You probably see hostile customers every day. You know, the ones that treat you like a personal dumping ground for everything that has ever gone wrong in their lives? They may be sarcastic, or abusive. They may swear at you, threaten, attempt to intimidate. They are difficult to deal with, and an encounter with one of these people can ruin your day.Understanding Hostile Customers
You probably see
hostile customers every day. You know, the ones that treat you like a
personal dumping ground for everything that has ever gone wrong in their
lives? They may be sarcastic, or abusive. They may swear at you,
threaten, attempt to intimidate. They are difficult to deal with, and an
encounter with one of these people can ruin your day.
Although you may be
provoked, it isn't a good idea to respond in kind. Doing so will usually
inflame the situation, and can in fact put you at risk. Yelling back, or
trading insults can result in only negative consequences for you.
Let's face
it. You don't have time to waste arguing and yelling...you have too much
to do. But you do need to deal with hostile customers. You need to
get the situation under control, deal with it and get on with your work.
There are a number
of techniques you can use to do this, but this month we are going to help you
understand what is going on when hostile customers direct their anger at
you. Understanding angry people helps us become less reactive, and less
prone to losing our own temper.
It Ain't
Personal
The first thing to
remember about angry customers is that while their behaviour is directed at you
(and it can be personally insulting), the real source of the anger is
elsewhere. The angry person is not usually angry at you as a person. He or
she is
usually angry at you as an employee of an organization that is
perceived as cold, unfeeling, and unhelpful. Since it is difficult to yell
or abuse an entire organization, the angry customer will direct anger towards
you.
What Does The
Angry Person Want?
One of the
half-truths about hostile customers is that they want their problem solved. This
isn't the whole story. When a person is initially denied something from an
organization, they get to a point where the problem becomes secondary.
Yes, they want the problem solved, but after a point, they get so angry that
they
are unwilling to work positively to get what they started out
wanting. Even if you could work something out with them, they would still
be angry.
It is important to
realize that very angry people want an opportunity to vent their anger, and they
want to be heard and acknowledged. If you don't acknowledge their anger,
and move too quickly to try to solve the problem, you will likely make them
angrier and more abusive.
What To Do?
There are specific
things you can do to take control of potential hostile situations so that they
don't escalate into major time-consuming conflicts.
First, you need to
observe customers as they approach, and prepare yourself for the possibility
that they may show hostile behaviours.
People who are
irritated or upset will show tell-tale signs even before they open their
mouths. They will send non-verbal clues which may include hunched
shoulders, clenched fists, red face, fidgeting and restlessness, staring or
avoidance of eye contact, rapid movement, etc.
You need to look
for these signs so that any outbursts do not surprise you. Many hostile
situations get out of hand because the employee reacts too quickly to hostile
behaviour, because he or she did not expect it.
If you see a
hostile person approach, prepare yourself mentally by reminding yourself that
you CAN control the situation, and that you need to keep yourself under
control. If you get angry yourself you are likely to contribute to the
deterioration of the situation.
Second, when you
are in contact with a hostile customer, you must strive to present yourself in
as un-bureaucratic a way as possible. Remember we talked about customer
anger being really aimed at the organization? If the customer perceives
you as an object, a piece of the bureaucracy, they will be more likely to
be
more abusive. However, if the customer sees you as a human being who doing
the best you can, it is more likely that he or she will show less aggressive
behaviour.
Specifics:
Let's get more
specific. How do you do this?
1) Speak in a
friendly manner. Do not speak in a monotone or in a way that implies that
you are uninterested.
2) When possible
use the customer's name as soon as possible, and also introduce yourself if that
fits the situation.
3) Greet the person
properly. Don't look up from your paper work and say "Yes?", or
"Next". That makes you look like part of a machine. Try "Good
morning, Mr. Smith".
4) Listen
carefully. Show the customer you are listening by paraphrasing what was
said back to the customer. This shows your interest and concern. A
common error made by people is that they don't allow the customer to finish.
5) Don't use the
"P" word. The P word is "POLICY". Many times an employee will
explain that it is against "our policy to do" what the client wants. This
infuriates many people. Even if the request is against your policy, find
other words to say it. Rather than simply quoting policy, explain the
purpose of the policy (eg. "Sir, we need to make sure that you are dealt
with fairly and others are too.")
6) Never say "I
only work here" or "I'm only following rules". Again this makes you into a
non-person. It may be true that you don't make the rules, but try saying
it this way: "Sir, the regulations are made by [whoever]. Perhaps
you might want to talk to [so and so] and indicate that you feel the regulations
are unfair. Would you like the phone number?"
Conclusion:
Every hostile
situation is different, and not all solutions will work all the time. The
general principles we have talked about here are to be prepared by observing
customers early in the process, and make sure that you come across as a real
person.
There is a lot more
to defusing hostile situations, and we will try to discuss some of the things
you can do to gain control, and reduce the nasty outcomes of these kinds of
conflict situations.
You can preview our workbook for additional help
on defusing hostile customers. All you have to do is click
here! |
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