Helpful Strategies When Dealing With Difficult Customers

No matter what field you work in, if you have customers you are going to encounter difficult people. This is part and parcel of working in the field of customer service, and there are a lot of things to consider with this. Due to the global pandemic we are dealing with right now, many more people are telecommuting, and this typically means dealing with customers over the phone as often as possible. 

You have to make sure you do as much as you can to work on this, and there are loads of things that help you here. Try to think about the best possible strategies that are going to help you improve the way you deal with these sorts of customers.

Difficult customers on the phone can sometimes be more complicated to deal with than face-to-face customers, and this is certainly worth remembering. Here are some of the best strategies you can use when it comes to dealing with difficult customers over the phone today.

Listen

One of the things that plays a massive part in dealing with customers here is to make sure you listen to the customer you are dealing with. This is one of the most essential parts of the process, and is the key to dealing with customers effectively. You have to make sure you focus on doing as much as possible to listen to your customers and what they are trying to tell you.

It is important to be sympathetic and to try to show you care, as well as gaining insight into what their issues might be. Try to work on this as much as you can, and there are a lot of ideas that you need to keep in mind here. 

Stay Professional

When you are dealing with difficult customers it is really important to ensure you stay professional at all times. There are so many things that play a part in the way you do business, and this is something you have to consider.

Focus on doing as much as possible to work on staying professional during the call. This means remaining cool, calm, and collected, and being able to keep your composure and deal with things in a more measured and balanced fashion. Remember that you are an employee and an ambassador for the business, and this is something that you are going to need to work on this as much as possible. 

Don’t Be Reactionary

It is so easy to get carried away when you are dealing with a difficult customer and to end up being reactionary. There are a lot of things that you need to keep in mind here, and it is important that you are focused on trying to remain measured and professional.

You might even get occasions in which customers are abusive or say things to you in anger, and you need to make sure you avoid being reactionary. Take deep breaths, remain calm, and if someone is becoming personally abusive just end the call rather than reacting to what they are saying. 

Remain Calm

You also have to remember to try to stay as calm as possible as this is one of the key parts of your job. There are a lot of things that play a massive part in the process of trying to remain calm, and this is a little bit easier on the phone because you can be more detached from what is happening.

While it is true that no two customers are the same, it is proven that staying calm and collected can have a positive effect on irate customers you are trying to deal with. And this is one of the biggest advantages of this. You are going to need to work on looking at the best ways of achieving this, and a calm, patient, and relaxed manner is one of the best ways to achieve a positive solution. 

It’s Business

You have to understand that business is business. Just because a customer is angry it doesn’t mean that they are angry with you. They might be angry with the company that you represent, and you are having to take the brunt of it, but this is part of the process and something you need to get used to.

Make sure you are focused on detaching the emotional from your job, and understand why your customers might have a grievance with the business. If you can learn to compartmentalize this stuff and try to keep business as business then you will be able to do your job in a much better and more effective manner. 

Know When to Apologize

Sometimes when you are dealing with customers you are going to need to make apologies, and this is something that you need to know about. There are times when you will need to apologize, but it is really important to make sure you understand when and how to apologize.

Dealing with customers over the phone is all about using the right words at the right times, and this is something you need to be aware of. The best time to apologize is directly after you have listened to what the customer has to say, and you need to give them the sense that you care about what they are dealing with and the issues they face. 

Let Them Rant

You are going to need to make sure you work on doing as much as possible to give your customers the chance to rant. They are bound to be upset, and because they are upset they’re going to need to let off steam and complain about it. It is important that you don’t try to cut them off or interrupt them, and make sure you allow them to have the rant they need.

Ranting is a big part of the process that people need to use in order to feel better and feel like they have got concerns or grievances off their chest. Make sure you remain patient and attentive, and let the customer get out everything they want to say before you decide to have your say. 

Offer Multiple Solutions

Now, one of the big things you are going to need to keep in mind when you are dealing with difficult customers on the phone is to consider how you’re going to sort the problems out. There are a lot of ideas you need to be using that are going to play a big part in this, and there are multiple solutions that you should look to offer.

It’s important to understand that you can present multiple options to customers, and many people actually prefer that. They want to be able to choose how they will solve their issue, and being able to present multiple options is really important because it shows that you have taken time and effort to try to solve the problem in the best way you possibly can.

This is something important to keep in mind, and it is a good way of being able to keep customers on your side.  

Avoid Putting People on Hold

Try to avoid putting people on hold as much as possible, and this is something you are going to need to get right as much as possible. There are a lot of factors you are going to need to keep in mind when dealing with difficult customers, and you have to try to avoid the ‘Hold’ button as much as possible.

Generally this is the best way of riling up customers more and getting them even more worked up. So you are going to need to try to solve the issue in the best way you possibly can, and this will help you to avoid placing people on hold. If you need to speak with a colleague to sort something out, you should try to do it while they are on the line if possible. 

Don’t Make Promises You Can’t Keep

Anyone who works in a call center will tell you that one of the worst things you can do is to make outlandish promises. And this can be very dangerous for you because you might be expected to honor any promises you make. This is why you are going to need to make sure you think hard about the best solutions you can offer people without having to make promises.

Be very careful about the things you choose to say and the promises you choose to make to customers. This is a really important part of dealing with upset and angry customers over the phone. 

You have so many things you need to get right when you are dealing with difficult customers on the phone. This is something that plays a massive part in the process of good customer service so you need to make sure you get this sorted. There are loads of things you need to work on when you are trying to improve your customer service, and this is really important in the future.

Try to take steps to make the most of this right now, and you can come up with some of the best techniques that will help your customer service to improve. 

If you find that the quality of calls are affecting customer & employee interactions, you may want to consider switching to SIP trunking. Regardless of the industry, Sip trunking will provide a ton of opportunities and benefits especially when it comes to dealing wit difficult customers.