Essay
Why are some people difficult? Why do some customers give sales and service people such a hard time? And why should you even care?
Difficult Customer Situations
If you can get even a remote idea of what is making a customer act in a negative way, you can begin to address the situation. You’ll have a greater opportunity to achieve your goal of solving the problem. Solving the problem is good for your employer, of course. Saving a customer keeps business coming back. Solving the problem is good for the customer, too. S/He will be happier. But how does solving the problem help you? When you learn what causes ordinarily nice people to become difficult customers, you’ll discover simple methods for handling these challenging situations. It will be less energy-draining for you, resulting in a healthy feeling of self-control. The communication skills you gain carry over to all the other areas of your life. You’ll be betterequipped to handle all kinds of situations, making you an even more valuable—and promotable—employee! Stew’s Rules 1) The customer is always right! ) If the customer is ever wrong, reread rule #1! Do Stew’s rules make any sense to you? What do they mean? Here’s another way of interpreting them—“Even if the customers are wrong, they are still the reason we exist!” There is always a reason for the way customers behave. You just may not always know what it is. It may be that they are having a horrible day, and their mind is preoccupied by problems that have nothing to do with you or your business. You won’t always be able to figure it out completely. An old saying goes, “If we knew what was going on in the minds and hearts of others, we would never again criticize.” It is possible, however, to categorize many different types of difficult customers. If you know which type you’re dealing with, you get a better idea of how to adjust your interactions with them. First of all, there’s no such thing as a “typical” difficult customer. Difficult customers come in
Difficult Customer Situations
If you can get even a remote idea of what is making a customer act in a negative way, you can begin to address the situation. You’ll have a greater opportunity to achieve your goal of solving the problem. Solving the problem is good for your employer, of course. Saving a customer keeps business coming back. Solving the problem is good for the customer, too. S/He will be happier. But how does solving the problem help you? When you learn what causes ordinarily nice people to become difficult customers, you’ll discover simple methods for handling these challenging situations. It will be less energy-draining for you, resulting in a healthy feeling of self-control. The communication skills you gain carry over to all the other areas of your life. You’ll be betterequipped to handle all kinds of situations, making you an even more valuable—and promotable—employee! Stew’s Rules 1) The customer is always right! ) If the customer is ever wrong, reread rule #1! Do Stew’s rules make any sense to you? What do they mean? Here’s another way of interpreting them—“Even if the customers are wrong, they are still the reason we exist!” There is always a reason for the way customers behave. You just may not always know what it is. It may be that they are having a horrible day, and their mind is preoccupied by problems that have nothing to do with you or your business. You won’t always be able to figure it out completely. An old saying goes, “If we knew what was going on in the minds and hearts of others, we would never again criticize.” It is possible, however, to categorize many different types of difficult customers. If you know which type you’re dealing with, you get a better idea of how to adjust your interactions with them. First of all, there’s no such thing as a “typical” difficult customer. Difficult customers come in