Respond as if all your customers were watching you. Remember that you are interacting with a human. When a customer feels that their questions or concerns are not being properly addressed, they often resort to expressions such as “everything is wrong” or “nothing works”. Asking open-ended questions will provide clarity on the topic at hand so that you can get to the root of the problem together.
By actively listening and asking questions to identify the specific characteristics of the problem, you can focus on finding a solution (and calming them down during the process). There are many ways to determine if a customer isn't going to be a good fit. One of the best ways is to understand the ideal customer profile (ICP) for your company. This can help you avoid customers who aren't a good fit and redouble your commitment to attract those who generate the most benefit for your business.
While some of these reasons are justified and others are not so justified, a prospective employer wants to know that they can resolve a tense situation with a customer in a way that is satisfactory to everyone. It's easy for customers to get impatient, especially if your company has set a high standard and your customers have gotten used to a certain speed or quality of response. We spoke to some customer service professionals and asked them what had the biggest impact on them and their team. The good news about dealing with difficult customers is that you can more than compensate for the problem that started it if you address and fix their problem.
When you're being interviewed for a customer service position, the interviewer will normally ask you about your ability to deal with an angry, difficult, or rude customer. Ultimately, customers want to know that you're striving to meet their needs in the long term and that you're willing to follow up until that happens. Remember that while identifying with the customer makes it easier for you to be effective in your work, being emotionally involved is just a quick path to exhaustion. Sharing a detailed example of how you've used previous strategies when managing conflicts with real customers is an effective way to reinforce how you would handle hypothetical situations in the future.
Here's a list of some of the difficult customers you might encounter during your support career and the types of messages they respond to best. To do your job well, you must balance this innate concern with strategies and skills that help you calm down rude customers in the moment. Tyler Haire, a marketing strategist who worked in the area of bilingual customer service and success for eight years, says that the use of this framework revolutionized their daily interactions. For the sake of clarity and efficiency, I would first ask the customer to explain the problem to make sure that I am the right person to help.
