This is a guest article by Sherrie. If you are interested in contributing to Debt RoundUp, please follow our guidelines.
This is the first post on Debt Roundup about business. Since I am an entrepreneur at heart, I am going to start to write and feature more articles about business and making money.
It’s a given. There is no business without a market. There is no business without customers. One offers, the other buys. One supplies, the other demands. Who should know better? Who should know more? Is the customer really always right?
As a good businessman, you aim to satisfy your customers. As a good and wise businessman, you aim to satisfy your customers without being harassed. Sometimes, some customers tend to abuse or misuse the situation because of the thinking that suppliers or business operators are at their mercy. They threat the establishment if their wishes are not granted even if they are beyond reasonable.
How do you handle aggressive customers? How do you handle customers who insist that they are right even if they are not? How do you protect your business from customers who take advantage?
- Have it recorded. If you have a customer hotline, enable your calls to be recorded. Once the call is answered, immediately inform every customer that all calls will be recorded as part of optimizing your services to serve their best interest. This will keep them on guard and may help to control their attitude.
- Keep yourself calm. Usually, the aggressor is headed towards the losing end. If you take it legally, you lessen chances of winning a situation or case if you are aggressive especially if you use brutal or unpleasant words.
- Explain properly and clearly. Handling customer complaints involves tremendous patience. You need to think ahead. You will be tempted many times to answer back especially when the words are insulting. You can give them a warning the first time they blurt out insulting words. If they repeat it, you can give them another warning and inform them that repeating the same rude action will cause you to end the call without further warnings.
- Allow the customer to voice out the complain, and wait for them to finish.
- When it is your turn to speak and explain and they cut you in, stop speaking. Be silent and then speak again when they are done. Speaking with them at the same time will only trigger their aggressive behavior even more.
- If you realize your mistake, immediately apologize. Offer all the options that you can provide to compensate for the mistake. Take immediate actions to arrange for the quick solutions to the problem.
- If you are not at fault and yet, the client insists that they are right, be firm. Explain the situation with your [the company’s] point all over again. If the client refuses to accept your explanation, tell them properly [or in a nice way] that their complain cannot be accommodated.
- If the client crosses the line by uttering insults and yet you need to stay on the line, keep in mind that their words will affect you personally if you let them. Remind yourself that you are handling the situation as a professional, and not as a child listening to a parent’s words of wisdom. You are not related to the individual in any way, so truthfully speaking, they cannot hurt you personally unless you let them. It will happen if you start to believe and let the words sink in.
- If you are in the store or in a public place and the customer is uttering nonsense, ignore. When they try to act scandalously, let them while you ignore them. They will eventually stop especially when the crowd’s attention is fully focused on them. They will realize that their nonsense action is going nowhere.
- Do not be afraid when you are following company protocols and you are not exhibiting threatening or insulting behavior towards the customer. You are doing your job and observing proper behavior as you should and that is never against the law.
Sherrie is a social media marketer and business writer. Check out her latest posts and comprehensive email marketing guide…
Main Photo via Dell’s Official Flickr Page
About Guest Author
Very true about 2 and 4, as a customer if you don’t feel heard the anger may rise. When I was working in retail, I asked the client what they wanted for their trouble. Usually it was feasible on the spot, and the problem was avoided on their terms.
Pauline recently posted..13 money resolutions for 2013: #13 enjoy!
These are good tips. I used to work in retail, and I’m glad I don’t anymore!
Michelle recently posted..Time Management According to Strengths
Me as well. It is a tough business, especially when the customer is obviously wrong.
I think these tips can apply to any work environment, not just retail. I can think of a recent experience that would relate….
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Why Health Insurance Premiums Will Increase for Young Adults in the United States
Good post! The fact is that regardless of the business sector you’re in you’ll likely have customers to deal with. For us it’s our clients and quite a few of these apply for us. I think key is clear communication and being on the same page in terms of expectations.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..5 Ways Routine Maintenance Pays Off
Right on as usual John. Thanks for stopping by with your viewpoint.
At the last retail job I had we had some great customers and some regulars that loved to cause trouble. A few times it got so bad that we just asked them to leave and walked them to the door.
Tackling Our Debt recently posted..Fun, Easy Ways to Teach Your Children About Money – Interview
Some customers think that you need to please them to the fullest. I will try to help out a customer as best as I can, but I will not bend over backwards to appease irrational requests.
Many small businesses don’t care from what I see. Being a small business owner, I can’t wait to address the customer’s issue when the issue arises. It only takes one person to start the negative rumor mill. Great post!!
I am the same way Eddie. Glad to see others feel the same about customer service.
I like the two that you bolded. They are really the two most important ones in my opinion (and the ones I need to remember most of all in the rest of my life too).
Alex recently posted..Happy Thoughts List: On days where nothing seems to go right…
I’ve worked as a manager in fast food and there are a lot of instances when customers get hysterical. The more you try to pamper them, the more they react. In the end, I just ignore them and let them cool down first. Once the emotion is down, we can discuss their concerns clearly.
Spears recently posted..What We Read Today 24 January 2013
If I had ever had a customer complaint when I was younger working in customer service related jobs I would simply listen to the customer. Let the customer finish speaking while giving them full eye contact and nodding to acknowledge that I am listening to their every word. The worst thing anyone can do is jump in to say, you are wrong. It’s much easier to work with someone when they know that someone actually is looking to come to a solution rather than shove them out the door or off the phone. If you are wrong apologize, I agree. Act professional, use company protocol, follow the rules and that’s all one can do. If the situation gets elevated at least you know you did all you could. Lots of great points here.
Canadian Budget Binder recently posted..How I Turned My Passion and Skills Into Making Extra Money
A timely and much-needed post! When I was younger and working in the traditional job field, we were always taught to put the customer first, and that our goal was happy customers. Nowadays it seems as if most companies, or at least their employees, simply don’t care about the customer’s needs. This list should be plastered on every employer’s lunchroom wall. Thanks, Grayson and Sherrie!
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