Effectively Dealing With Difficult Customers Starts With ME
I’m sitting here on a peaceful Sunday evening, kids in bed and the house filled with the cool sounds of Jack Johnson coming through my speakers. That’s just what I need, a little Aloha to propel me through a week where I will undoubtedly encounter a difficult customer or ten.
You can ask any of my coworkers and they will tell you about some of my epic battles with customers over the years. There are quotes that have come from my lips years ago that are still mentioned at work parties, the lunch room and many other places in between. The truth of the matter is, I can be a real hot head and if you’re a customer that backed me into a corner, lied to me or just flat out pissed me off, look out.
Now, enter Communicate Better Blog and I have instant accountability. We have learned about legendary customer service from the likes of Nordstrom, Zappos, The Ritz Carlton and others and nowhere do we hear about their customer service folks yelling at customers. I’m sure it’s happened but those instances will never make a customer service department legendary.
So what am I getting at here? I’m saying that the journey toward dealing with difficult customers doesn’t start with fixing the customer. Customers are and always will be difficult. People are messy, broken and they are coming to us with problems to fix. If you don’t like it, guess what? That’s life. Customer service is everywhere. The journey toward dealing with difficult customers starts with ME!
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Thanks for the moment of zen and desire to play some Jack Johnson now! Dealing with difficult customers (ahh, difficult people in life in general) will always be something we have to deal with. And while I may hang up the phone, shaking and tearing up on some occasions, you’re right–it does start with ME and it ends with ME. How can I take this, make it better and outshine the competition? How can we keep our cool when there is nothing cool about the situation? Besides drinking alcohol after work, I’m not sure (just kidding…) how to not let some customers get to me. Keeping the Customer Service Super Models in the back of my mind helps. I look forward to an awesome week with you of learning how to effectively deal with difficult customers, Jeremy!
You do bring up a good point here Jenny. We don’t give customers the right to ruin our day either. We show empathy and provide awesome customer service but no one is allowed to ruin my day. I don’t give them permission. Easier said than done but I’d like to really be there some day.
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