Dealing With “Difficult” Customers
Being in customer
service positions, I have dealt with my share of “difficult” customers. How you handle them can be the difference
between turning them into loyal advocates or into a never-ending problem.
Just to make it clear, I hate
it when I have to deal with “difficult” customers (and I suspect most service
staff do). Happily, most people are
pleasant to deal with.
The first thing to recognise when you find yourself dealing
with a “difficult” person is that the human brain is naturally “wired” to produce
a “fight/flight” response when faced with a threat. This comes from when life was more dangerous
and, when meeting a wild beast, humans either fought it off or killed it
(“fight”) or ran away (“flight”).
Nowadays, the response is more likely to be aggression and stubbornness
(“fight”) or “giving in” (“flight”).
Translated into the situation of dealing with a difficult customer,
the usual response is either to defend one’s position or give in. Interestingly, when dealing with a “difficult”
person, they will be experiencing the same.
So if you have both sides determined to “fight” (as often happens), you
have a problem…
This doesn’t mean that you should “give in”, but it does
mean that you need to understand why the customer may be taking the stance that
they are.
Great service takes two.
It’s reasonable for customers to expect the staff serving them to be:
·
Knowledgeable;
·
Courteous;
·
“Professional” (e.g. not to deceive or lie, keep
promises, etc).
Customers may be “difficult” for two main reasons:
1.
They have a genuine complaint;
2.
They find that being “difficult” (even when it’s
not justified) gets them what they want.
In the first case:
·
Find out why
they’re upset (ask questions);
·
Apologise if the error is the business’ fault;
·
Explain how/why it happened in simple terms
(especially if the customer did something to contribute to the problem);
·
Fix it – fast;
·
Make sure it won’t happen again (this may
involve a lot of work, e.g. retraining, etc).
Now let’s deal with the second case. In this situation:
·
Ask yourself why
the customer is taking this attitude - is it because your organisation has
given them a reason in the past?
·
If it’s due to bad past experiences, re-build
their trust in “the system”;
·
If it’s because they feel they’ll get their way,
no matter what the situation, lay down the rules under which you’ll deal with
them (get your supervisor to help, if necessary).
Remember to depersonalise
any offending behaviour(s). Rather
than saying “I don’t like the way you…” try: “We require our staff to behave in
a way that customers find respectful, courteous and professional and expect the
same in return. If customers can’t or
won’t co-operate, then it’s in their best interests to look for this
product/service elsewhere.” Just be sure that your organisation isn’t the cause
of the problem, be prepared to carry this out and to deal with any negative PR
that arises.
Every organisation has the right to refuse to do business with
a customer if they are persistently unpleasant to deal with for no good reason. There are people who take the view that,
unless they’re openly rude and/or aggressive, they won’t get what they
want. To an extent this works, but in
the end, they get their come-uppance.
I’ve had to deal with such people in the past and will in the future. Most often, a clear laying-down of the terms
on which you’re prepared to do business is enough to make them think
(particularly if they need your product/service). If they go elsewhere, they’re no longer your
problem.
Customers are the reason that we all have jobs, and must be
accorded the consideration and professionalism that we would expect ourselves. If we fail due to a lapse on our part, they
have every right to be upset and it is our duty to solve the problem as fast as
possible with minimal (or no) loss to the customer and to rebuild their trust.
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to
“emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services
industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I
started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for
improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international
speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling
The Agony of Expectations
When I talk to clients
about “Customer Service” one of the first things we discuss are the differences
that most have seen between expectations and experience.
Every customer, the experts will tell you, has needs and it is up to us to fulfil those
needs. They teach us to ask questions to
determine those needs, to listen actively
to verbal and non-verbal cues, and to then produce the solution to meet them.
Few people take the time to realise that what matters most
to a customer is the expectation that they have that their need(s) will be
satisfied in a particular way. This is
the question that they often fail to ask or address. Yes, the product/service may be delivered,
but the customer remains unsatisfied.
Why? Because their expectations either weren’t met at all,
or were met only to a small degree.
Is it reasonable to understand and meet (if not exceed)
expectations? The answer to that is
simple – what are your reputation and business worth? In some cases, expectations may be low
because that’s what people have been taught.
