Customers generally get to be rude or angry for a wide variety of reasons where some are justified and some not. And since you are in a business where you need to serve the customers you would here likely to encounter rude or angry individuals at one time or another. How you respond would here make a difference a customer who feels satisfied with a resolution and the one who vows would never patronize your business again.
Listen and Really Listen: Wait and listen till the user has vented out everything before you speak. Sometimes this would also mean listening to them and describing their frustration all at once. This is a key because venting is exactly what they have been doing and they have been getting their frustration out ensuring that you have been hearing them. Once they are done with this they would be happy to listen to you.
Maintaining a positive and professional tone: No matter what the tone of your customer has been the call centre industry agents need to keep a professional tone. Customers who turn out to be abusive enough may be referred to the supervisors and asked to cooperate respectfully, and in no situation would the agent reciprocate negative feelings or language. Have a positive or sincere tone while giving customers meaningful resolutions is essential.
Understanding their core problem: When the customers turn out to be emotional they would not be able to clearly communicate what their core problem is. They might complain about the feature behaviour when they are using a wrong feature, or complain about their support experience when they are really frustrated about the products and services they have been offering. Once vented do make sure to ask questions so that you know what really has to be addressed.
Repeating their concerns: Once the client gives you the entire reason of what has made him upset, try and repeat his concerns so that you are sure of addressing the right issue. And in case you are in a doubt then feel free to ask a questions making sure you have identified the problem correctly. Use a calm and objective wording. Say for example as I understand it, you are quite rightly upset because we did not deliver them the samples we have promised you last week.
To apologize or not to apologize: There has been a huge debate when it comes to apologizing the clients and customers you have been dealing with. Some teams here feel that you should never ever apologize it encourages the users to blame you and expect that you would be addressing them immediately. Some feel you need to apologize as if it’s your team fault and should never if it has never been under your control. Validation as some suggested should be more effective than apologizing.
To conclude it can really turn out to be difficult for the brands to please each and every one, and embracing a professional and empathetic approach to communication with unhappy customers would here turn out to be the most frustrated customers to the most loyal ones. So what other tips would you like to add to the list above and how have you been dealing with them. Do leave the answers in the comments section below.
About The Author
Abhishek Jain has over 10 years of experience within the BPO Industry and human resource outsourcing solutions. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Services India delivers and manages various offshore/onsite projects in various technologies and domains.