Types of Difficult Customers & How to Deal with Them?
Types of Difficult Customers & How to Deal with Them?
Did you know that even difficult customers came in different types?
Customer service is all about coming across different types of people in general where some are actually looking for solutions, while some are only there to make a scene and issues so they can build a situation for some bargain. Either way, you are in a hard time where you might be tested to your limits.
Some may be easily solvable, whereas some situations come back even haunting you in your nightmares. So, what are these different types of difficult customers? Well, let’s find out.
1. The Ones with a Language Barrier
Let’s begin with the one that can be easily dealt with, given that a separate department handles the queries for people from different languages. Offering multilingual support is quite an important element in customer service.
For instance, Spectrum, a famous telecom company, offers customer service in both English and Spanish. So, if someone of Hispanic descent were to look for high-speed internet service, all they have to do is dial numero de Spectrum and get their queries resolved in Spanish – the language they are comfortable speaking.
Therefore, for any business, this is important so they can cater to more people with ease and also make it easier for their customer service representatives to ever find themselves in this difficult situation since there won’t be much they could offer.
2. The Ones Who Cannot Wait
Ah, the impatient ones. The tricky ones to tackle.
Those who do not like to wait, or even understand that sometimes things take time. But they want everything done in seconds.
It’s the impatient ones that test your patience the most. Ironic.
The best thing you can do with these customers is to tightly grip your patience. Keep the thoughts of “this too shall pass..” They need some reassuring words and hopefully, they will turn to bay for quite some time.
3. The One Threatening to Leave
Many customer calls come in daily that are filled with the threat of them turning to a competitor. Of course, all of them are serious, however, if you come across a case where the customer has come across some issue a few times then you need to do something immediately.
You need to take a proactive approach. If the customer has already faced the issue in the past, there is a chance they might make the switch this time around. Therefore, you should act timely.
To ensure that they do not churn away, you must start by keeping the communication clear with them. Walking them through the entire resolution process should be step one. It would be highly redeemable if you could offer some discounts or coupons to them to make up for the worries, and inconveniences.
4. The Returning Complainer
Now there is a difference between these customers, and the ones we mentioned above: the ones who might churn away. And identifying them is quite easy.
They frequently call in to rant, or even leave some negative reviews on your socials. They can always come up with a negligible problem and make it into something unnecessarily huge.
However, you cannot give up on such customers either. But there is a way you can tackle them. It would once again require your patience. You need to ask them all the questions to understand the main reason for their frustration. Chances are they only needed to rant out their feelings in this form, hence they did.
Your only option here is to remain calm.
5. The One Who Needs to Speak to the Manager
Of course, there is always a customer who straight up wants to speak to the manager or someone “in charge”. You cannot just send them to the manager directly, right? There is a protocol that needs to be followed.
So, engage them in the primary required questions and understand the problem. Immediately offer a solution to their concern. Chances are this will calm the fire. If the customer is still persistent on speaking to the manager, then put them on a quick hold and speak to your manager on your own first and get an idea of how to go about it next.
Wrapping Up
Customer service is not a job for all. there are all types of customers daily that reach out to customer support – some good, and some challenging. The need for patience and empathy in this profession is surely off the charts.
As you can see above, the best way to cater to a difficult customer is by being patient and keeping calm. It surely can be a task on some days. However, it can also be rewarding when your efforts are recognized and you are appreciated even by the customers at times. So, if you are in this field, then it is best to keep your mind at ease at all times so you can perform your job the best.
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