Know-How Exchange : Student Questions

Are you experiencing a particular problem?

Handle with care, but know when to "fire" the ones that do not bring you value, in such a way as to keep them from causing you more harm. Such as, "It seems we are not able to meet your needs sufficiently and I feel you may be happier with Company X's product/service. I have reference for you. Would you like me to have them call you?"

Difficult customers....

I haven't met any :)...

If you sell something that is new and untested, you may have unthrusty customers... For them you need to talk as a little child in order to undestand you.

But if you statisticaly/mathematicaly prove that your product will reduce their current costs/increase their current sales, there is no place for problems...

On the other side difficult customers may be the one that needs everything to be explained twice...
Our solution for them was to create a tutorial/usage information to as much pictures as possible in order to understand.

Sometimes dealing with difficult customers seems so simple that there is nothing to it. Other times it seems as if you need a doctorate in psychiatry, and consumer behavior to even begin to do it effectively.

There is a simple reason for that. You are dealing with people. There is no algorithm, formula, or other way to absolutely quantify what will work and what won't.

Here is what you do:

Hear the customer's complaint- Don't just listen to it but actually hear it and determine whether or not they were "short-changed" when dealing with your business. To do this effectively it is necessary for a manager to remove his or her ego out of the equation. The ultimate question is, does the manager want to be right or does the manager want to satisfy the customer? If the customer has been slighted go on to the next step. Even if the customer was not slighted figure out what the cost would be to make them happy. If they are asking for a free movie rental, give it to them. If they want the entire invoice for a home remodel to be wiped out because a paint spot was dripped on the carpet, that is a different story.

Ask them how they would like you to resolve the problem- If their complaint is valid and you can provide them with the desired resolution without putting yourself out of business, do it. I like the previous comment about firing your customers. If a customer is routinely costing your business money find a way to politely follow Leslie's steps from above. Just be careful not to pull the trigger on that too early. Remember how costly it is to generate new customers.

Simply apologize to them. There is a great possibility that your current customers talk to your prospective customers. Do what you can to generate positive word of mouth.

Anyway...My first job out of college was in retail management, which is the trench warfare of customer service. I could talk about this endlessly. Let me know what you think.

The customer is always right.....or so they say.....the problem with following this expression is that most customers tend to: 1. Not know exactly what they are looking for. 2. Not in the best of moods........

I would like to share something a mentor of mine told me a long time ago about upset or difficult customers....My mentor said "all anger comes from loss." If you remember this key ingredient, then you can handle any difficult customer.

What is meant by "all anger comes from loss" - let me put out an example.....

If a customer comes to your store and purchases a lawnmower.....then the lawnmower breaks down.....of course he or she is upset......why?

First they lost time - time lost to mow the lawn, time lost calling your store for the repair, time lost having to travel down and exchange the faulty machine. Second they lost productivity - unable to cut the lawn, lost ability to do something else. Third they feel cheated - like they lost money.......the list could go on........

Because the customer lost something he or she will be difficult. Heck, the customer may not have bought the lawnmower from your store....it could have been from someone else.....that is why they are difficult...they dont want to go through the same hassle they went through before....

If you want to deal with difficult customers then try to identify why they are upset. The first key is identifying what is troubling them and the second is finding a solution.....you will find that most "difficult" customers will be more receptive and less "difficult" if you follow this advice. Good luck.

It is important to not burn any bridges. One of the worst things you can have is disgruntled ex-customers sharing their horror stories.

You really need to try to see things through their eyes and do the best job to give them great service. Perhaps they have some vaild concerns, which may only become concerns of others if you do not remedy the situation. Sometimes these difficult clients can be some of the best references if you have done a good job handling their concerns. Many of these customers know they are difficult and are used to people giving up on them, so people that go that extra mile really stick out to them.

That being said, some customers can just be difficult. If the energy it takes to make them happy is causing you to not be able to service many other clients, it is time to cut them loose, carefully.

Mike