Budget airlines, for example, are notorious for late
arrivals/departures, poor service (some more than others) high “hidden charges”
for anything from printing a boarding pass to checking in a suitcase). Their logic is: “What do you expect for such
a low price?”.
Where expectations are low and experience is correspondingly
low, then no problem. Where there’s a
disconnect between expectations and experience, you have a potential problem or
delight.
The table below gives an idea of what I’m talking about (I
call it the Expectations vs Experience Grid):
Expectations
|
Experience
|
Customer Reaction
|
Result
|
Low
|
Low
|
Stoicism
|
You get what you pay for
|
High
|
Low
|
Disgust
|
Complaints
|
Low
|
High
|
Delight
|
Repeat business, but…
|
High
|
High
|
Satisfaction
|
This what we expect now…
|
Expressed graphically, it looks like this:
Experience
|
High
|
Delight
|
2
Low
Expectations
High
Experience
|
3
High Expectations
High Experience
|
Satisfaction
|
|
Stoicism
|
1
Low Expectations
Low Experience
|
4
High Expectations
Low Experience
|
Disgust
|
|
Low
|
|
High
|
|
|
Expectations
|
|
Given a choice, you want customers to be in the top half and
(better still) in the upper left quadrant (quadrant 2). Where you don’t want them to be is the bottom
right (quadrant 4)… If they end up in
the bottom left, well, at least you didn’t lose out, and what did you expect
for the price anyway?
Next: where do you want yourself and/or your organisation to
be seen on the grid? Ideally in quadrant
2, and most coaches tell you to “under-promise but “over-deliver”. Trouble is, customers aren’t that
stupid. Equally, once you perform in
quadrant 2, they’ll come to expect it (moving you to quadrant 3). Complaints arise when they expect quadrant 3,
but get quadrant 4.
Many organisations build up high expectations without
realising it. It can be as simple as
saying “I’ll call you this afternoon”.
In some countries in which I’ve lived and worked, people have said “Set
your expectations low, and you’ll never be disappointed”. What people are talking about is “structuring
expectations” – a phrase that you’ll hear often when it comes to service or
sales. Coaches will tell you to
“structure a customer’s expectations” to ensure that they expect the quality of service they’re about to get (or even a lower
quality) so that, when the quality is higher, they get a “pleasant surprise”.
For me, this is cynical manipulation amounting to lack of
integrity. By all means, be honest, but don’t mislead. Once people realise what you’re doing, the
bond of trust is broken and no matter what you do, they’ll have low
expectations of low service (and treat you/your organisation accordingly). Interestingly, the advertising industry gets
away with this almost every day by claiming that a particular product will make
you more attractive, fitter, happier or more desirable in some form or another.
Does it? Not often.
I have spent more than half my life
delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to
“emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services
industry running different service, operations and lending businesses, I
started my own Performance Management Consultancy to offer solutions for
improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of
services. For strategic questions that
you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Strategy
The Importance Of A Positive Recruitment Experience
I recently read a great article on how important it is to
treat job applicants well. How much do we really think about this, though? Even in the current “buyers’ market” in the
West, interviewers/recruiters may only think that the hiring company matters,
and that they’re doing the candidate a favour by interviewing them. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The way you treat a candidate has significant
repercussions. Treat them right, future
bright. Treat them bad, make them
mad. So what can you do to make for a
great recruitment experience? Here’s
what I think is absolutely critical:
1.
Have a
proper Job Description: potential candidates need to see immediately if
they’re likely to meet your requirements or not. It’s amazing how many “blue chip” companies
still produce poorly written Job Descriptions, then wonder why they have so
many applications.
2. Acknowledge applications promptly: preferably
within 2 working days. A number of
employers now state that, if candidates don’t hear from them, they should
assume that they haven’t made the “first cut”.
This is unprofessional and rude. Candidates
who have spent time on preparing their submission deserve a professional
response.
3.
Tell them
what comes next: e.g. you need time to go through their application and
when you’ll get back to them. Don’t leave
this for too long.
4.
