Team 2

Fabiana Gonzalez | Maria Isabel Marin | Danna Cifuentes | Oscar Bernales | Laura Forero

THE SITUATION
Role playing

When a Customer Has a Negative Attitude About Your Company Due to Past Experiences

You may come across a situation where your customer comes in with a “chip on his
shoulder” because he believes he has been treated badly in the past or has heard from
others that your organization doesn’t treat people well. This tends to happen more often in
government and public sector environments (e.g., schools) because, unlike in the private
sector, the customer cannot simply go somewhere else. The person needs to deal with the
specific organization and the organization needs to provide service. How do you deal with
the customer with negative preconceptions, whether justified or not?

Instructions: Continue the conversation with the client using the following techniques:

TECHNIQUES USED
■ Active Listening

■ Assurances of Effort

DIALOGUE
This situation occurs in a government office. The customer can’t choose to take his business
elsewhere and clearly has some negative preconceptions.

1. Explanation of interaction to this point

It is important for the representative to remain calm and not take things personally. When a
customer is angry they may try to take their frustrations out on you but a composed and calm
response is the best option. In this case the customer isn’t angry at the employee but the
system and its slow times. So we recognized that and assured him that we will do our best to
solve his situation, always using a composed voice and maintaining the same tone.

Employee: Good morning sir. My name is Scott Smith. I hope you are having a great day.
What is your name and how may I help you?
Customer: Jason. OK. I need to get these building permits done, and I don’t want you guys
to jerk me around like you usually do or run me through reams of red tape. I don’t have the
time.

Employee: Of course, do not worry Jason. Have you done this process before or is it your
first time?

Customer: It is my first time with this specific matter but I deal a lot with this type of process
and they are a pain to get through.

Employee: I know what you are talking about. We are working on streamlining our
processes and I will make sure to not waste any more of your time. Can I take a look at the
documents you have with you?

Customer: Here! I hope you don’t tell me I am missing anything because this is all the other
lady told me I needed.

Employee: Alright!Let me see what we have here….I do want to let you know that if you do
not have the whole list of required documents at the moment we can still open the file to get
it started and once you have everything we can continue. I could even help you with an
online file so that you don’t have to come all the way here again if you are missing some
documents. You could scan them and upload them into the system.

Customer: No no, that sounds good but I need this done today.

2. Be an Active Listener
At this point it is important to hear the customer. They want to be heard and explain why they
are mad. At this point the most important is to listen carefully to the main or the multiple
reasons why this customer is mad at the company. Once the customer is done talking, make
sure you have taken plenty of notes, support the customer and go all to the end being a
support system.
When the customer finishes the talking and he skipped information it is the job of the agent
to make sure to gather this information.

Employee: I completely understand your frustration, I apologize for this issue. I just need to
open a new folder under your name, the process is going to be faster and I can start solving
this issue right away.

Do you mind confirming the company billing information for me?

Also if you have a constructor number, I can go ahead and start submitting the papers.

Customer: This is not my first time submitting my papers, I don’t have the billing address,
but my constructor number is 152.359.487.

Employee: Excellent, for security reasons can you confirm your name and last name?

Customer: Yes, Jason Adams.

Employee: Mr. Adams, great news, your profile is complete and I just need to submit the
new papers for the new permit.

3. Personalize the interaction, acknowledge his feelings, use

positive language, restate information given
It is important to let the customer know that you acknowledge his feelings and instead of
jumping straight to problem-solving, you take the time to validate his feelings and be in his
shoes. If the customer is mad because a team member made a mistake, it is important to let
the customer know what is wrong, so the customer understands that you are trying your best
to solve this issue.
Another important side note in this part is to remember not “over apologizing” ; this will give
the customer a notion that the team does not know how to do its job. When trying to calm
down an angry customer it is important to use positive language, some examples of this
languages are:

Instead of:

“I don't know…” use “Great question, I will find out”

“I can’t ….” Use “What I can do is”

“Calm down” ….. Use “I understand the way that you feel”

Using a positive language is crucial when trying to calm down an angry customer. It is
important to use satisfactory resolutions with positive interactions that are going to impact
the customer into a satisfactory resolution together.

