Difficult customers are never easy to please. Some of them can take complaining and anger to a whole new level.

Ask anyone you know who has been in sales or customer service and they will usually have a couple of stories to tell of having dealt with a variety of difficult customers:

• The ones who find fault with everything
• The ones who know everything
• The ones who complain about everything

The list goes on.

The most difficult customer would probably the one who is angry enough to shout. That is when you will have to help your “when I get angry, the flies won’t fly” type of customer.

If your customer is complaining, they probably feel that they have been wronged and would like something to be done about it. If they care enough to complain, they are actually giving you a chance to do a service recovery – a chance to turn the unpleasant experience into a more pleasant one.

Some customers never bother to complain. They tell their grouses to the people they know and simply take their business elsewhere which is actually worse.

It is never easy to deal with a difficult customer but you will find yourself wiser and more adept at handling them after you have had a few learning experiences.

Some tips to dealing with difficult customers

1)      LISTEN and Show empathy– Look at the situation from your customer’s point of view and try to understand the cause of his anger. Listen and understand what is causing his frustration. This will show him that you care about him and the situation he is facing. Eventually, he will realize that you would like to help him and will calm down.

2)      Identify the problem– eg. “Let me see if I have got this fact right – You bought 20 chairs but only received 18 upon delivery out of which 2 are also damaged and you need them urgently for an office function coming up in a few days. Is that correct?” That is when your customer will step in to say it is correct or to fill you in with the correct facts if it is not.

3)      Apologize – Say that you are sorry this has happened and say you would like to fix it and make it right.

4)      Avoid the Blame Game – Acknowledge and apologize for your mistake and make every effort to help your customer solve his problem.

5)      Look to Resolve the problem –It may take a bit of time to resolve certain problems but you would need to assure your customer that you are looking into it and give him a time frame of when you will get back to him.

Make sure you do make the necessary calls, arrangements etc to help your customer and call him back within the promised time. If you are unable to resolve the matter completely, tell him what you have done and what you will be doing next, to get the matter fixed.

Even when dealing with a difficult customer at his worst moment, do not let your professionalism and courtesy slip up because it is easy to lose control of your emotions and in turn lose the customer. Remember that their anger is not directed at you personally.

If you can help turn angry customers into satisfied ones, dealing with difficult customers will not be an impossible task!