Tags |
|
|
Links |
|
|
Casual Articles - How to Deal With Difficult Customers
As the economy improves, so does the outlook for small business. That may mean you'll find way too many things to do and not enough time for you or your staff to complete them. Or maybe you've been solo for a while and have decided your business is growing enough to need help.What do you do? Hire full or part time employees? Outsource to an independent contractor?Before you decide, take the time to define the position. Create a job description. What do you want the person to do? What are you willing to give up total control over? What level of experience or education must the person have? Documenting the responsibilities of the position will help you decid
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place
It almost goes without saying that good customer service is essential to sustaining any business. No matter how wonderful a job you do of attracting new customers, you won’t be profitable for long unless you have a solid customer retention strategy in place – and in action. It’s the actions that count – not what you say you’ll do, or what the policy says. People will remember what you or your employees have done – or not done.One of the key components of an effective retention strategy is exceptional customer service. Not just good service, but memorable service. Today, consumers’ expectations are higher than ever and companies that fail to deliver, risk los
“Well, the tool isn’t really defective,” replied Luke, taking an adversarial stance.
“So you’re calling me a liar?”
The customer now had everyone’s attention in the sales counter area. His loud voice and aggressive manner caused some of the other customers to look at one another and roll their eyes as if to convey the silent message, Oh, one of those people.
It was my first week on the sales counter, and I was favoring the customer’s point of view.
Luke continued the fight. “No, I’m not calling you a liar. This is simply normal wear of the tool. It’s against the manufacturer’s policy.”
I was now completely on the customer’s side.
He didn’t reply immediately and a silence fell across the room. He straightened up, slowly scanned the other customers, and then in a clear voice, he said to Luke, “People come here as a last resort.”
Then he turned on the heels of his work boots and marched out of the store. As soon as the door closed behind him, you could feel the air come back into the room. People chuckled rather nervously, then someone said, “Guess it takes all kinds.”
“That guy’s always a pain,” said Luke.
And there was the real issue. A different customer would have received a new tool, no questions asked, but because this customer wore the “difficult” label, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some people aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy. These are the volatile handful known as “difficult customers.” Constantly looking for a flaw in your service, they’ll take advantage of your policies by making requests that sometimes border on the absurd. But more importantly, they will teach you how to deliver the customer service that you promise. You can learn more from the difficult customer than you could ever learn from your most loyal. Difficult customers tell you where it hurts.
Listen closely and they will tell you what is missing from your business and might even suggest what you can do about it. Their feedback can be the most brutal, and the most honest gauge of your success. People come here as a last resort.
If you have an abundance of difficult customers, it isn’t because you’re unlucky. It’s because you’re doing something wrong. The sooner you figure out what it is and fix it, the sooner you will bring your business back from the precipice of disaster.
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place
What did Celine Dion, Dominic Hasek, Wayne Gretzky and many of the top performers in the business and professional world, have in common? They all utilized the expertise, skills and encouragement of a professional coach. Each of the celebrities mentioned above are or were paid several millions of dollars each year for their skills. They didn’t stop using a coach as soon as they turned professional or achieved a certain level of recognition for their special talents and abilities. Much of the reason they achieved as much as they did was because they were coached throughout their careers.What is coaching and why should you consider working with a coach? Many p
Luke continued the fight. “No, I’m not calling you a liar. This is simply normal wear of the tool. It’s against the manufacturer’s policy.”
I was now completely on the customer’s side.
He didn’t reply immediately and a silence fell across the room. He straightened up, slowly scanned the other customers, and then in a clear voice, he said to Luke, “People come here as a last resort.”
Then he turned on the heels of his work boots and marched out of the store. As soon as the door closed behind him, you could feel the air come back into the room. People chuckled rather nervously, then someone said, “Guess it takes all kinds.”
“That guy’s always a pain,” said Luke.
And there was the real issue. A different customer would have received a new tool, no questions asked, but because this customer wore the “difficult” label, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some people aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy. These are the volatile handful known as “difficult customers.” Constantly looking for a flaw in your service, they’ll take advantage of your policies by making requests that sometimes border on the absurd. But more importantly, they will teach you how to deliver the customer service that you promise. You can learn more from the difficult customer than you could ever learn from your most loyal. Difficult customers tell you where it hurts.
Listen closely and they will tell you what is missing from your business and might even suggest what you can do about it. Their feedback can be the most brutal, and the most honest gauge of your success. People come here as a last resort.
If you have an abundance of difficult customers, it isn’t because you’re unlucky. It’s because you’re doing something wrong. The sooner you figure out what it is and fix it, the sooner you will bring your business back from the precipice of disaster.
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place
Is fear of failure an issue when you commit valuable money in advertising?Well how about if I showed you a way to remove this fear and you know that you would be able to spend money advertising KNOWING you would get a return?Is that a valuable lesson?Course it is!So, how do you do it?The answer is testing!It's simple really.. Instead of sending out 1000 sales letters for example. Send out 500. In these 500 have 5 different headlines so 5 x 100 = 500Why?Well what we are trying to establish here is what headline or sales offer pulls best. Once we know which one works then we do a mass mailing, but not before then! air come back into the room. People chuckled rather nervously, then someone said, “Guess it takes all kinds.”
