Handling Difficult Customers - 8 Strategies

In any business our customers are one of our most important assets. Unfortunately there are days when not all customers want to be friendly or pleasant. On days like this, try these effective tips to help you handle those difficult customers.

Don't take it personally ? remember when a customer complains they are unhappy with the product or your company ? not you.

Remember you are good at your job ? remind yourself of the skills you have and why you are working there. Don't allow customers to make you feel inadequate.

Write down their complaint or concern ? show the customer you are listening by recording their problem and if you are on the phone, tell the customer you are writing down all the details.

Ask a supervisor to join you and be part of the transaction ? if the customer is becoming more difficult, invite a supervisor to join you and the customer will notice you are treating them as important by seeking additional help.

Debrief the situation with someone else when the customer leaves ? sometimes you may need to talk to someone about your difficult customer to debrief and get rid of any negative thoughts and emotions you may have ? this is a very important step.

Learn stress management techniques ? this may help you stay calm if a customer raises their voice or becomes emotional. By learning to breath deeply, focus on the positives and also ensure your body doesn't carry stress you will be able to handle these difficult customers easily.

Recognise and accept you will work with customers who have bad days ? understand when you are working with the public some people take their bad days out on you ? it is not personal.

Consider what you could do differently next time ? if the customer is complaining about a company system or process, take some time to review this and determine if this might need to be changed. Think about the way you handled the customer and note anything you would do differently next time.

Neen is a Global Productivity Expert: by looking at how they spend their time and energy ? and where they focus their attention ? Neen helps people to rocket-charge their productivity and performance. A dynamic speaker, author and corporate trainer, Neen demonstrates how boosting your productivity can help you achieve amazing things. With her unique voice, sense of fun and uncommon common-sense, Neen delivers a powerful lesson in productivity. Find out more at http://neenjames.com/

---

Writing The Book On Great Customer Service

Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up near my small book store. Already I can see my business starting to decline. Is there anything I can do to compete with... Read More

Invalid Excuses for Poor Business Results - The Weather

Note to Kmart: It wasn't about the weatherIn the 1970s Kmart was the retailer to beat. No matter what happened, they seemed to turn profit. Customers were loyal and prices were hard to... Read More

Customer Service: Why Bears Make Bad Customers

Every business owner should have a picture of his or her ideal customer. When I picture my ideal customer, I see a business owner struggling to find time for all that needs to... Read More

Developing A Customer Complaint System

Background The company was experiencing an increase in the number of customer complaints and an increase in the cost of processing them and we were hired to analyze the current situation and develop... Read More

4 Myths about Customer Value

The purpose of business is to create and retain a customer.Much has been written about customer orientation, customer relationship management (CRM), Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) metrics, Customer Centric organization models, customer retention, customer... Read More

It?s Customer Service Stupid: Delivering Customer Service Training That Sticks

"Society is always taken by surprise at any new example of common sense."This Ralph Waldo Emerson quote opens one of the most impressive works on customer service: Michael LeBoeuf's book How To Win... Read More

How to Keep Customers

Who was it that said - "The customer is always right"? Well for those of you who can't get through the day without knowing, it was H Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridges's... Read More

Over Deliver - The Key to Customer Satisfaction

Client satisfaction starts with meeting or beating the contractual obligations of the relationship. There are also some intangibles that can help you to over deliver to a client.MeetingsIn most organizations it's easy to... Read More

How To Use Your Current Customers

Jay instructed a customer of his to offer a rare coin collection to new customers for just $19. He was actually losing a couple of dollar on every sale! But .... of the... Read More

What Type Of Software Is This?

The other day while at the book store, I came across some accounting software CDs strewn with other CDs and books in garage sale box.How can any self respecting businessman (even a small... Read More

How To Build Stellar Client Relationships

Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with managing the gap between your perception of how things are going and your client's.Begin the process here . . .--Know who your ideal... Read More

Your Career Plan--Think Like A CEO

You've been going 6-to-late; exhausted by running the supersonic treadmill of life and wish you had a different job. But you can't because you have no time and you're left spent at the... Read More

Customer Service, Italian Style

Nowadays, we complain nearly all of the time about how few businesses remember how to provide quality service to their customers. But a recent trip to Italy not only reminded me that the... Read More

Find Out Where Your Firm Stands in Today?s Customer

Looking For Ways to Improve Sales and Customer Relationships?Find Out Where Your Firm Stands in Today's Customer Touchpoint Management (CTM) Revolution by Taking the CTM Quiz(San Rafael, CA) What could be more important... Read More

When the Customer Demands: Give a Discount or Lose the Order

Periodically every sales person encounters the customer who refuses to buy unless they receive a discount. Sometimes this is driven by the organization's culture or the buyer wanting to look good to their... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts

There are five techniques that have been proven to be effective in resolving, minimizing, and preventing conflicts. And by conflicts I am referring to any of the following that may take place between... Read More

5 Ways Customer Service Managers are Implementing to Increase Customer Focus

According to a Forum Corporation survey of commercial customers lost by 14 major service and manufacturing companies:15% found a better service/product15% found a cheaper service/product20% cited "lack of contact and individual attention from... Read More

Handling Customer Complaints

Even the best business will receive an occasional customer complaint. Knowing how to resolve these complaints will help you gain loyal customers who will then refer others to your business. Here are some... Read More

Dont Be Afraid To Give Problem Customers The Boot

Q: In a recent column you made the point that the customer is always right, which I agree with. However, in the same column you also said that it is sometimes necessary give... Read More

Loyal Customers Take Commitment

In today's competitive world of retail, many stores are implementing external marketing programs designed to attract new business.Unfortunately, the cost can be very high with little return on investment. What is often lost... Read More

Astonish your Customers With These Customer Service Tips

Customer service today is getting worse. Win customers over and you build your business for life. Proven by the leader in the industry -- Nordstrom's. Nordstrom's customer service keeps improving and they continue... Read More

Dealing with People - Words to Avoid

You probably realise how the wrong tone of voice and negative body language can cause problems when dealing with other people, particularly customers and staff. However, using the wrong words can also cause... Read More

A White Paper: Profiting with Kindness

In 2002, there wasn't much interest for Kindness in business, and some business people would question, "What does kindness have to do with business, anyway?" Is this a for real question or just... Read More

Client Service as a Competitive Advantage

As someone who has been heavily involved facilitating strategic planning processes with organizations during the last 15+ years, I often find it somewhat amusing how people answer the questions I pose.For example, if... Read More

Basic Levels of Consumer Integrity that Presently Permeates Society

Reality is not always pretty. But here is a tad bit of it for you today. Well here is an interesting occurrence that is of interest. And this is in any town middle... Read More

Cheap To Keep

You've heard it all before when it comes to stats about customer retention. Acquiring a customer costs five to 10 times more than retaining one. Repeat customers spend, on average, 67 percent more.... Read More

A New Way To Handle Complaints, Or Is It?

What a lot of money we have been wasting on dealing with customer complaints.Instead of dealing with them and attempting to satisfy the customer we should create a process that makes complaining so... Read More

Accountants / Lawyers Do Yourself a Favor - What do Your Customers Want?

In my day to day practice in strategic human resource management I often come across customers looking for a 'good' accountant or 'good lawyer'. As an accountant myself the common thread for a... Read More

11 Ways to Get What You Want - Be a Clever Customer!

We all want great service, whether we are buying our weekly groceries from a store, or want a billing hitch resolved at our local utilities provider. Whether it's getting our car fixed, or... Read More