There’s nothing quite as discouraging as running into an upset customer. It doesn’t matter if they’re angered by their experience with your website, a sales rep, a product, or anything else. An irate customer can be difficult to handle in any situation.
Fortunately, there are many ways to manage an upset customer in order to produce the best result possible. Here are five tips to help you do so.
1. Improve Your IVR System
You may use an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system as part of your customer service management strategy. IVR menus can be an excellent way to vet each incoming phone call. It enables you to diagnose each customer’s issues and direct them towards the rep with the best solution. This can speed along the customer service process. It can also help you operate with a smaller customer service team.
Nevertheless, an IVR system can be a two-edged sword. A confusing menu can leave customers befuddled. Badly-worded prompts can lead them in the wrong direction. When this happens, it can create irate customers — even if they didn’t start that way.
Many tips can help you already voice to voice with an unhappy customer. However, one of the best first steps you can take is making sure your IVR system is effective.
Create a team to review your IVR setup. Check prompts, menu options, and so on. Review customer feedback to see if you can offer better initial solutions to help funnel each customer to the right rep.
The goal should be to create a solid “front door” to your operation. This will reduce the number of upset customers by the time they reach a human on the other end of the line.
2. Maintain Perspective
When an upset customer contacts your company, it’s easy to under prioritize them. After all, they have already purchased something. At this point, you’re likely focused on creating new leads that can generate more revenue.
However, you should never shove a dissatisfied customer to the back of the line. This only exacerbates their offense and can lead to negative reviews — which is never good. 92% of consumers will believe a recommendation from a family member or friend over any other form of marketing that they encounter. If you don’t prioritize unhappy customers, you won’t just make them upset. It will also look bad for your brand.
This is why you and your staff must maintain perspective whenever you interact with someone. Each time you handle a disgruntled customer, treat them as a priority. This can do wonders in reversing a negative attitude and avoiding a poor review. It can also enhance their cooperation as you attempt to find a solution to their problems.
3. Listen and Validate
Customer service reps spend their days repeating the same information over and over again. Both simple and complex solutions are trotted out for the same problems in an endless repetition. When this happens, it’s easy to get robotic and distant.
If you want to manage upset customers with success, you must avoid slipping into this mentality. Encourage staff to infuse each conversation with a personal, human touch. Show them how to actively listen to their conversations. Reflect problems and concerns back to each customer to show them that you understand what they’re saying. Thank each customer for bringing their issue to your attention. Show them that their problem is a priority for you.
The goal should be to make each customer feel both listened to and validated throughout your communication.
4. Provide Detailed Solutions
If you want to address a customer’s negative disposition, sooner or later you must solve their problem. Part of that answer should always be demonstrating your solution to the customer, as well.
If someone emails your customer service department with an IT problem, don’t just tell them you’ll fix it. Take the time to explain the steps that must be taken. If they must take action, provide clear, easy-to-follow, step-by-step instructions.
If you are going to do something on your end, don’t leave them on hold wondering what’s going on. Tell them that you’re going to run a test, replace a piece of equipment, reset a router, and so on. This helps them stay calm and patient as they remain aware of the situation.
By providing detailed solutions, you invite the client into the solution process. You show them that you value their thoughts and opinions and want to treat them as a peer, not a problem.
5. Understand Anger and Stay Calm
One of the best ways to properly handle an upset customer is to understand them. Anger is often referred to as a secondary emotion. This is because it typically is representative of other emotional struggles. An angry customer may be humiliated, frustrated, or even scared.
It’s essential that each customer service representative remember this. Otherwise, it’s easy to get defensive as customers attack, disparage, and belittle a company, product, or even themselves. If you want to defuse an upset customer, you must be willing to accept that they are angry for a reason.
In addition, strive to demonstrate a steady level of poise and professionalism. Each customer service rep should go to great lengths to handle an upset customer with care, concern, and above all, calm. If they find themselves becoming heated, they should take a moment to slow down and gain perspective. If that isn’t enough, they may need to pass the conversation off to a supervisor before they cause more harm than good.
Disgruntled customers are an inevitable part of the customer service experience. As humans interact with one another, there are going to be moments when frustration and anger surface. The fact that a customer is upset is not a failure in and of itself. What can lead to failure, though, is how you choose to address each upset customer’s needs.
By listening, validating, providing detailed solutions, maintaining perspective, and staying calm, you can help defuse even the worst situations. In addition, by maintaining an effective and updated IVR system, you can ensure that each customers’ initial experience with your company helps rather than hurts their problems.
Laila Azzahra is a professional writer and blogger that loves to write about technology, business, entertainment, science, and health.