Get back
when you say you will: nothing is worse than a broken promise to someone.
5.
Be professional:
at all times during the interview process, and make sure that this doesn’t “drag
out”. Know how many interviews it takes
to reach a decision and explain this to candidates.
6.
Don’t
delay: if you find “the one”, make the offer quickly.
7.
Let
others down gracefully: you never know when you might be asking for
business from them.
What could be the results of a positive experience
(including telling the candidate that they haven’t made it this time)?
·
A Positive
Place: … in the candidate’s mind.
OK, so they didn’t get the job, but if they were handled properly,
professionally and with integrity,
they will deal with you in future, and tell others about how “fair” you were.
·
Increased
Revenues/Profitability: candidates and their family and friends will still
do business with you, what will that do to your bottom line?
·
A Better Deal:
candidates are more likely to treat the company favourably in future,
should they be asked for business.
What happens if you get this wrong? To start with:
·
Negative Reputational
Impact: social media is here to stay and is accessible to anyone with a smartphone. Treat a candidate badly and he/she can be
FaceBooking or Tweeting to friends within minutes of leaving. Don’t think they’ll hold back for fear of not
being considered for the job – they’ve already rejected you as an employer and no
longer care.
·
Profitability:
Candidates who have a bad experience are less likely to buy your product or
service and will tell friends and family not to do so as well. Depending on how “viral” the experience goes,
expect to see a drop in revenues and/or profitability.
·
When The
Market Recovers…: people will be scrambling to fill new roles. If you already have a “bad name”, what sort
of candidate will you attract?
·
He Who
Laughs Last…: one day, you may be seeking business from a disappointed
candidate. Imagine your feelings after
you pitch what you think is the perfect proposal, only to be told “Yes, I
remember interviewing with you for a job X months/years ago. If the way you treated me as a candidate is
anything like the way you’ll treat me as a customer, the answer’s no!”
Short-term thinking applied to long-term recruitment will
only get you one thing – trouble.
I have spent more than half my life delivering
change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging”
economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry
running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own
Performance Management Consultancy and work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email
. My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be
asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.Labels: Career, Strategy
Overloading Your Customers
Providing a constant stream of updates and information by
email, text or letter is a good thing, right?
Maybe not… Here’s an
experience we’re having with my daughter’s school. They’ve installed a new emailing system which
lets them reach out to all parents by email instead of printing out hundreds of
letters, flyers and information sheets.
This saves printing costs and is much more environmentally-friendly.
So far, so good.
Unfortunately, what they’re doing now is sending emails for everything
all the time. To make things more
interesting, if you have more than one child at the school, you get one email
for each child, so someone with three children gets three messages – all the
same.
What the school hasn’t grasped is that:
·
Not all emails need to be sent “on the spot”;
·
Not all emails need to be sent to every parent;
·
Too many emails create “clutter” which those
with a very full inbox may ignore or not see until it’s too late;
·
Too many emails mean that they may not be
prioritised by those reading them;
·
Too many emails use system resources, increasing
running costs.
Now put this in a business context. Everyone is busy and receives emails from
different sources. How do you make sure
that they notice (and read) your email? To start with:
·
Email only when necessary;
·
Make sure the email goes only to the people it’s
meant to, rather than to your general distribution list.
·
Use electronic bulletin boards, weekly or even
monthly updates which people can access in their own time.
What’s the solution?
The school could:
·
Target emails to whoever needs to act on
them;
·
Create/maintain different distribution lists for
sports teams, for example;
·
Respect that they don’t need to send out every
notice immediately;
·
Encourage staff to plan ahead for
distributing notices that aren’t time-sensitive;
·
Send out a weekly update with links to news
items or notices on the school website which could even have a “latest news”
page.
Yes, it will take time, but if it
means that your message is more meaningful and targeted, this is a good thing
and shows that you and your business respect other peoples’ time.
I have spent more than half my life delivering
change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging”
economies. With more than 20 years in the world financial services industry
running different service, operations and lending businesses, I started my own
Performance Management Consultancy and work with individuals, small businesses,
charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An
international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email . My website provides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be
asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Productivity, Selling, Strategy
