How To Deal With Difficult Customers

Difficult customers will always be there, in every industry, and we have to deal with them. The question is, how?

Understand company policy. The first step in dealing with difficult customers is to know by heart all the policies and procedures of your company. Are you the one in charge of dealing with these kinds of customers? If not, then relay the issue to the proper officer. If yes, is there a policy on how you should deal with this situation? Do you still remember the training you were given during company orientation? Understand all the options you have first before you make judgment calls so as not to get into more trouble. Do not promise what you cannot give, and always follow the rules no matter who your client is.

Get to the root of the problem. You know all the rules, but do you know which of these apply to your situation? In dealing with difficult customers, it is best to allow the customers to explain their problem without you butting in. Did they misunderstand the registration policy or did you give them the wrong information? If so, apologize and help them understand what they need to do. Some customers become difficult because they find your procedures hard to understand. Are they asking for a lot of things that you do not offer? If you know for a fact that you cannot provide what they are asking for, then politely explain this to them.

Never lose your cool. You cannot fight fire with fire. Remain calm even if your customer is starting to test your patience. Be objective, admit mistakes, and answer politely. In addition, if the mistake was on the company’s part, maybe you can offer small tokens of apology like serving them hot coffee or leading them personally to their seat. However, never give things your company cannot really give away.

Put the situation into writing. Write down all the important details that will help you come up with ideas and protocols on how to prevent the same situation from happening again. If the problem was miscommunication between the customer and the company’s customer representative, then it would be best to forward the concern to the appropriate person. If it was you who made the mistake, write it down. Create a detailed report for you to study afterwards. Indicate the incident, the time the problem occurred, what the client said, how you responded, and the department that was involved in the issue. You need to get the whole picture so that you can make a sound decision.

Improve your procedures. You have understood the common problems your customers face. You have understood the company policies. Compare them and see if there is something lacking in the policy, or something that you need to modify to address these problems.

Don’t stress yourself too much and hate your job because of a few unruly customers. Look at difficult customers as a chance to showcase how well your company can handle such matters. See them as learning opportunities that will help you grow professionally, and know that the only way for you not to get into the same kind of situation is to learn from it and prevent it from happening again.

*Originally published by the Manila Bulletin. C-4, Sunday, May 31, 2015. Written by Ruben Anlacan, Jr. (President, BusinessCoach, Inc.) All rights reserved. May not be reproduced or copied without express written permission of the copyright holders.