HOW TO SOLVE PROBELMS An Adventure in Professionalism

Problems! Every business, job, or profession has many wonderful, rational people populating normal, hassle-free days. Once in a while you meet a co-worker, customer, client, or boss who is in a very bad mood. Sometimes they have a good reason, sometimes they do not. The professional approach is to act as though everyone has a very good reason to be cranky.

Step One Is this really your problem? You are not trying to be lazy, but often people come to the first person they see with a name tag or uniform. Many times their problem is not within the authority of their first contact to resolve. The irate customer will often find some way to introduce their problem to you, though they are not always polite.

Step One Ignore as much of their offensive behaviour as possible, and try to discern what their problem actually is. Maintain eye contact and be genuinely concerned. Even if they are rude, they could have just had a terrible day, and can no longer contain their frustration. Listen to what they have to say and if this is beyond your ability to fix politely interrupt at the first possible moment to let them know.

Step Two If this is not your problem, do not just tell them such and walk away. You are a representitive of a company, and your actions reflect the business as a whole. The professional way to respond would be to let them know you understand their concerns (do not agree or disagree with them, but understand their concerns) and move immediately to find someone who can help them.

Step Two Once the proper person is found, make sure you are no longer needed, and politely excuse yourself, thanking both your co-worker/boss, as well as the customer. Every last bit of “nice” you can interject into the situation usually pays off tenfold. Your goal is to defuse a situation, not aggravate it. Any offensive, defensive, or combative language will only make things worse for everyone involved, including you.

Step Three What if this IS your problem? Or, what if you are the only person around? The best thing to do is let them talk. If a customer has a genuine problem they just want to be heard and listened to. This tactic also helps find out if the customer is just a jerk looking for a fight. In this case they will often trip themselves up, or reveal their aggressive tendencies if left to talk on their own.

Step Three Do NOT interrupt them, do not stop them, just let them speak their piece until they have nothing else to say. Listen ACTIVELY, meaning that you are looking for: the nature of their problem their perception of the cause of their problem what you believe might actually be the cause of their problem (often different as they don’t know the mechanics of your business) What they hope to get out of you, a resolution

Step Four These three preceding steps alone can often calm a potentially dangerous situation into a friendly conversation. Once they are done speaking it is your turn to counter with what you can offer them for their troubles. 90% of the issues in retail are easily fixed in a matter of seconds (refunds, replacement of product, etc.)

Step Four Now it is time for your knowledge of your job to come into play. Most of the time a customers demands are very reasonable, and you will know if you can offer what they want. If the customer is WAY off then you can notify them of the standard practices of your business and what you are allowed to do for them, getting as close to their demands as possible. Next you tell them why you can only do so much. This is important as it keeps them informed, and feeling valuable.

Step Five If this is still not enough for the customer then you should politely explain you have offered all you can, and quickly find contact information for someone higher-up on the ladder who might be able to help them out. As long as you look like you are doing everything to help resolve their issue they will feel valued, and continue to give you their business.

Things you NEVER put up with Abuse: Some people just swear a lot, they don’t intend anything by it, but it is offensive, aggressive language that has no place in professional business transactions. If a customer is verbally abusing you, calmly explain, with concern for their troubles in your voice, that you want to do everything you can to resolve their issue, but they have to treat you with respect, stop swearing, etc. If they cannot do that, the conversation is over.

The company you work for likely has policies in place to assist with verbally abusive customers and can clarify these points with regards to your specific duties. If a customer becomes physically aggressive you should remove yourself from the situation and notify a superior, and/or call the police.