In this article, I will give you top tips for handling difficult customers. I will also give you the perfect scripted answer to the difficult interview question how would you deal with an irate customer? So if you are going to be working in a customer facing role or if you have a customer service job interview coming up, make sure you stay tuned because I am here to help you.
Let’s jump straight into the tutorial. To help you, I will teach you the following three things.
- Number one, I will teach you the fundamentals of good customer service and explain why it is so important in any role or organization.
- Number two, I will tell you exactly how to deal with a difficult or irate customer. In fact, I will give you the exact step by step blueprint to follow whenever you encounter a challenging customer.
- Number three, I will give you the perfect scripted answer to the interview question how would you deal with an irate customer?
Let me now teach you the fundamentals of good customer service and explain why it is so important in any organization or job role. The definition of customer service is customer service is supporting your customers both before, during and after a purchase that makes the experience an enjoyable one and one they want to return to time and time again in the future.
Now there are five basic fundamentals of good customer service. Let’s take a look at them.
Fundamental number one
The first fundamental of good customer service is respect. Always be respectful of customers. Be kind and be courteous. Now, even if you think a customer is wrong, always be respectful, courteous and professional. It’s really important.
Fundamental number two
- The second fundamental of good customer service is expectations. Now, it’s really important that you understand what the customer’s expectations are before they come into contact with you or the organization you work for.
- Now, customers expect to be welcomed. They expect you to be courteous. They expect you to be knowledgeable about the products and services you offer, and they expect to receive value for money.
- Now, if you take the time to understand your customers expectations, it quickly enables you to deliver outstanding service time and time again.
Fundamental number three
- The third fundamental of good customer service is communication.
- Whenever you communicate with a customer, whether it’s face to face on the telephone or via email, always respond quickly. Always be polite and professional. Ask the right questions.
- Check your communication for errors, especially email communication, and above all, listen to the customer so you understand their needs.
- Now, more often than not, customer complaints are a result of poor communication. How many times have you contacted a company only for them to either ignore you or take days to respond?
Fundamental number four
- The fourth fundamental of good customer service is serving always serve customers quickly, efficiently make their experience safe and secure, especially when serving customers online and always show that you care.
- Now we have all encountered customer service agents who come across as if they do not care. But how does that make you feel as a customer? Not very good. And more often than not, you won’t use their business again. Worse still, you will even leave a bad review online, or you will tell your friends about your negative experience, too.
Fundamental number five
- The fifth fundamental of good customer service is feedback.
- Now, the most successful businesses always ask their customers for feedback, whether it’s by way of online reviews or asking them to complete an online survey.
- Now, feedback is the breakfast of champions. It enables you to understand your customers better, and it gives you the information you need to continually stay one step ahead of your competitors in this next stage of the training tutorial.
I will give you a step by step blueprint for dealing with an irate customer. Now there are five important steps you need to learn and follow whenever you deal with a difficult or irate customer. Let’s take a look at them.
Step number one
Step number one Always keep your communication professional. And remember to remain calm and composed. This is really important. Never take anything a customer says personally, because if you don’t follow this advice, the situation can quickly deteriorate.
Step number two
- Step number two for dealing with an irate customer is to choose the right style of communication.
- A great way to quickly diffuse a situation where a customer is angry or annoyed is to speak softly. This brings the tone of the communication down, and it subtly tells the customer that you care about their situation.
- Also, by showing understanding of the customer’s situation and acknowledging their issue, it really helps to resolve it quickly. For example, just by saying I would feel exactly the same as you if this had happened to me is a great way to quickly get the communication under control because you are acknowledging how the customer is feeling.
Step number three
Step number three for dealing with an irate customer is to give the customer time to talk. Now, a brilliant way to quickly diffuse a customer’s frustrations is to give them time to speak. If you allow the customer enough time to talk and to tell you what has happened, it gets it off their chest and it also gives you vital information you are going to need to resolve their complaint.
Step number four
- Step number four is to practice active listening. Now, there is nothing worse as a customer when the customer service representative or agent you are dealing with is not listening to you or paying attention.
- They are either doing other tasks whilst you are explaining your issue or they fail to acknowledge the exact problem.
- If you are ever communicating with a customer, show them you are listening. You simple facial expressions or voice acknowledgments to show they have your full attention.
- And don’t forget to take note of the exact problem, because this will enable you to resolve the customer’s issue much faster.
Step number five
- Step five is to assess the customer’s needs and resolve the issue quickly. Now, once you have determined the exact cause of the customer’s problem, tell them what you will do to resolve the issue.
- Now, quick and decisive action will show the customer you really care about their problem and that you are going to take it seriously and also take responsibility for getting it resolved.
- Don’t forget to follow up with the customer. Once you have resolved the issue to make sure they are still satisfied.
Let me now give you a brilliant example answer to the difficult interview question how would you deal with an irate customer? Here we go.
- I would use a tried and tested approach whilst dealing with an irate customer, and I would remember that I am representing your company. I would remain calm and composed. Be professional at all times and remember to follow the training I would have received when I joined your company.
- I would choose the right style of communication for the situation, and I would use a soft tone of voice if the customer was irate to prevent it from escalating. I would acknowledge how the customer was feeling and I would make sure I gave the customer time to talk and vent their frustrations.
- I would use active listening skills to show the customer that I genuinely cared, and I would ask the right probing questions to get to the bottom of their problem.
- Now, once I had assessed the customer’s needs, I would take quick and decisive action to rectify the issue. I would then confirm that the customer was happy with my resolution and I would see what lessons could be learned from the situation to prevent it from happening again.
Now the next thing to do is head through to my website and you can find full set of interview questions and top scoring answers, including the ones I’ve worked through together today so make sure you go through to the website because I’ve also placed more questions on there that I recommend you prepare for. There’s also some really important additional tips that will help you to polish your interview. Make sure you check those out.
I hope you’ve enjoyed the tutorial of handling difficult customers. As I said at the start, it’s really important because I can then help you not just pass every job interview, but I can help you to negotiate a salary, get a pay rise and also get a promotion and make sure you share your feedback on the comments section. That’s all I ask that motivates me to create more articles for you. It’s really good to connect with like minded professionals such as yourself. Thank you so much for reading, and I wish you all the best for passing your interview. Have a brilliant day!