How to deal with a conflictive client? A practical guide in 5 steps
Posted: Sat Dec 07, 2024 8:14 am
If you've ever worked in customer service , you know that there are many different types of customers. You've often dealt with difficult or disruptive customers and found it to be no easy task, so you better be prepared to deal with them with patience, objectivity, and professionalism.
Keeping difficult or dissatisfied customers will always have a negative impact on your business. But if you handle the situation well, you may even be able to improve the relationship and create new opportunities.
How your team handles these events can mean the difference between creating customer loyalty or discontent, which will spread dissatisfaction and damage your brand's reputation.
But how do you deal with a difficult customer ? In this post, we'll explain how to deal with difficult customers and give you some specific tips and techniques you can use to list of eritrea consumer email manage communication with this type of consumer.
How to deal with a conflictive client?
1. Listen actively
A good practice is to actively listen to what your customer says. Generally, dealing with a conflictive customer involves creating a listening space for them to express their discomfort.
Active listening involves paying close attention to a person's words, body language, and facial expressions, even if the interaction is face-to-face. One study showed that only 7% of a message is conveyed through words, while 38% is communicated through vocal elements and 55% through nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and posture.
Before you design strategies to deal with customers in general, and problematic customers in particular, you need to understand what they really want from your brand.
Give your customer time to raise their problem, share their story, and explain their frustrations without interruption. Listening carefully will give you a lot of power and control. You can start the dialogue with phrases like, “I am ready to listen to you and help you with any problem” or “Please tell me how I can help you.” This subtly creates a bond of trust between you and your customer.
2. Mind your tone
This is particularly important when it comes to telephone or online customer service . Many conflicts arise online because we cannot interpret the other person's body language. That's why it's essential to be mindful of your tone. The last thing difficult customers want is to be greeted in a bad way or to speak to someone who is upset or discouraged. Deal with their negativity intelligently.
You may be interested in reading: 5 types of customers: how to deal with them according to their profile.
In general, difficult customers want to feel that you care about their feelings. Knowing how to deal with a difficult customer involves staying calm, even if you know they are completely wrong, being patient, and using an empathetic tone to handle the situation. Losing your temper will get you nowhere and could damage your relationship with the customer forever.
3. Provides effective solutions
Disagreeable customers want to know how you are going to handle and solve their problem. Brainstorming and finding workable solutions is an important aspect of customer conflict resolution .
But how do you deal with a conflicted customer who wants answers? Offer solutions tailored to the customer and their specific problem. Difficult customers want quick and assertive solutions, so make sure you thoroughly review the details of a good solution that pleases both parties.
Additionally, you can implement complete support solutions to provide responses quickly and efficiently. A customer support ticketing system , for example, is designed to process requests and incidents according to their priority, assign responsibility, and track and monitor resolution progress.
As a product or service provider, the ball is in your court here. Conflictive customers expect you to do everything you can to please them. When you find a suitable solution for their requests, let them know that you are ready to implement it as soon as possible.
4. Respond professionally
Set dates and deadlines for each activity or interaction you've agreed to with the client and stick to them. Once everything is settled, be sure to take time to thank the client for bringing the issue to your attention. It shows that you value their opinion and their business. Remember, it's better to under-promise and over-deliver than to over-promise and under-deliver.
One of the key steps in dealing with difficult customers is following up . This ensures that the customer ends up happy and satisfied with the outcome. It also protects against an even more disruptive customer who spreads negative messages about your brand.
Keeping difficult or dissatisfied customers will always have a negative impact on your business. But if you handle the situation well, you may even be able to improve the relationship and create new opportunities.
How your team handles these events can mean the difference between creating customer loyalty or discontent, which will spread dissatisfaction and damage your brand's reputation.
But how do you deal with a difficult customer ? In this post, we'll explain how to deal with difficult customers and give you some specific tips and techniques you can use to list of eritrea consumer email manage communication with this type of consumer.
How to deal with a conflictive client?
1. Listen actively
A good practice is to actively listen to what your customer says. Generally, dealing with a conflictive customer involves creating a listening space for them to express their discomfort.
Active listening involves paying close attention to a person's words, body language, and facial expressions, even if the interaction is face-to-face. One study showed that only 7% of a message is conveyed through words, while 38% is communicated through vocal elements and 55% through nonverbal cues, such as facial expressions and posture.
Before you design strategies to deal with customers in general, and problematic customers in particular, you need to understand what they really want from your brand.
Give your customer time to raise their problem, share their story, and explain their frustrations without interruption. Listening carefully will give you a lot of power and control. You can start the dialogue with phrases like, “I am ready to listen to you and help you with any problem” or “Please tell me how I can help you.” This subtly creates a bond of trust between you and your customer.
2. Mind your tone
This is particularly important when it comes to telephone or online customer service . Many conflicts arise online because we cannot interpret the other person's body language. That's why it's essential to be mindful of your tone. The last thing difficult customers want is to be greeted in a bad way or to speak to someone who is upset or discouraged. Deal with their negativity intelligently.
You may be interested in reading: 5 types of customers: how to deal with them according to their profile.
In general, difficult customers want to feel that you care about their feelings. Knowing how to deal with a difficult customer involves staying calm, even if you know they are completely wrong, being patient, and using an empathetic tone to handle the situation. Losing your temper will get you nowhere and could damage your relationship with the customer forever.
3. Provides effective solutions
Disagreeable customers want to know how you are going to handle and solve their problem. Brainstorming and finding workable solutions is an important aspect of customer conflict resolution .
But how do you deal with a conflicted customer who wants answers? Offer solutions tailored to the customer and their specific problem. Difficult customers want quick and assertive solutions, so make sure you thoroughly review the details of a good solution that pleases both parties.
Additionally, you can implement complete support solutions to provide responses quickly and efficiently. A customer support ticketing system , for example, is designed to process requests and incidents according to their priority, assign responsibility, and track and monitor resolution progress.
As a product or service provider, the ball is in your court here. Conflictive customers expect you to do everything you can to please them. When you find a suitable solution for their requests, let them know that you are ready to implement it as soon as possible.
4. Respond professionally
Set dates and deadlines for each activity or interaction you've agreed to with the client and stick to them. Once everything is settled, be sure to take time to thank the client for bringing the issue to your attention. It shows that you value their opinion and their business. Remember, it's better to under-promise and over-deliver than to over-promise and under-deliver.
One of the key steps in dealing with difficult customers is following up . This ensures that the customer ends up happy and satisfied with the outcome. It also protects against an even more disruptive customer who spreads negative messages about your brand.