Seven Steps to Ward Off Customer Anger

Back when I was selling electronic equipment, a customer walked into the store carrying a phone answering system that he had purchased at our sidewalk sale.  He placed the box on the counter and told me, “This doesn’t work.” 

He asked for his money back, and following store policy I told him, “Sorry.  That was a final sale.  Purchased as is.”  Without changing his already dour expression, he lifted the box from the counter, slammed it down again and repeated loud enough for everyone to hear, “I want my money back.” 

Bingo.  My fault.  I turned an unsatisfied customer into an angry customer.  Not wanting to provoke him further, I turned him over to my manager.

Since then, I’ve learned a simple seven-step process that can prevent this from happening.  Let me share it with you so you can handle similar situations, either on the phone or face to face, with more success.

Step 1: Focus.  Remember, your job is to keep this customer happy.  Emotional responses that the customer triggers need to be suppressed and any assumptions you might make about the customer’s situation must be temporarily ignored.

Step 2: Listen.  Allow your customer to vent if necessary.  An unsatisfied customer has a problem that he or she wants to unload and you are the person most readily available.  Let the customer know you’re listening by providing quite feedback and by making eye contact.

Step 3: Empathize.  Put yourself in the customer’s shoes and let him know that you understand how frustrated, annoyed or displeased he must feel.  Apologize if necessary, but keep it in mind that the problem is not your fault.  State your apology to acknowledge the problem and how it is affecting him.

Step 4: Help.  Immediately after expressing empathy, tell your customer what you can do.  Use these two words, help you.  Had I known this, I could have said to my customer, “I’m sorry that this machine is causing you some trouble.  Let’s see what I can do to help you.”  That would have made him feel much better.

Step 5: Understand.  Ask questions to find out what you need to know.  Open-ended questions will keep your customer talking.  Closed-ended questions will get you the details you need.

Step 6: Solve.  This is your bridge to customer satisfaction.  Make a positive offer of help expressing what you can do to make the customer happy.  Remember, at this point your customer wants to know what you can do, not what you cannot do.

Step 7: Agree. Restate the problem your customer has, restate the solution you’re offering, and then ask, “Would you like me to proceed with this right away?”  When your customer says ‘yes’, you have agreement.

Focus, listen, empathize, help, understand, solve, agree.  Seven steps are all you need to keep your customers happy.