Tips on how to manage a difficult client

Communication tips do you have to keep things on track. When and how to cut ties if they become too difficult to work with?

Tip 1: Stay calm. Model the behavior you want them to exhibit. By staying calm you don’t join them at their level – you elevate them to yours. Bonus is – when you are calm – you make fewer mistakes and you don’t allow them to bully you into doing something you shouldn’t be doing.

Tip 2: Redirect to rational problem solving.  If they are trying to bully, you into doing something you shouldn’t be doing – don’t roll over for them. Just keep saying – I’m sorry – we can’t do it that way – but perhaps we can solve your problem in another way. Your goal is to get them to engage in calm rational problem solving. You want to help them, but they need to allow you to help them before you can. Your mantra – I’m sorry – but perhaps we can solve this problem in a different way.


Tip 3: If they refuse to work collaboratively and rationally – allow them to choose to leave you.  Don’t get upset about this. You can help – if they let you. If they don’t – that’s on them. Often, when they try someplace else and also can’t get their problem solved – they come back as your biggest fan.


FYI – I have a video course, DVD and streaming video on this called How to Handle Cranky Customer Problems Using Behavioral Science.  Working on making it available as an ebook as well  - should be available by December as an ebook and audio book.  And yes - I can do this as a group training.

https://humanistlearning.com/crankycustomers/

Understanding that it isn’t customer service – it’s human service

Understanding that the people you work with and for are real people with real problems of their own helps you think about your job in a totally different way more satisfying way.

I started my company, Humanist Learning Systems, to help people by sharing my knowledge and the knowledge of others with them.  The thing about sharing knowledge though, is it’s a pretty lonely business.  People read your book, or they take a course and very rarely do you get feedback about whether they thought it was helpful or not.

But every once in a while I hear from a customer. Maybe someone takes the time to post a review online, or they contact me directly because they have a question they need answered, or – they have a problem they are hoping I can help them with.

When someone actually takes the time to call me and ask me a question – I am thrilled. I don’t view these conversations as a hassle. I view them as the reason I went into business in the first place. It’s another opportunity for me to help a fellow human being and it’s satisfying because – it’s real.

It’s nice when my customers recognize that my company is not some faceless bureaucracy, but it is staffed by a real live person, me.  

We all play multiple roles in our lives. Sometimes we are the ones providing customer service and at other times we are asking for customer service. Regardless of the role I play, I try to remember that the other person is a human just like me.

I find that when I treat my customers and my customer service reps as real people, not just people who exist to serve my needs, I not only feel better. I feel more human. And that feels really good.

Derek Sivers – founder of CD Baby has a really great article on customer service (http://sivers.org/cs) where he talks about how putting the customer first and allowing them to win every fight with you is not just good customer service, it’s good for you. He says, “the act of doing this every day is very peaceful. It feels like daily empathy practice.”

Being human with your customers and with those who provide you with customer service are a way to not only make a human connection, it’s a way to practice being the best version of yourself. And it feels good. So why not make work and your interpersonal interactions fun. Why treat what should be an opportunity to connect with your fellow humans as work?

Be nice, be yourself, be human and recognize that those you interact with are human too and show a genuine interest in them.  You may not be able to solve all your problems or theirs, but you will help make things a little bit better and that’s at least something.

Your Customer Matters

 A lesson in humanistic customer service.

A door to door salesman came to my door smoking a cigarette - when I complained - he said - oh, you don't smoke. I said no. He apologized for being so rude and stepped back from me but didn't put out his cigarette and continued to smoke while attempting to talk to me about his product - which had something to do with construction. I wasn’t paying attention because the smoke was still bothering me. I made an excuse and went back inside my house.

I don't want to critique his sales technique but .... Obviously, his sense of how his behavior was impacting other people was lacking. He was aware of it, but didn’t care enough about what impact he was truly having and how it was negatively impacting his ability to make a sale to change his behavior.

And this matters. It is not enough to be aware of other people and how your behavior is impacting them if you don’t use that knowledge to improve how you interact with them.

Sales are a very social and interactive activity.  You have to talk to and deal with other people. F you want them to buy from you, you have to listen to them, understand their needs, and help them feel comfortable enough and secure around you to want to do business with you.

Customers matter. Without them you have no business. If you aren’t willing to pay attention to them as individuals and you aren’t willing to accommodate their basic needs, like the need to breathe air, you aren’t going to get their business.  And yes, I realize I have no right to ask this man to not smoke. But this wasn’t just about him. It was also about me, his potential customer. We both matter.  And since he showed me through his actions that I didn’t matter, I didn’t bother to listen to his sales pitch, whatever it was.

Basic courtesies like understanding you shouldn’t be imposing your worst habits on others without their permission is basic. Your customers matter. Treat them like they do and adjust your behavior accordingly.

Compassionate Customer Service

File this under Humanistic Business Management

When you apply Humanism to business, one of the first areas affected is that of customer service. The best way to improve your customer service is to recognize that your customers are real live human beings. When selling and marketing to people, the number one thing you can do to improve your sales is to treat them as the real human beings they are and not just as another target. Treat the other person as you would want to be treated if you were on the other side of the transaction.

All things being equal, the real person who really connects gets the business. After all, who would you rather work with? Someone who barely notices you except that you exist and might be able to spend money on them, or the person who is real and who treats you as real?  Yeah – you want to give your business to the person you connect with on a human level and who is ethical, honest, compassionate and responsible.

What better way to brand yourself and your company in a competitive market than to truly be the best most ethical person you can be. This is not something you can fake by the way. You either are a good person, or you are a bit or a lot slimey. Your customers expect you to be a good ethical person. So be who they want and need you to be.