Today I was in the Woolworths shopping centre standing at the checkout when a lady completely lost her brain at the checkout person. The supervisor was also there trying to appease her and the entire shopping centre went to a standstill as every bystander was looking at each other with those eyes saying, “Oh my goodness, what’s wrong with her?”
My immediate reaction was one of sadness, because I could hear in her voice that whatever it was that had upset her at the Woolworths checkout wasn’t the root of the problem. This is a lesson that I have learned time and again in all the service roles, sales roles and business owner roles I have played. Whenever you’re talking to someone, whatever reaction they are having is rarely related to the isolated conversation that you are having with them.
Their reactions to any conversation you are having with them are invaded by past experiences, pre-conceived ideas and how much sleep, food and love they have had in their day up until the moment they met you.
No doubt whatever happened at the checkout to this lady was obviously a bit upsetting, but the nuclear reaction she had was clearly a build up of other factors. I’m sure a few of you are relating to this on a daily level with your kids, partners and colleagues.
How can this knowledge help you improve customer service?
It’s all about the way you perceive a situation that gives you better skills to be able to handle it. One of the reasons service people find it hard to deal with angry customers is because there’s an element that’s taken personally. Your immediate reaction might be, “Hey, I didn’t do anything wrong. Why are you yelling at me?” Then there can often be a tendency to protect yourself by lashing back, or becoming cold and stand offish and the problem escalates.
How to diffuse an angry customer
- Listen to their problem. Never, never cut them off mid-sentence. This will only make them more angry.
- Tell them you understand in a way that’s genuine and believable, and recommend they get passed on to the next level supervisor. Nine times out of ten this will diffuse the problem immediately because have got their issues off their chest and already feel validated by being passed on to someone more superior.
- In the unlikely event you haven’t solved the problem, politely end the conversation. Under no circumstances does it help to get angry or terse with the customer. End the situation with grace and go and take your frustration out on a pillow.
When I started working many years ago I was lucky enough to work for organisations such as Brumby’s Bakery and QPAC who invested in customer service courses for their staff. This was well worth the investment as the service we delivered in those businesses was outstanding. Lucky for me, the skills I learned from those classes have been invaluable for me throughout my career.
I’d love to hear about any other techniques that have worked for you. Let me know over on Twitter.