“That guy’s always a pain,” said Luke.
And there was the real issue. A different customer would have received a new tool, no questions asked, but because this customer wore the “difficult” label, it became a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Some people aren’t happy unless they’re unhappy. These are the volatile handful known as “difficult customers.” Constantly looking for a flaw in your service, they’ll take advantage of your policies by making requests that sometimes border on the absurd. But more importantly, they will teach you how to deliver the customer service that you promise. You can learn more from the difficult customer than you could ever learn from your most loyal. Difficult customers tell you where it hurts.
Listen closely and they will tell you what is missing from your business and might even suggest what you can do about it. Their feedback can be the most brutal, and the most honest gauge of your success. People come here as a last resort.
If you have an abundance of difficult customers, it isn’t because you’re unlucky. It’s because you’re doing something wrong. The sooner you figure out what it is and fix it, the sooner you will bring your business back from the precipice of disaster.
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place
Planning and preparing before you begin to send out resumes could save you some embarrassing moments when you receive that unexpected call.You just never know when that phone is going to ring. Let's say the phone rings just as you are about to sit down for dinner, but this time it's not a pesky telemarketer -- it's a company recruiter calling. The voice on the other end of the phone says she is calling about a resume you sent in six weeks ago. 'What -- six weeks ago? I sent out 40 resumes in the past six weeks? Who exactly are you and what was the job you are calling about?' You've been caught off-guard!The telephone 'screen call' can come at any
Listen closely and they will tell you what is missing from your business and might even suggest what you can do about it. Their feedback can be the most brutal, and the most honest gauge of your success. People come here as a last resort.
If you have an abundance of difficult customers, it isn’t because you’re unlucky. It’s because you’re doing something wrong. The sooner you figure out what it is and fix it, the sooner you will bring your business back from the precipice of disaster.
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place
Do you keep getting rejected at each and every interview that you go on? Is this getting you down? Making you feel dejected? Before you decide that ‘it’s all someone else’s fault’, have you thought of the possibility that you might be going wrong somewhere during the interview process? Well, instead of just sitting there and wondering why you’re not getting any good job offers you should probably try to find out why and make changes. Most job seekers feel that they have been rejected for no reason whatsoever, but this is usually not true.Reasons Why You Might Be Getting RejectedHere Are Five Of The Most Common Reasons Why Interviewers Reject Applica
True, there will be an occasional customer who has no valid reason to complain, but complains anyway. Most of the time, you can resolve the legitimate complaint and the absurd demand by using the following strategy. Handling difficult customers may be your biggest challenge in living up to the promise you make of great service. Having a procedure in place for all of your staff to follow is the most effective way to handle this challenge. Here is a four-step plan that may be helpful for dealing with the legitimate customer complaint and even the occasional difficult customer.
1. Never argue. This seems to be the toughest rule for distributor salespeople to accept to accept, so let’s repeat it. NEVER ARGUE. Even if you win, you lose. Especially if you win. Did Luke win? The customer really did spend thousands of dollars in our store and he never came back. You tell me.
2. LISTEN between the lines. Is there an underlying message to your customer’s complaint? Does he feel cheated, ignored or unacknowledged? Mentioning that he spent thousands of dollars probably indicated he felt under appreciated.
3. Appeal to your customer’s nobler motives – his or her sense of fair play. Let the customer know that you trust him or her enough to do what’s fair and right. A question you can use that takes the fire out of most irate customers is, “What would you have me do to make this right?” If you appeal to the nobler motives of your customers, most of the time, they will live up to your expectation. What a different outcome it could’ve been if Luke had asked, “What would make this right?” instead of stating that the tool wasn’t defective.
4. Tell the customer what you can do. Never say, “That’s against company policy.” If someone in authority within your company tells you to say that, then you need to reconsider your career with that company. Most customers don’t like rules. Suggest alternatives. Luke could’ve looked like a hero if he’d said, “The manufacturer’s policy states that they won’t replace this tool. However, that’s not our policy. Let me see what we can work out.”
Talk is cheap. Most business owners promise great customer service, but how many actually live up to the talk? Your customers don’t care what you have to say. They’re watching to see what you do. The limiting factor for most of us is that we don’t practice what we preach. Then when a customer calls us on it, we group him into the “hard-to-please” bunch.
The truth is, no matter how good your customer service, there will always be someone who is unhappy about something. The more unhappy customers you turn into happy
HTTP = HTML link (for blogs, profiles,phorums):
<a href="http://www.casualarticles.com/article/15323/casualarticles-How-to-Deal-With-Difficult-Customers.html">How to Deal With Difficult Customers</a>
BB link (for phorums):
[url=http://www.casualarticles.com/article/15323/casualarticles-How-to-Deal-With-Difficult-Customers.html]How to Deal With Difficult Customers[/url]
Related Articles:
How to Get Full Color Printing at Bargain Prices
Steps on Applying for a Medical Transcription Job
Rasberries and Problem Solving
Bookmark it:
|