'No such thing as a difficult customer'

Awkward customers are part and parcel of dealing with the public, but what is the best way to handle them?

Continuing our series of articles focusing on customer service standards, Post Business talked to Rotorua personal development coach and former Kiwi Host tutor Roger Pedley, who insists there is no such thing as a difficult customer.
"There are no difficult people. There are only people whose needs we have not figured out yet."
Pedley said front-line staff should accept a negative situation as a challenge and look for ways to turn it into something positive for all concerned.
"A complaint is a gift. We don't know what to change to make things better unless people come and tell us."
Mr Pedley said it was better for people to take complaints directly to the business involved, providing an opportunity to make it right, than to spread their dissatisfaction by word of mouth to other potential customers.
When dealing with an irate complainant, the key was to look beyond the person at what the difficulty was and how it had arisen. "The most common cause is mixed expectations. We sometimes create 'difficult' people by not meeting the expectations they have of us."
Resolving that mismatch involved finding out what the facts were, what the person expected from you, then working out how to best meet their expectations.
If a customer came in spoiling for a fight, Mr Pedley said the outcome was, in most cases, down to the behaviour of the staff member. "The only person you can control in this situation is yourself. Before you do anything, be aware of your own reactions."
He said front-line staff needed to think about the outcome they wanted and how to achieve that, rather becoming defensive.
"Defensiveness is the immediate reaction for many people, but they are so busy defending themselves, they do not listen to the customer. If somebody feels they are not being listened to, they  will keep telling you how they see it."
Acknowledging the person's complaint and their right to be upset would often put out the fire of discontent and Mr Pedley said that then enabled both sides to set about finding a solution  instead of focusing on their individual arguments. "Customer service can, at times, mean apologies - even though you do not think you have done anything wrong.
"It will take a lot of heat out of the situation. Concentrate on the solution, rather than the drama."
But apologies and offers to fix the problem needed to go across as genuine and Mr Pedley said that was best done face to face, as authenticity was often communicated through body language and tone, rather than  words.
"Telephone is second best, then email because you lose the tone as well as the body language. Texting is the worst because, with the abbreviations, it can sound more abrupt than you intend."
Following up to ensure the solution was effective was also important, because it demonstrated you had taken the problem seriously.
"Everyone likes to be respected.
"If you show you have taken somebody seriously, you are showing them respect."