When was the last time you had to deal with a difficult
customer? It was probably and external customer but perhaps
it was an internal customer, such as a member of your team,
a colleague or even - your boss!

I'm sure that you always want to provide exceptional service
to both your internal and external customers. However, in
the real world, things go wrong and mistakes are made.
These "customers" will often judge your level of service
based on how you respond to a mistake. Do it well and
they'll probably forgive you and possibly even say positive
things about your business or your abilities to other
people.

The important thing to realise when dealing with an upset
customer, be they internal or external, is that you must -
deal with their feelings, then deal with their problem.
Upset customers are liable to have strong feelings when you,
your product or service lets them down and they'll probably
want to "dump" these feeling on you.

You don't deal with their feelings by concentrating on
solving the problem, it takes more.
Here are 5 action ideas that deal with the customers' human
needs:

1 - Don't let them get to you - Stay out of it emotionally
and concentrate on listening non-defensively and actively.
Customers may make disparaging and emotional remarks - don't
rise to the bait.

2 - Listen - listen - listen - Look and sound like your
listening. The customer wants to know that you care and that
you're interested in their problem.

3 - Stop saying sorry - Sorry is an overused word, everyone
says it when something goes wrong and it's lost its value.
How often have you heard - "Sorry 'bout that, give me the
details and I'll sort this out for you". Far better to say
"I apologise for ......" And if you really need to use the
sorry word, make sure to include it as part of a full
sentence. "I'm sorry you haven't received that information
as promised Mr Smith". (It's also good practise to use the
customers name in a difficult situation).

4 - Empathise - Using empathy is an effective way to deal
with the customers feelings. Empathy isn't about agreement,
only acceptance of what the customer is saying and feeling.
Basically the message is - "I understand how you feel".
Obviously this has to be a genuine response, the customer
will realise if you're insincere and they'll feel
patronised.
Examples of empathy responses would be - "I can understand
that you're angry", or "I see what you mean".
Again, these responses need to be genuine.

5 - Build rapport - Sometimes it's useful to add another
phrase to the empathy response, including yourself in the
picture. - "I can understand how you feel, I don't like it
either when I'm kept waiting". This has the effect of
getting on the customer's side and builds rapport.
Some customer service people get concerned with this
response as they believe it'll lead to - "Why don't you do
something about it then". The majority of people won't
respond this way if they realise that you're a reasonable
and caring person.
If they do, then continue empathising and tell the customer
what you'll do about the situation. "I'll report this to my
manager" or "I'll do my best to ensure it doesn't happen in
the future".

Make no mistake about it; customers, be they internal or
external, are primarily driven by their emotions. It's
therefore important to use human responses in any
interaction particularly when a customer is upset or angry.
If customers like you and feel that you care, then they're
more likely to accept what you say and forgive your
mistakes.

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