January 22nd, 2006

Hello!

Superb customer service is key to make loyal advocates out of your customers.

In this issue:

1. Friction and the Abrasive Customer
2. CustomerServicePoint.com Info

Friction and the Abrasive Customer

I proposed to look at all the customer connection points in your business, to find possibilities to reduce friction there. A few readers came with the following question (and it's a good one!): what if the customer is abrasive? A difficult customer produces friction in even the smoothest of organizations... How do we handle them?

First of all, remember that anger and aggression are usually created out of frustration. Don't take it personal! Even though the angry customer uses the "you" word often, it's not about you. At the moment you feel attacked, it's more difficult to get to the answer why this customer is so frustrated.

If your customer is frustrated, the reason can be totally out of your control. He may just have had an argument with his girlfriend. Or she just had a bad hair day. But chances are that the frustration lies with something your company has done... or failed to do. If you listen carefully to the complaint, you can get a valuable insight in where your business processes has created friction for the customer.

That's why complaints are an opportunity to learn. And LEARN is the acronym that is the key to handling customer complaints. Here you can read about how to handle customer complaints with LEARN.

If you have ever talked to an angry customer (and haven't we all?) you also know that there are certain things you'd better not say. In the Article Vault there is an article on this by Alan Fairweather called "Dealing with people - Words to Avoid"

But no matter how nice you are or how well you listen, no matter how many solutions you provide, there will always be customers with the proverbial chip on their shoulder. But what can you do? The customer is always right, right?

Well, Yes and No.

I wrote an article about that a while back. In "The Customer is Always Right, Right?" you'll find a link to a story with one of the worst abuses by a customer I've ever read about. And my take on it.

Being in the complaint business isn't always easy. Sometimes it's just plain hard. Especially if you are on the receiving end of a customers anger. In those cases keep in mind that it's (usually) not personal. Find out the source of the frustation by listening well, and handle the complaint by applying L.E.A.R.N. Finally, discuss in your business what abusive behavior you do not have to accept from a customer.

In the end, doing business is engaging in a relationship with your customer. Every relationship has its ups and downs, which most of the time can be resolved by good communication followed by adjusted behavior. And sometimes ends in a divorce.

CustomerServicePoint.com Info

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If you have any suggestions for subjects you would like to see in future issues, or have comments in general on Customer Servings or Customer Service Point, please contact me.

I welcome your remarks!

(C) 2006, Marjan Steneker