A.J. Wilson

Difficult Customers  Insulting Guideline—Go neutral. Serve customers promptly, and non-emotionally. You’ll feel an energizing power. And power, properly used, is a good thing.  Argumentative Guideline—Asking simple, polite questions with options keeps most situations under smooth control.  Complaining Guideline—Understand and respect what the customers are thinking. Your job is to help them overcome obstacles that prevent them from trusting you and your company. Keep in mind, also, that when you work for and represent a company, you are that company to your customer.  Impatient Guideline—Agreeing first on common points goes a long way in handling situations with difficult customers.  Leave-Me-Alone Guideline—Patience works wonders. Never press customers for sales or decisions.  Irritable/Moody Guideline—Do your job well. Be consistent in your positive behavior. You’ll have a natural, calming effect on customers and fellow employees.  Suspicious Guideline—Explain and demonstrate good service as many times as you need to. Some customers just “get it” more slowly than others.  Domineering/Superior Guideline—Let customers have their say. But in the end, make sure that the right thing is done.  Dishonest Guideline—Don’t jump to quick conclusions. If you say no and your assistant manager says to accept the return, you’ll look bad in front of the customer. Remember that compromising and negotiating are part of normal procedure in serving customers.  Slow/Methodical Guideline—Be patient with customers who need it. Mirror their methodical behavior. Help them along by not overwhelming them. They’ll come around when they trust your good intentions.

The Situation  My dad called Verizon Wireless because his unlimited phone data package was discontinued accidentally by a Verizon employee. news.cnet.com

Dialog Verizon: “Hello, how may I help you today?” John: “I just received my phone bill, and it said I was over my data limit. It also charged me an extra ten dollars.” Verizon: “It says here that you only have 4 GB of data on your phone plan.” John: “No, my plan is grandfathered in on the unlimited plan.” Verizon: “Did you change your device on this number?” John: “No. My daughter and I have the same phones and the same plan. Is that number still unlimited?” Verizon: “Yes, it is sir.” John: “The two phones we have are under an identical package, how is this possible? When was it switched?” Verizon: **Gives Date** John: “That’s when we upgraded my wife’s phone, not my phone.” Verizon: “It seems there was an error on our part. I’ll see what I can do.” **Transfers to Verizon Advisor** Verizon: “It’s been a few months since this occurred, there’s nothing I can do.” John: “I didn’t notice right away because I wasn’t over my data limit for the previous two months.” Verizon: “I am sorry sir. What I can do is take the ten dollars off for this month.” John: “Ok, but what about my unlimited data? This is ridiculous! Why am I being penalized for not noticing your error sooner?!” Verizon: “I’m sorry sir, but it’s been longer than our limitation allows.” John: “How can you change something on my account that I didn’t authorize?” Verizon: “I understand Sir, but there is nothing I can do. Is there anything else I can help you with today?” John: “No, this is ridiculous! I will just have to keep climbing the ladder until I can get a fair solution to my problem.” **call ends**

Guidelines  Guideline—Understand and respect what the customers are thinking. Your job is to help them overcome obstacles that prevent them from trusting you and your company. Keep in mind, also, that when you work for and represent a company, you are that company to your customer  The Verizon Customer Service Representative should have followed this guideline and helped the customer solve his issue.  Because the Service Representative didn’t follow this guideline, the customer’s trust in the company has decreased substantially.