, but why not start the week off by helping your company keep its professional image and customers as well as you competently helping to resolve conflicts.
photo credit: subew
It’s hard to tell if you’re losing business because of the economy or doing something wrong. Competition is so keen now, what once may have just been mildly annoying is now the reason your competition has claimed some of your customers. Perhaps it is time to take a closer look at the management support, training and motivation of your workforce. I’ve compiled a short list of the most annoying habits of customer service personnel which is almost guaranteed to have your customers running to your competition. Any of these sound familiar?
In 2004, Missy and Keith paid $450,000 for their home, but by 2009, their home was only worth $275,000. Their mortgage was $400,000. Missy lost her job at a local nonprofit, and Keith’s sales job as a luxury boat salesman pretty much hit bottom. They were no longer able to keep making their high mortgage payments and applied to Bank of America for a loan modification. It took over five months with Bank of America for the modification, and when Missy and Keith finally received it, their payments went down to half of what the original amount was, but only temporarily. Just a few months later, the bank changed their mind. Keith and Missy tried, to no avail to speak with the bank about the reversal, but the bank refused to make any changes, and as every month passes by, Missy and Keith’s credit gets worse and worse.
A complaint letter, as unpleasant as it might be to write, is generally more effective than a phone call or an email. The point is that in order to achieve the desired result whether you want a refund, replacement or travel miles is to clearly define the purpose of your complaint and be polite, sincere and valid.
I recently read a charming, modern day parable geared to help employees handle the stress of the chaotic customer service challenges. The book works on suggestions to eliminate stress and help the employee build a framework for an improved attitude with what the author refers to as Aha!s.
We’ve seen a lot of businesses failing. Of course, the economy puts a severe strain on economics, but how many businesses are really sabotaging themselves? So many companies seem to fall short of providing the basics and then complain when customers don’t flock towards them. Perhaps if we turn the tables around, although bit tongue in cheek, there’s nothing like a bit of humor to help us realize potential foibles.
There’s going to be a time in one’s real estate career that someone is going to be unhappy. The important key here is not to react instantly and be able to listen to the exact nature of the complaint, because it very well may help us in the future.
A friend of mine purchased a pair of shoes from a popular discount shoe store in our local area. Whenever she buys a pair of shoes, she never takes the shoe boxe home with her because she makes a mad rush to her closet and hides the purchases from her husband (he always complains she buys too many pairs of shoes).