SHARPEN YOUR SERVICE SKILLS.

These customer service videos are loaded with insightful strategies. Watch them again and again.

#1 – Problem Containment – Say Less, Listen More

A service professional’s job is to make sure things don’t get worse.  One way to ensure that the problem doesn’t get worse is to contain it. The word Contain implies keeping something within fixed limits so it doesn’t spread and make a mess.  A service professional’s emotions, if not contained can make a mess with incorrect words or a arrogant tone of voice.

Satisfying irate customers begins with a strategy of not making things worse.  This is what containment is all about.

#2 – Listening Skills

Listening requires lots of mental energy to keep a service professional’s mind active and attentive to what a customer is saying.  In the absence of energy, the mind drifts off to La La Land and there’s a good chance that when this happens, vital information is being lost.

When an irate customer believes you are really listening and making them feel understood, then they will sense your empathy. Enhanced listening improves an irate customer’s behavior. It begins with your willingness to listen.

#3 – Dreaded Morning Customers

What happens in the morning can often set the pace for the remainder of the day. Sometimes the most challenging customers call first thing in the morning. Why? Perhaps the customer had a problem the day before so, in an effort to get their situation resolved, they call early the next morning. These are Dreaded Morning Calls.

Start each day being prepared for anything. Irate customers can disrupt our morning optimism and ruin our day. Preparation is the key towards an effective irate customer handling strategy.

#4 – Root Cause Resolution

When serving customers and solving problems it’s important to understand that every problem has a Root Cause. The customer’s behavior bad is not the root cause. The bad behavior is a symptom and a service professional’s role is to remain calm, qualify the details and get to the root cause.

Never let an irate customer’s behavior rattle you.  Their behavior is NOT the problem.  Remain calm, focus on root causes and resolve the root cause. This critical thinking strategy will serve you well.