Any flourishing business must be prepared to deal with “monster” clients. Are you ready to handle a crisis when your customer is an extremely irritated Sasquatch?
You may think it’s a myth. You’ve heard of other companies that have had to deal with screaming, unreasonable, demanding customers. You don’t think it will ever happen to you… until it does.
No matter how accommodating your company policies are, or how devoted your customer service agents act, you will still very likely have to handle an extreme customer service crisis. One day you find yourself faced with a monster of a client, so how do you handle it?
Listen to your customer completely
Any customer, in fact anybody in general, wants to be listened to and heard. Many times when angry customers are venting, they are venting simply to get their frustration out. If a customer is venting in frustration, they worst thing you can do is interrupt them. By being interrupted, the customer may feel like they are not being taken seriously and that you are simply trying to get rid of them. So the important thing to do if you find yourself communicating with a “monster” client such as an extremely irritated Sasquatch, is to listen to everything they have to say. Absorb their words and concerns. Do your best to decipher their howls and growls because understanding where they are coming from is the first step in dealing with a customer service crisis.
Remain pleasant
No matter what happens, you must remain pleasant in your customer interactions. Even if your customer screeches like a Yeti two inches in front of your face, you must retain your composure. You cannot afford to take on your customer’s attitude. You should not fight fire with fire, especially if your goal is to retain your customer’s business. Do not argue back. Many times customers transform into monsters because they are not happy with one of your business policies, and you may have to deliver bad news. Remain calm and firm in your responses, do not show any weakness by getting angry or upset in return.
Be showing kindness and a positive attitude, you are not letting the customers influence you. Quite the opposite, if your remain pleasant and calm in your interactions, you demonstrate to your client just how ridiculous their behavior seem. You must influence the customer with your cheerfulness. This will prevent the situation from escalating.
Apologize genuinely
Even if you did nothing to cause the customer service crisis at hand, you will have to apologize to the customer. You still should apologize even if the customer themselves caused their own predicament, after all Sasquatches are not known to be the smartest (otherwise they would be called Bigbrain instead of Bigfoot). Apologize to your customer. Apologize on behalf of the company you represent. Make sure your words sound sincere. You can placate an angry, irritated Sasquatch and turn them back into an agreeable, loyal customer with a simple, genuine apology.
Offer a prompt solution
But apologizing is not enough. In order to resolve this crisis, you must offer a solution. If the customer has to wait weeks or months for a resolution, this will only escalate things (and they may start spreading bad reviews about your company).
This is why it is important that you were listening to your customer. Based on what your Sasquatch highlighted in their rant, you can understand what is important to them. If they are angry about a time delay, you must do everything possible to expedite their products or services. If the client is upset over unknown charges to their account, you should refund whenever possible. In the extreme cases that the client is being extremely unreasonable without any remedy, the best solution may be to terminate the business relationship in a professional manner. Obviously you do not want to lose business, but do not be afraid to cut off an unruly customer if they become unprofitable and unreasonably rude.
Understand the importance of security
Customers that are Sasquatches greatly value their privacy (they absolutely hate when people photograph them). That is why you rarely see them out in public. If an already upset Sasquatch feels that they cannot trust your business with their secure information, this may cause a major scandal. You can provide your Sasquatch with peace of mind by securely exchanging information in confidential forms. By providing your Sasquatch with peace of mind, you build trust with the customer.
Be ready for emails
Because Sasquatches are not exactly known to be sociable, their anger may be coming your way via emails. That is why you must be prepared to answer irritated emails sent in ALL CAPS. You must be ready to answer these types of emails promptly, politely and professionally.
Having a good ticket system in place will help you track emails and make sure there are no emails that go unanswered. It is especially important to stay organized when dealing with upset customers. If your customer feels ignored they can go from slightly irritated Sasquatch to extremely irritated Sasquatch very quickly. Delegating the angry email to the correct department to sort out the issue promptly is in everyone’s best interest.
With the proper tools in place, you can tackle any type of customer service crisis. You can even handle an extremely irritated Sasquatch!
