9 Steps to Handle Irate Customers Effectively
How often have you come across a customer in a collections call who is angry and not interested in listening to alternatives? Once? Twice? Ten times? It's more common than you might think.
In today's competitive business climate, with customer satisfaction a top priority, the burden falls on the collector to go the extra mile and delight the customers.
Here are nine tips for you to take control of the conversation and help your customer calm down and move the collection call forward in a positive way.
1. Keep your cool: Remember, it's business, not personal. Do not take offense at anything. The key is to keep your emotions separate and think objectively. It will help you stay focussed.
2. Let them vent: The customer ultimately wants you to listen, so let them talk. Every once in a while, let them know that you're still on call. Keep saying, "Yes, Okay, Alright." It is best to allow them to go through their entire story. Thereafter, they will be more calm and ready to listen.
3. If they talk loud and fast, you need to be soft and slow: It won't work if you start debating with the customer. You need to show empathy and address them softly. It will help you bring the customer down to your pace and understand the real problem.
4. Ask probing and sensitive questions, not judgmental questions: Try to understand the customer's perspective. Why are they so angry? What went wrong? Did it go wrong, or was it just a misunderstanding? It helps to create the impression that you are on the customer's side, and you are interested in finding the root cause of the challenge with them.
5. Be open and honest with offers to investigate and help. Review alternatives: Once you understand their point of view, offer to study in detail, and find why things went wrong?. Again, ask probing questions to understand the situation. Based on that, be ready to provide alternative solutions that you can follow through on.
6. Restate to reduce the hyperbole and ensure common understanding: If a customer says things like, "you have never shipped to us on time," politely point out that you have made 100 shipments so far and this is the first one that was late. Apologize and help them understand the facts. Keep restating and provide proof if necessary. It will help the customer see the holes in their arguments.
7. Document everything, including the commitments: Now that you have taken control of the conversation and both the parties understand and agree on the bottom line facts, it's time to get the payment commitment from the customer. It's okay if they don't want to pay right that second but document their promise to pay and finalize a follow-up plan. Drop this in an email or fax to the customers to ensure they remember.
8. Set a reasonable expectation for resolution and keep your commitments: Well, you understand how difficult it was to bring the temperature down, so don't poke the bear. Keep a reasonable resolution period and wait for a couple of days or to the agreed date of payment commitment before following up. If you commit to anything, make it your top priority to follow through.
9. Terminate a call or walk if it turns unprofessional: While it's okay to be polite and patient, nobody deserves to be treated unprofessionally. It might depend on your company policy, but if you feel uncomfortable or if the customer is using demeaning off-color language, terminate the call. Drop them a note to say that you will be happy to take up the call when they have calmed down and are ready to talk more professionally.
Editor · www.highako.com