Managing upset customers revolves around one thing – empathy. Instead of offering solutions first, identify with your customer and recognize that they are upset about the inconvenience and hassle in fixing the issue much more so than the issue itself.
Also, remember that the issue itself does not define you or your company, the way you respond to it does. Watch this short video for a real life example taken from a client meeting earlier today…..
Agreed. I think back to each time when I left a potentially heated engagement with a vendor, feeling better about that vendor. What made me feel better about them was the fact that they listened, and showed empathy. ‘Nothing worse than when the sales or service person launches into an explanation of why it is the way it is. As customers, we don’t care; we just know that it sucks, and we want someone to acknowledge that. Only after acknowledging that there is a reason to feel pain, should they talk about solutions.