1. CUSTOMER SERVICE DIALOGUE By: Emily Colombo

2. Customer Service is a rewarding yet challenging job to be in. If a situation arises where you have an unhappy customer on your hands, you need to be positive, patient, and respectful. If you aren’t, you could lose business or even worse, your job. Fortunately, there are guidelines specifically designed to help you with almost every difficult customer you will come across!

3. TYPES OF DIFFICULT CUSTOMERS Argumentative Impatient Leave-Me-Alone Irritable/Moody Insulting Complaining Domineering/Superior Suspicious Slow/Methodical Dishonest

4. OKAY, SO HOW DO I HANDLE THEM? Argumentative: Ask simple, polite questions with options Impatient: Agree on common points Leave-Me-Alone: Be patient, don’t press Irritable/Moody: Do your job well, stay positive Insulting: Go neutral, serve customer promptly and unemotionally Complaining: Understand them and be respectful Domineering/Superior: Let them have their say, but do your job correctly Suspicious: Be patient, answer their question respectfully Slow/Methodical: Be patient, don’t overwhelm Dishonest: Don’t jump to quick conclusions

5. A couple weeks ago, I went through a situation during work that was a perfect example of how and how not to handle an angry customer. I work at the local Dairy Queen in New Richmond. I was in the kitchen working on some food orders while my coworkers were up front making ice cream. There was one order for a Bacon Cheeseburger and a Flamethrower Burger. In the process of trying to make them and handle the new orders that were popping up, I accidentally forgot to put the bacon on the cheeseburger. The order was handed out and I went to go on my break. About 15 minutes later, the customer and her boyfriend stormed in and slammed their food on the counter, demanding to be helped immediately. One of my coworkers was busy helping other customers while the other was back in the kitchen working on the food. The angry customers yelled at her to help them. Instead of answering them, she turned around and continued working on her orders. Now even more furious, the girl came over to where I was sitting. Real Life Example

6. DIALOGUE Customer: Hey sweetie, we’ve been waiting at the counter for 10 minutes and everyone is ignoring us! Me: Really? I’m sorry about that, what can I help you with? Customer: We ordered a Bacon Cheeseburger and no bacon whatsoever was on it. Plus when we got home the burgers were cold! When we told your coworker over there, she just rolled her eyes and turned around! Me: I’m so sorry about that Ma'am! I understand how frustrating that would be. Do you want your money back or would you prefer me to remake your order? Customer: I want it remade. Me: Alright, I’ll get started on that right away! Would you like extra bacon this time? Customer: Yes please!

7. ANALYSIS In this particular situation, I had to deal with an Impatient customer. Although the missing bacon was an inconvenience, it wasn’t such as big deal as the customer made it out to be. It didn’t matter to them that there were other customers waiting to be helped because to them, their issue was more important. My coworker demonstrated the improper way to handle an angry customer. Admittedly, it can be very annoying when someone is yelling at you for something you didn’t do, but ignoring their complaints won’t get you anywhere, either. In order to calm the woman and her boyfriend down, I followed the guideline for Impatient customers, which was agreeing with her on how it was a frustrating situation. I also presented her with options on what would make her the happiest. In the end, she left with a smile on her face.

8. Thanks for listening!