When using active listening, it is important to restate what he has said, and understand the
situation he is in right now. After this step, confirm with him that the information stated is right
to move the conversation to a comfortable space.

Client: How long is it going to take? I have been told that in this department, and especially
its employees, they do not do their job properly and make fun of customers by wasting their
time.

Employee: I understand the way you feel, and I am sorry that you have a bad reference for
us, but I will do everything in my power to meet your needs.

It will take about 10 minutes to process the new paperwork while the new information is
being updated in the system.

Client: It is the least you should do, I expect to receive the attention I deserve.

Employee: Of course Mr. Adams, thank you for waiting.

 4. Think critically, Don’t take it personally, responds in a
professional manner:
It is important to remember that the customer is not mad at you, the customer is angry by the
fact that his issue has not been resolved yet and he needs an answer. The most important
thing is to deescalate the customer and acknowledge his problems.

If it is necessary to ask the customer to remain in the line, you need to analyze the
information, ensure that you are there to help and remain in the tone of voice with him. A
calm voice is the best way to remember the customer that you are in charge of the situation.

Remember to always speak in a professional way, making sure to show him that you know
all of the policies, products and services that your company is able to provide. Some people
that are angry about any situation need some positive reflections from the employees, and
be redirect with positive body language.

Breaking down an angry customer requires a mentally prepared person that can remain
calm and polite. These kinds of employees develop these abilities with time and special
training.

5. Set clear next steps, stay consistent, explore all solutions,

ask for help, share knowledge with your team
Keep in mind that every conversation is different, and every customer's reactions are
handled differently, so it is important to work as a team, which means involving them and
making them aware of the person's situation in order to handle customer complaints
appropriately.

Communication between various areas is essential in order to have assertive information

about the customer's complaint. In this way, the assistant on duty will avoid repeating the
process again and thus, avoid duplicating information and therefore the customer will not
escalate to another level of anger.

Likewise, as a key point to make the client feel supported, the advisor should let the client
understand that he and his team are putting all their efforts into the case to find the best
solution. When a situation gets out of control or has a level of difficulty, asking for
supervisory help is fundamental, as they have more experience in this case and have the
necessary tools to give support and to find the best solution to the case.

Employee: Ready Mr. Adam, I just processed your work papers, now that the information
has been updated in the system there will be no major inconveniences. Likewise, I have
transferred this case to my area supervisor so that it is known to you. I want you to know that
we are making every effort so that you do not experience these inconveniences again.

Client: I hope so, I have wasted a lot of time in this process.

Employee: Please take note of your case number: QC094674, this confirmation will also
arrive by email, within 48 hours the requested permits will be sent to you. In case or delay or
other inconvenience please do not hesitate to call us back to this number 582- 5832-8563
Ext 345 , make sure to have your case number on hand so we can open your file.

Before we finish this call, is there anything else I can do for you today, or is there any other
inquiry you might have today?

Client: No, Thank you. It will be everything for today.

6. Hang up (as a last resort)

Before hanging up the phone with a customer it is important to ask him if he has any
additional questions, this will ensure the customer that you have all the time for him and that
you are willing to help in anything you can possibly do.

The customer is going to feel relieved that you are willing to answer and help and this will
avoid the customer calling again in a rude way.

One of the key steps in dealing with difficult customers is to follow up. This ensures that the
customer ends up happy and satisfied with the outcome. It also protects against an even
more confrontational customer spreading negative messages about your brand.

Employee: Ok, I created a ticket in your profile, in order to transfer your case to the
processing team to make sure that your papers are approved as soon as possible.

Client: Yes, please.

Employee: Great! within 2 hours you will receive a small survey so you can qualify your
satisfaction with our service. Have a good day.

Client: Thank you for your help, you helped me a lot. Have a good day too!

CONCLUSIONS
Regardless of the case being a good salesperson and giving excellent customer service is
the top priority to have, and part of this job is knowing how to deal with uncomfortable
customers or situations, learning how to handle this will make you an expert in your job and
will bring benefits to the company or your job status, making the difference between a
satisfied customer or a customer will not visit your business again or, even worse, leave a
negative review and talk bad about your business to other people.