When did it become fashionable to be so rude? In the past several weeks, I’ve had several people ask me about those rude customers that I referred to in my blog titled “Why are you (as a customer) so rude? Disgruntled employees want to know.” One question asker works in retail and the other works in a hotel. Both mentioned that in the past 15 years or so, customers are becoming more and more rude. In fact, one worker mentioned that 80% of her customers are rude. And after 40 hours of working with this type of people, it tends to wear you down.
So, what’s a customer service rep to do? You have two options:
1. If you like your job and are truly passionate about serving and helping customers, then YOU will need to be the one who changes her attitude. Remember, a positive attitude is contagious.
2. If you don’t like your job and upper management does not support you, then it may be time to look for another job.
I have found that if a customer service rep has an attitude of service — truly wanting to help — customers will see this and, many times, will change THEIR attitude.
Real world story: Years ago, I worked in the technical support department of a medical diagnostics company. Approximately 99% of the people who called were mad because something wasn’t working correctly. Usually, after listening and empathizing, I was able to turn them around. However, I remember a particular call in which the customer just kept yelling at me. Inexperienced and not knowing what to do, I yelled back. This didn’t go over too well with the customer. He demanded to speak to my manager, so I said, “Fine!” I went running to my manager’s office to let him know what had happened. After my manager dealt with the “incident,” he gave me a lecture about how to handle irate customers. He taught me the LEAR model – Listen, Empathize, Acknowledge, and Respond – which is what I use to this day. It’s amazing how well LEAR works with irate people. The model reinforces the well-known phrase “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
So what can you do if you’re getting tired of people yelling at you? Following are several options. The key is to do what works for YOU!
- Take a break
- Drink some water
- Eat chocolate
- Talk to a friend
- Tell a joke
- Read something inspirational
- Look at a picture of your children
- Don’t look at a picture of your children
- Listen to your favorite song
- Sing
- DANCE
- Go for a walk
- Be grateful
- Organize your office
- Pet your dog or cat
- SMILE
- Think about your angry customer’s perspective
- Look at the big picture
- LAUGH
- Compliment someone
Strategies that Turn it Around:
- Learn, practice, and use the LEAR model – Listen, Empathize, Acknowledge, and Respond.
- Never combat rude behavior with rude behavior – no matter how tired you are.
- Have an “attitude of service” at all times.
- Relieve your stress by doing something that you enjoy.
What do YOU do to deal with difficult customers? Let us know in the comments below.