How to Handle Difficult Customers by Shep Hyken

Photo by ahmad gunnaivi on Unsplash

Not long ago I covered six ways to handle angry customers. Often an angry customer and a difficult customer are the same. But that’s not always true. Sometimes difficult customers aren’t angry. They are just tough and demanding. That said, the techniques I cover in both of these posts can work, with a little tweak or variation depending on the situation. So, after you read this, I urge you to go back and read the original article. This is a follow-up with another half dozen techniques to manage angry and/or difficult customers.

 So, here are six ways to handle difficult customers: 

1. Avoid acting indifferent toward your customer. Customers want your attention, and they want to feel as if the relationship you have with them is important. Indifference is apathy. That will never make a customer happy. 

2. Ask the right questions. These are the appropriate questions that give you the answers to understand the situation. But be careful about interrupting with questions. That can frustrate the customer. There may be a time you need to interrupt, but just go about it the right way. Cutting the customer off could end up escalating the anger or problem, when it’s your intention to do the opposite.

3. Empathize! This has become a very popular word. Customers want you to empathize and understand their situation. The old expression about putting yourself in the customer’s shoes comes to mind. Saying something like, “I know how you feel. I would feel the same way if that happened to me,” could help customers know you’re on their side. 

4. Don’t tell the customer he or she is wrong. This isn’t about who is right or who is wrong. This is about getting the customer to say, “Thanks for taking great care of me.” You’re not going to get there if you’re accusing the customer of being wrong. Remember one of my favorite sayings: The customer is not always right! But when they are wrong, let them be wrong with dignity and respect. 

5. Don’t blame others inside your company. Never make anyone in your organization look bad. When a problem comes your way, you own it, regardless of who is at fault. 

6. Focus on a positive outcome. Instead of focusing on what you can’t do, focus on what you can do. Customers want to know they are talking to someone who can solve their problems. 

So, there are six more tips on how to handle difficult and angry customers. In any given situation, one or more of these tactics may come in handy. Remember, you’re trying to get the customer to come back. As you interact with them, ask yourself, “Is what I’m doing right now going to make my customer come back the next time they need what we sell?” 

Shep Hyken is a customer service expert, keynote speaker, and New York Times bestselling business author. His latest book, I’ll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again, is available now from Sound Wisdom. For information, contact 314-692-2200 or www.hyken.com. For information on The Customer Focus™ customer service training programs, go to www.thecustomerfocus.com. Follow on Twitter: @Hyken. This post originally appeared here on Shep Hyken’s Customer Service Blog.

Living the Values: The Key to Accountability in Trying Times by Sam Silverstein

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

As 2020 draws to a close, many leaders find themselves facing a challenge they are not used to addressing: team members who get sidetracked by intense disagreements about social and political matters having little or nothing to do with the team’s goals and objectives. What is the accountable leader’s response to this situation?  

Social and political issues can cause serious divisions within the organization if leaders are not careful. Team members can start making assumptions about each other: “He probably supports XYZ policy—I know all I need to know about him.” That’s toxic. 

That kind of bias and lack of respect has any number of equally toxic parallels: “She doesn’t come from the ‘right’ school—I know all I need to know about her.” Or: “He comes from a different department than I do—I know all I need to know about him.” When people take action on such beliefs, the actions are both unproductive and disrespectful. 

How does a leader handle these kinds of divisions? 

Here is my answer. In an accountable organization, people can disagree about a lot of things: politics, personnel moves, strategic decisions, the color the breakroom walls should be painted—you name it. But there are some things that everyone in the organization, without exception, has to agree on. We call these non-negotiable points of agreements Values because they are so valuable and so important to the organization and to each individual within it that, if one of them ever goes missing or is overlooked, we drop everything and figure out how to get it back. 

Accountable leaders know that the values of the organization must always connect to the actions and decisions of each and every team member. They also know that Respect has to be one of those values. If team members are not willing to treat each other with respect—whether that is over a political disagreement, a disagreement about how to redecorate the breakroom, or anything in between—then the accountable leader has to call time-out and make sure the value of Respect is restored. If for some reason there is someone on staff who chooses not to live that value at work, regardless of how productive they are, that person has to be transitioned into finding some other opportunity elsewhere. It is as simple as that. 

The values of the organization must always connect to the actions and decisions of each and every team member. 

These are trying times, divisive times that we are now living through in the United States — perhaps as divisive as any in American history. It is understandable that some team members will feel strongly about certain issues, including political and social issues. That is not something that accountable leaders can change. What they can and must do, however, is uphold the organization’s real-time commitment to live its stated values daily, by both personal example and by making decisions that align with those values, even when they are difficult. 

So, if you haven’t already done so, identify the organization’s core values, and make sure Respect is one of them. Then, defend those values whenever and wherever necessary. Finally, accept that anyone who can’t agree to those values—by making sure they are evident in every decision and every interaction—does not belong in your organization. 

Sam Silverstein is dedicated to empowering people to live accountable lives, transform the way they do business, and create a more accountable world. He helps companies create an organizational culture that prioritizes and inspires accountability. His latest book, The Accountability Circle: Discovering Your True Purpose, Potential, and Impact with Accountability Partnerships, is now available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, Porchlight Books, and other fine retailers. You can follow Sam on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. This article originally appeared here on The Accountability Blog.