I admit I have never had to deal with angry customers, but it’s not hard to imagine that some people can be really unpleasant. I have been on the other side of this situation when a customer service representative was really rude and condescending with me. But we can’t go around being rude back, so what are we supposed to do?
The first step is to identify the type of anger your customer is experiencing. Of course, we should avoid personal insults and condescending responses, but that’s not always helpful. Our aim is to avoid anger altogether and respectfully help the customer through the problem they are having.
React with understanding
Customer service representatives have to deal with angry customers almost daily. But we can’t just agree and go along with their anger - we have to try and understand it first.
If a customer keeps stressing about a problem that you’re unable to solve, you should thank them for sharing their concerns and apologize for any inconvenience: “I am sorry for any problems caused by us” , “It must be frustrating not being able to get it sorted out yourself” .
Before you try and solve their problem, you should listen to their concerns and try to sympathize with them: “I understand how frustrating it must be for you” .
Anger is often caused by a feeling of being misunderstood. It helps a lot if you acknowledge that the customer’s concerns make sense. You should always answer in calm manner, and refrain from getting emotional or aggressive yourself: “The issue seems clear to me. I apologize for any issues this might have caused” , “I can see how that would be frustrating for you.” .
The customer may feel even more enraged if you can’t solve their problem, especially if the issue is important or their life depends on it. In these cases, you should explain that there is still a chance to fix it: “There’s always been a chance to fix this I’m afraid. We will contact you in a few days and let you know if we can fix it. Sorry for any inconvenience” .
Depending on their type of anger, you can also explain why you cannot help them. I’m a big fan of “there is no such thing as a free lunch,” so if the customer asks for something for free and you don’t have it, you should be honest: “Unfortunately we don’t offer free services - and something similar to that seems to be the reason for your problem. I apologize if that causes any inconvenience” , “From our experience this doesn't usually resolve anything. We will try to contact you in a few days and see if we can come up with something new together. Sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.” .
Be patient
Anger can be a sign of frustration, helplessness and uncertainty. It is important to help customers find the best way out of their problems, just as they would if they were not angry. If you empathize with them, you will be able to gain their trust and get them to understand that you are on their side. The best thing you can do is reassure them that things will somehow work out: "Let me see what I can do" , "You know I'll do everything in my power to help" .
On the other hand, if they call you names and try to direct the conversation towards an aggressive tone, you can ask them to be polite: "Let's keep calm and discuss this. I don't think this will help us" , "I'm so sorry, but I can't help you until you are a bit calmer" .
Although we all think that our anger is justified, it doesn’t mean that other people have to agree with us. We should be respectful towards customers even if they are not nice to us. Remember that the customer is the one who will have to deal with the consequences of their actions, not you or your coworkers.
Never ignore your customers
It’s tempting to ignore angry customers, but we should always try to resolve their problems as quickly as possible. We shouldn’t keep treating angry customers as second-class customers. At the same time, we don’t want them to be in an even worse mood.
If you are in a bad mood yourself, it can literally be a life-threatening situation for for yourself and your coworkers if you start yelling at them or getting defensive. So what can we do?
Try to calm the angry customer down: "Let's talk about this calmly, please" , "It's very important to treat each other with respect" .
If you are not dealing with a serious problem that needs some time to be resolved, ask if it’s OK for you to come back to them later: “Give me a moment to look at it. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you.” , “I’m still trying to sort something out here, but I should know more by Thursday. Please wait until then and we will take care of it together.” .
If possible, try to find a way for the customer to deal with their issue themselves. Give them a solution and explain what the next steps will be: “It seems it’s not working properly. We are going to send you a new one and you can install it yourself instead of waiting for us to set it up for you” , “We have tried calling several times now and still haven’t been able to contact them. We will send them an email but if we don’t get an answer within 3 days we would like to cancel your order.” .
Conclusion
Not all angry customers are aggressive and unpleasant. However, it’s quite easy to cross the line between assertive and aggressive salespeople, especially when you are new to the job.
In this post, I shared my thoughts on anger in sales and customer interaction. Next week, I will probably be writing about some different t
The articles above are just a few examples of the articles in our blog. The entire blog is dedicated to being helpful for sales professionals, and you can find more information by going to: http://www.kinkyinsurance.com/blog.
We hope that you have given yourself a lot of great information from this post today and we wish you all the best! We would love it if you came back for future posts, too! You can leave your feedback, thoughts or comments about this article by leaving a comment below or emailing us at: webmaster@kinkyinsurance.com .
Thank you so much!
