We’ve all had to deal with difficult customers at some time in our lives; it comes with the whole “running a business” responsibility. At some point you have to ask yourself if this difficult client is really worth having around. Are they mistreating your staff? It’s essential to keep your staff positive and uplifting, but having one truly bad client can cause the mood to go awry.
Before jumping to the conclusion of eliminating this client from your business, there’s a good chance you can solve the problem by having your staff get down to the root of it. So how do you empower your staff to handle difficult situations like this?
- Set boundaries – tell staff exactly what they can or cannot do. Role playing for this particular situation can be helpful to get them used to different scenarios.
- It isn’t personal – remind staff that the issue with the client isn’t personal. Relieving their self-doubt or impatience is one step towards enabling them to confidently take charge of the situation.
- Coach your staff – let them know that listening to the client more so than speaking can lead to an easy way of turning the situation around. If the client feels like they are being listened to, it can set things back on track for the difficult customer.
- Support them – ensuring your staff that you will support them in difficult situations with this client will in turn, empower them and give them the confidence to better deal with the client.
Once you give your staff the tools they need to deal with difficult customers, you may soon find that you don’t need to step in as often, and turning a fussy customer into a happy one will begin to happen more often.