Handling Angry Customers with
Tact and Skill
March 9th, 2011
Presenter: Andrew Sanderbeck
Waynesville, North Carolina
PCI Webinars
www.peopleconnectinstitute.com
Foundation of Learning
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Share your experiences.
They provide valuable
insight.
If you are doing something
that gets the results you
want, keep doing it.
Take the information you
learn here and put it into
your own style.
Goals and Objectives
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Guidelines for Creating Your Strategy
for Handling Angry Customers
Angry Customer Scenarios
Five Step Process for Providing
Customers with a Positive Experience
Application of the Five Steps
Other Techniques
The Nature of the Irate Customer
LEAF, Plus One!
Polling Question #1
We see an angry customer or two in
our library almost every week.
Yes
No
Polling Question #2
I agree with the following: The customer
is always right.
Yes
No
Your aim = customer satisfaction
1.
2.
3.
Don’t argue back
Use your ears more than your
mouth
Show the customer that you care
Think about these angry customer scenarios
now occurring in your library
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A customer who is upset about the
quality or delivery of our
product/service
An item that the patron claims was
returned, but the library has not
found it
Incorrect information given to the
customer
Think about these angry customer
scenarios now occurring in your library
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A customer who is negative toward
your library due to past experiences
Confrontational issues and conflict
A customer owes the library .25 for a
late fee
Dissatisfaction expressed about a
library policy or procedure.
How are these situations being handled?
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Confrontation (Right and Wrong)
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Giving the customer what they want
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Internal Conflict
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As a learning and growing
opportunity
The Five-Step Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Strategize
Acknowledge
Clarify
Resolution
Check Back
The Five-Step Process
Step 1 – Strategize
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Develop your goal for the interaction.
What do you want as the end result?
(i.e., save the customer, resolve an
issue, etc…)
Identify your parameters: what can you
do or provide the customer
independently or with your supervisor’s
approval? What can't you do because of
policy or business reasons?
Polling Question #3
I believe I (We) have a strategy that
we use for handling our angry
customer situations
Yes
No
The Five-Step Process
Step 2 – Acknowledge
The acknowledgement is essential to
communicating in challenging
situations. Use phrases like, “I
understand how you feel”, “I see”,
“I apologize”, “I am sorry”, “I can
see how you might feel that way”
so that customers feel that they
have been heard and that we
respect them.
The Five-Step Process
Step 3 – Clarify
Sometimes we mistakenly proceed to
resolve a problem based on what we
THINK the customer was saying. This
third step of the process allows us to
clarify and draw out information to make
sure that we understand the customer’s
true concern
The Five-Step Process
Step 4 – Resolution
The fourth step is to create or cocreate a resolution. As we present
the resolution, we want to state
specifically what we are going to do
for the customer. We may also offer
alternatives.
The Five-Step Process
Step 5 – Check back
The check back is our opportunity to make
sure that the customer is satisfied and
feels good about the resolution.
Examples of check backs include:
 “How does that sound?”
 “What do you think about …?”
 “Are you with me?”
 “Will that meet your needs?”
 “Would that be satisfactory?”
Applying the Five-Step
Process
Our strategy is to retain and satisfy the
customer whenever possible. We want to
provide the customer with a positive
experience while balancing both the
business and customer needs. We don’t
want to simply waive fines because we are
afraid that we will lose the customer.
Adopting the Following
Measures May Help
Be Patient
Be Positive
Control Your Anger
The Nature of Irate Customers
Irate customers are unhappy. They
range in emotional state from mildly
disappointed to completely outraged
and in the way they present
themselves from calm to abusive.
Sometimes their behavior is
outrageously bad.
The Nature of Irate Customers
Usually they have a reason for being
unhappy – their expectation of a
product or service the library offers
wasn’t met or someone didn't make
good on a promise.
How important is it?
LEAF Plus One
Listen
Empathize
Apologize
Fix
Plus One
Plus One! Sharon’s Story
Polling Question #4
We currently have a “Plus One”
program at our library.
Yes
No
What can you do at your library
to apply Plus One?
Conclusion
This five-step process will diffuse any
situation once you learn to pull it off
with tact, finesse, and most
importantly: empathy. Once it is
perfected, you will not only be able to
calm down a hot situation with an
angry customer, but you'll be able to
get those same formerly angry
customers to recommend your library
to their friends and colleagues!
Questions/Comments
Thanks for Attending
Our Next Program with PCI Webinars!
Handling Customer Complaints without
Taking Things Personally
Wednesday, March 16th at 1:00 pm