The Kinky Team
http://www.kinkyinsurance.com/blog/
The Kinky Business Blog is dedicated to the success of your business and we will do everything in our power to help you achieve it. http://www.kinkyinsurance.com/blog/business-blog.html . If you are thinking about expanding your business, or trying to find new ways to market your products, then please check out our Facebook Group for Small Business Owners and Entrepreneurs - http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/kinkybusinessforum .
If you have any questions at all, please contact us at: webmaster@kinkyinsurance.com .
« Back «
© Copyright Kinky Insurance 2016 on this site, you must read the disclosure and terms of use. All rights reserved.
52 Shares 552 Places 772 Adclicks 552 Votes 0 Related Content Why You Need to be an Excellent Listener Don’t Miss Out! Sign Up to Get Exclusive Deals & Discounts from Our Blog: http://kinkyinsurance.com/blog/Subscribe Subscribe to our Newsletter for Updates on Our Latest Blog Posts: Emaily - https://tinyletter.com/KinkyInsurance ">E-mail Me! Sign Up Subscribe to Our Newsletter for the Latest News on Kinky Ins
(Please read the disclaimer) Signs that a Salesperson is Getting Angry
Many salespeople have worked so hard to get where they have and it still doesn't go smoothly. The end result of all their hard work is that they finally get what they are asking for from their customers. The problem is, very often, customers will reject them and not be happy with the results. It's not always that their customers have no money or have no interest in buying the products they need. Sometimes, customers will just reject them and they will never know why.
There are a types of salespeople who are very good at their work and understand how to deal with rejection. It's unfortunate but sometimes it will happen to anybody. However, you want to know what you can do when it does happen to you, so that you don't lose your cool with your customer or anyone else for that matter. Losing your cool is not only bad for business but also unprofessional and uncalled for in any situation where people are trying to make a living out of selling services or products. There are a few signs that you can look out for to avoid getting angry at people who are not the easiest to deal with.
1. When someone has no money to buy what you're offering and tells you that they have no money, it is definitely frustrating but there is nothing you can do about it. A lot of salespeople feel like they have done a good job in trying to get people to buy their product and then suddenly, the customer will tell them that they no longer want what they are selling or that they don't have any money. It's very hard to accept rejection so sometimes, salespeople will make up reasons why their customers reject them and turned away from them. They will get angry at the customers because they feel that the customer has let them down.
It's important for salespeople to understand that sometimes people are just not interested in what you are selling and there is nothing you can do about it. You have to learn to accept it and move on from their rejection. Sometimes, a customer may want what you're selling but they won't have money to pay for it, so then they would change their mind. It may be because they spend all of their money on other things or perhaps they never had money in the first place. Either way, being angry at them will not help you get ahead in your business or career.
2. Nobody wants to be rejected by someone they are interested in. When it comes to dating, most people will not tell the person that they love them if they don't return the feelings. It's very hard to tell someone that you're interested in them and you like everything about them if they aren't going to feel the same way about you so this is natural. However, there are some salespeople who will do this because they don't have any skills when it comes to dealing with rejection.
The problem is that people can really have feelings for each other and then get rejected by the other person because of something their past has done or something they said or did without realizing it was offensive to the other person. If you have feelings for someone and then they reject you, it is going to be very hard to deal with this rejection. When this happens, a lot of people will become angry and then they can lose the ability to work with that person further in their sales career.
Sometimes, customers will tell a salesperson that they are not interested in what they are offering because it doesn't fit well in their budget or lifestyle. They may have tried everything just before calling the salesperson and nothing happened. It's very frustrating but there is nothing you can do except take the rejection and move on with your business or career.
3. Some of the most frustrating and annoying rejections are when customers tell you that something is no longer available for the prices that you've set. Just because a customer pays more from you doesn't mean they will be happy with what they get. There are many salespeople who have tried to sell their services and products at a higher price than their competitors and get rejected by the customer.
If you want to make more money then you can always try to raise your prices but if this is not going to work, then it's better just to lower your prices instead of trying over and over again until you break even when it comes to making money.
Conclusion
When it comes to sales, there is always going to be some type of rejection when you are selling something or trying to get something from someone. It's good that you have the skills and knowledge to deal with rejection because it happens a lot when you are in this business. However, if getting rejected by customers becomes too much for you then you may want to consider changing business and try something else that suits your skills better.
For now, just try your best not to get angry at the people who reject your offers because they may not think they are doing anything wrong by rejecting what you're offering. Some people will accept what you're offering but then change their mind after a while and that's not their fault but yours.opics: intercultural communication skills and a few tips on how to improve your communication with customers by being a better listener.