Lesson 5 – Customer care – dealing with complaints and difficult customers Professionalism for group trainers

Learning objectives By the end of the lesson you will be able to: Describe how to communicate with dissatisfied customers Describe the skills required to deal with potentially volatile or unpleasant situations Identify responses and actions that may make problems worse Describe how to adapt their communication style, attitude and response to meet individual customer needs Describe how to inform customers when promises cannot kept as a result of unforeseen circumstances Explain how, when and to whom problems can be referred to

Customer complaints Paired activity Discuss and write down personal experiences of either: A complaint made by you, and how it was dealt with (positively or negatively). A complaint made to you while in work, and how it was dealt with (positively or negatively). There should be a particular focus on: Speed of response. Efficiency of response. Attitude of the employee/s involved. Did the employee/you accept responsibility or apportion blame elsewhere? Communication throughout the process.

Dealing with complaints The employee should: Listen without interrupting. Thank the client for his/her feedback and for bringing the issue to his/her attention. Take ownership of the complaint. Be polite. Remain calm and never enter into an argument. Follow organisational procedures ‒ record the complaint (fill in a complaint form), acknowledge receipt of it, and reassure the customer that it will be resolved in a timely fashion. Offer a point of contact ‒ advise the client of possible solutions or alternatives, allow them to decide on an appropriate solution and ensure that they are appeased before they leave. Inform the relevant staff about the problem. Communicate with the client and update him/her on progress.

Dealing with angry customers Aggressive language Assertive language ‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that!’ ‘I’d prefer it if you didn’t speak to me in that way.’ ‘With that attitude, how do you expect to resolve this?’ ‘I can understand your frustration; let’s see what we can do about this.’ ‘Shut up or I won’t continue this conversation!’ ‘I won’t be able to continue this conversation if you keep using bad language.’ Aggressive body language Assertive body language Scowling. Open facial expression. Closed posture with arms folded. Open posture. Invading personal space. Standing at a respectful distance.

Using customer complaints as an opportunity Complaints should neither be taken personally, nor be dealt with in a defensive, ‘blame-culture’ manner. Instead, they should be used as an opportunity to show just how much you (and your organisation) care about customers in dealing with their issues positively. They are also a great learning opportunity to ensure the same problems do not reoccur in the future.

Is the customer always right? Watch this video clip and decide for yourself.........!!

Learning review Can you now: Describe how to communicate with dissatisfied customers? Describe the skills required to deal with potentially volatile or unpleasant situations? Identify responses and actions that may make problems worse? Describe how to adapt their communication style, attitude and response to meet individual customer needs? Describe how to inform customers when promises cannot kept as a result of unforeseen circumstances? Explain how, when and to whom problems can be referred to?