How to Handle Difficult Customers and Other Tough Situations

Introduction

How do you cope with challenging customers and situations in the workplace? This workshop sets out to demonstrate how engaging customers properly can benefit both the employee and the customer. Effective customer service can change a company’s reputation for the better. Through this workshop, participants will gain a new perspective on how to react to negative customers and leave the customer satisfied and as a returning customer.

Customer service is a necessary position in the job world today. It helps companies give customers what they want and what they need. Although many customers can be difficult, with the right training, skills, and knowledge, any difficult customer can be handled properly and effectively. With a positive attitude, your employee can deal effectively with the most difficult customers and both parties can end the conversation satisfied.

Objectives

Learn to handle your toughest customer situations calmly and professionally outside of those who work in life or death situations, there isn’t a worker in the world who deals with more stress than an average customer service rep. Seriously. Is there any other occupation where literally every contact you make with people can include shouting, threats, accusations of fraud, name-calling, tears, requests for rule-breaking, and more?

Rejuvenate your passion for the job – take a break with us! If you’ve reached the end of your rope trying to come up with new ways to satisfy customers and cope with the tough situations that they put you in, attend How to Handle Difficult Customers & Other Tough Situations, a new kind of customer service training unlike anything else you’ve attended! In a fun, relaxing, enjoyable, and completely STRESS-FREE learning environment, you’ll learn the secrets to satisfying every customer you have without resorting to cheap tricks, anger, or just plain giving in! Learn “what to say when” phrases you can use for handling explosive customer situations you’ll learn real-world strategies developed by the best (and most successful) customer service gurus in the industry. You’ll learn how to understand your customers’ motives for what they do and what they ask YOU to do. You’ll put an end to the frustration (and fear!) of dealing with difficult customers. Finally, you’ll get step-by-step guidelines for handling challenging customer service situations – like when customers demand you break a company rule to satisfy their needs! You play a vital role in your organization’s success. Don’t try to “wing it” alone! Top executives across the country know in their bones that it’s you – the customer service pro – who truly makes a difference in your organization’s bottom line. Great customer service creates a buzz with your customers that even billion-dollar advertising can’t match. But it’s hard to learn these strategies on your own when you’re up to your eyeballs at work every day. So come on, take a day out of the office leave the phones and computers behind for a while … meet new people, peers, and possible mentors … and refresh and re-energize you. You deserve it, and your company will benefit from it.

• Cultivate a positive mental attitude
• Manage internal and external stress
• Develop abilities to listen actively and empathize
• Build a rapport with customers in person and over the phone
• Understand the diverse challenges posed by customers
• Develop strategies to adapt to challenging circumstances

Training Methodology

This is an interactive course. There will be open question and answer sessions, regular group exercises and activities, videos, case studies, and presentations on best practice. Participants will have the opportunity to share with the facilitator and other participants on what works well and not so well for them, as well as work on issues from their own organizations. The online course is conducted online using MS-Teams/ClickMeeting.

Who Should Attend?

Anybody who has a customer-facing role, either face to face or via the phone, and who has experienced difficult or awkward customers. The workshop would suit people with a sales role, customer service or customer support managers, executives, front-line service staff as well as staff in back-up and support roles.

Course Outline

WHY ARE SOME CUSTOMERS DIFFICULT?

• Example of challenging customers and situations discussion

HANDLING CONFLICT

• What do difficult customers want?

• How to improve the customer!

• Difficult customers can be an opportunity

• How to stay calm

LIMITED THINKING

• How limited thinking can increase difficult conversations

• The importance of your personal PMA (positive mental attitude)

• Changing personal habits

• Re-framing

IDENTIFY AND MANAGE YOUR OWN INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL STRESSORS

• Exercises

QUESTIONS

• How to discover customers’ real concerns and issues

• The different types of questions

• How and when to use questions

• Using questions to avoid conflict

LISTENING ACTIVELY

• Listening and not hearing!

• How effective listening can reduce difficult calls

BUILDING RAPPORT AND EMPATHY

• Understand the role of Transactional Analysis – how it helps and hinders

• Understand your customers’ communication style (Controller, Analyst, Facilitator, Enthusiast)

• The different ways to build rapport over the phone and face to face

• How rapport can build trust

• The use of voice and language in rapport

• How rapport helps to deal with awkward customers & situations

• How to demonstrate empathy without necessarily agreeing!

SENSITIVITY AND YOUR STRATEGIES TO DEAL WITH DIFFERENT CUSTOMER TYPES

• Mr Angry

• Mr Rude

• Mrs Grumpy

• Ms Chatty

• Mr Impossible