Customer Experience: 5 Powerful Beliefs to Win Over Angry Customers
Kate Nasser
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™ & Author of Leading Morale. Leadership, Teamwork, Engagement, Customer Service.
by Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
Even after 25 years of teaching how to deliver great customer service experience, the question I am most often asked -- still -- is how to stay positive and objective with rude/angry customers.
I now offer these powerful beliefs that have worked for me and thousands I have taught. I look forward to reading your comments and additions!
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5 Emotionally Intelligent Powerful Beliefs to Win Over Rude Angry Customers
- Customers' thorns don't attack you. They protect them. Plants have thorns to protect them. So do people. When you hear customers' thorns, recognize their fear and weakness. The thorns are not attacking you; they are protecting them. Do not attack them from your fear and you will not get pricked by their thorns.
When you remember this, you will stay objective and caring! You will work well with all customers when you remember this powerful belief.
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Easy doesn't sharpen a thorn. One of the most common questions I receive is "If we are nice to rude angry customers, aren't we teaching to be rude next time?" No! Your positive responses do not teach them to be thornier. Thorny customers are adults who make their own decisions. Giving care reduces tension; it doesn't create it.
Ease your way around the thorns and your influence increases. This powerful belief delivers great service in tough moments.
- Trying to de-thorn them will hurt you! If a stranger tried to kick down your defense mechanisms (like your front door), how would you react? Fight back and defend? Well the customers will do the same with you if you react strongly to their anger. To them you are a stranger. If you try to clip their thorns directly, they will defend and prick you back.
Never fight with customers. Even if you win the battle, you lose the customers. - Empathize with their emotion; don't analyze their thorns. Trying to analyze a customer's thorns in the few minutes you have to deliver service is not feasible or logical. It takes therapists years to analyze a client's emotions. Yours is to deliver service, not to change the customer. Empathize emotion don't analyze it.
Send out empathy without taking in the pain. This powerful belief has transformed my interaction with customers! - Positivity beats equality. Be the sun not a thorn! Acting rude and angry to rude angry customers will not get them to treat you well. More importantly, it will veer you off course from business success. Positivity beats equality as a winning strategy in customer service.
You can't change people; you can change your beliefs and influence the outcome. Be the sun not a thorn!
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What other beliefs keep you calm AND caring in tough moments?
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Your positive attitude is shiny valuable heirloom coin. Why trade it in for a negative attitude -- a slug? I treasure my positive outlook and I don't let anyone take it from me.
Stay calm, confident, and caring with the even the rudest most upset customer with these 5 powerful emotionally intelligent beliefs. Read these beliefs before you start work, during breaks, and at the end of the day. They become a part of you and even improve your personal life.
From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™
©2014 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. All rights reserved. You are welcome to share the URL to this post on your social streams but please do not republish the content without permission. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.
Book Workshops or Keynotes: The true life stories I use with each of these beliefs will inspire and train your teams and reduce their stress. Let's do a session soon! Delivering The Ultimate Customer Service Experience. +01 908.595.1515 (USA)
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Solutions Consultant @ Google | Working on app marketing and measurement solutions for Gaming & Entertainment
9yHi Kate Nasser! I actually found this article on your blog a few weeks ago when one of my newsletter reader asked me for tips to deal with the angry customers. I seriously think that it's one of the best articles written on the subject. You are just spot on with the rose's comparison. It really helped me change my perspective on things. I've read a lot about angry customers and everyone says "don't take it personally" without really explaining how. If we consider that the anger actually is created by the customer to protect himself, it's a lot easier to survive the attack and feel empathy for him. Thanks again for this great post.
Management through leadership. Growth through engaged employees
9yGreat analogy. Delivering great service means you can't take it personally. It's about them not you.
Licensed Realtor at Coldwell Banker Gundaker
9yHi, Kate Nasser Excellent post and every one of these is a strong and valid point to help us deal with the less pleasant side of customer service. Two quick observations: #3 reminded me of something I was taught way back in therapy school when we were learning how to deal with angry clients. Imagine that the person is throwing s--t at you, step quickly and calmly aside, and let that stuff hit the wall. This was a graphic way to remind us to not take personally what is happening. #4 contains another valuable point: Empathy is more important than understanding. I often hear my wife saying "I don't want you to solve my problem! I just want you to listen ..." While customer service does require us to solve the customer's problem, we don't have to analyze it to do so. Too often, at least with me, I get lost in proving that I have a clear and complete grasp of the issue and all the details while displaying my superior intellect and academic preparation ... which the customer could care less about. These are good points - thanks for sharing:) John