Complete Guide To Dealing WIth Difficult, Angry, Aggressive And Abusive Customers
Learn what to say, when to say it and stay stress free, safe, and professional under pressure
FAQ Glossary
- Service Recovery
- The process of handling situations when thing go wrong in the customer process. Includes things like proper communication, apologies, "making good". Essential for customer retention and building customer loyalty.
- Hostile customer
- A customer who is manipulative, trying to get something he or she is not entitled to, and does not recognize the company and customer service representatives are human beings. Also someone who is verbally abusive, accusatory, or otherwise tries to control the emotions of representatives.
- CARP model
- A simple model for defusing hostile customers that outlines four guiding steps: Control, Acknowledgement, Refocus, and Problem-Solving. Developed by Robert Bacal in the mid 90's.
- Customer takeaway
- A physical "thing" that can be given to customers. It might be a business card, a drawn map, phone number written down, a quote. Shows the customer you are making an extra effort to be helpful.
- Refocus
- A part of the CARP model, refocus refers to the process of moving the customer's attention away from his or her negative emotional state, and back to the process of trying to solve the customer's problem. A means of getting out of the emotion loop.
- Perfect Phrases For Customer Service
- Book written by Robert Bacal. Contains various scenarios, examples and techniques to handle a variety of customer service situations. Less than $10.00 via amazon
- Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook For Public Sector
- Indepth exercises and skill building workbook originally written for government, but often purchased by other types of businesses due to its uniqueness. Seminar in a book, and authored by Robert Bacal. Great basis for developing inhouse training.
- Internal Customers
- Those internal to your organization that receive, and often rely upon your work product or services. Departments like human resources and the information technology people deal primarily with internal clients.
- high risk high gain
- A high risk high gain approach, such as using humor, or being aggressive in response to customer aggression is as likely to backfire as it is to work. When humor works, it works well. When it doesn't it is dangerous. Likewise for being aggressive.
- Assurances of Effort
- A technique that involves a properly toned commitment to do the best you can to address a customer's issue. Useful when you can't promise the result the customer wants.
