Dealing with Difficult Customers In Seven Basic Steps
By: Dr. John T. Self
Dealing with difficult customers is a fact of restaurant life.
These "negative" customers can lead to employee burnout,
low staff morale, or be responsible for someone leaving the
industry entirely. We've all heard that one disgruntled
customer can lead to the loss of at least six others by word
of mouth alone.
The good news is that this seemingly "lose-lose"
situation can be turned around. If it's handled correctly,
difficult customers can be turned into some the most loyal, long
term customers you'll ever see. Here's seven basic steps that will
help you turn these "service disconnects" into
opportunities.
Step One: Assume the customer is telling the truth.
If you train your employees to always assume the customer is
truthful, you have just taken away a major source of stress
related to service careers. The employee is not having a
confrontation, nor are they conducting an interrogation; They are
not looking for the negative, but listening to what is being told
to them without having to be a judge that must rule in favour of
the company because of a misplaced loyalty.
Step Two: Let the customer talk.
Let them air out the whole situation. This accomplishes two
things. It allows the customer to tell their story with all the
details and emotion that they feel is necessary. This step is
vital to let the customer drain some of their emotion and anger.
Don't say anything, except to give body language that you are
listening intently.
A good idea BEFORE you start the listening /
information-gathering step is to delegate all interruptions to
someone else so that your entire attention is devoted to the
customer. You want an automatic jump in the level of anger and
frustration for the customer? Then interrupt their story with
"Excuse me", "Just a minute", or "What
were you saying?" Always listen without interruption or
comments. Also remember that listening is the beginning of the
information gathering process for yourself, which is vital not
only to rectifying the customer's problem, but to avoiding it in
the future.
Step Three: Be empathetic.
This is the step to (finally) begin communicating. Express
understanding with how they feel or were treated. You're not
admitting guilt. You don't even have to agree with them.
You do have to communicate understanding. Your tone of voice and
body language both go a long way to reinforce what you are say.
(There's nothing worse then a manager coming over to a table with
their hands on their hips, challenging, " Is there a problem
here?") In fact, without the proper tone or body language,
your words will sound hollow.
Step Four: Understanding.
This is the main step in reaching the customer; this is where you
ask any questions that you need to have the complete picture of
the negative experience. Ask relevant questions to clarify your
understanding of the facts. Resist jumping to conclusions
until you are satisfied that you understand the entire situation.
Step Five: Solution.
Solve the problem. Come to closure that you both feel good about.
Remember the customer was telling you the truth. Tell the customer
what you will do to rectify the situation. Make the customer feel
good about the solution. Do not sound angry yourself or make the
customer feel guilty.
A good guideline is to deliver more than you promised. For
example, if you said you would refund the customer, add a gift
certificate for another meal. That not only solves the original
problem, it brings them back again.
Step Six: Follow-up.
If there is any way to follow-up with the customer after the fact,
you need to do it. Whether by e-mail, letter or phone, this step
is very impressive.
Step Seven: Take steps to fix the problem(s) that caused the
problem in the first place.
A good idea to keep a log or journal of customer complaints to
enable you to see any trends. Remember that the best managers
prevent problems rather than just fix them
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