SERVICEWISE - How do You solve a problem like a Difficult Customer?

Steven Slater, a flight attendant with Jet Blue, an American airline, lived the dream of customer service professionals everywhere when he consigned a disruptive passenger to the nether regions, grabbed two cans of beer and bailed from an aircraft at JFK Airport. According to him, the passenger cursed at him, struck him with some luggage, though not intentionally, and refused to apologize. Apparently, twenty years of dealing with passengers of that ilk was more than Mr. Slater could bear.

It’s one thing to have to deal with the self righteous indignation of an irate customer who has a case. It’s quite another when the customer is clearly in the wrong, but still expects to get away with his infraction, simply because he is the customer and after all, the customer is always right; and more often than not, for reasons, whether good or unfair (these are highly subjective), our superiors bless his right to do so.

So, what do we do? In Steven Slater’s case, challenging the customer was thoroughly justified. Getting out of an airplane seat before being cleared, as this passenger did (let’s call him Mr. X), put not only him but others in danger as 80% of aircraft accidents typically occur during takeoff and landing. Slater certainly did not deserve the abuse he received for doing his job.

But he could have handled the situation differently.

Diffusing Customer Aggression

Sometimes, when a customer acts or reacts aggressively, there is usually some baggage, emotional or otherwise, attached to it. As a customer service professional, the onus is on you to draw on your training to identify the problem and deal with it.

1. 1)     First, understand that you are not the problem. Your company might be; something else might be. You just happen to be there. Unless there had been a prior encounter, there is no reason why the customer would take things out on you personally.
2. 2)     Do not return aggression. Two wrongs do not make a right.
3. 3)     Take control of the situation right from the start. It’s not about you or how you feel. Prioritize. In Mr. Slater’s case, priority was getting Mr. X seated so as not to endanger anyone else. Since it was a safety issue, he could have got his superior or even the captain involved which could have led to Mr. X being escorted off the aircraft if necessary. Since most passengers wouldn’t want that, it’s more likely than not that Mr. X would have complied.
4. 4)     Bring the customer to a neutral state, so you can focus on the issue at hand. A neutral state is a state of mind where two people can discuss resolving an issue without concentrating on what caused it.
5. 5)     Listen. This is your primary way of getting information from your customer.
6. 6)     Empathize. Put yourself in their shoes. You are a customer to somebody.
7. 7)     Admit mistakes when you are clearly wrong.
8. 8)     Accept responsibility.
9. 9)     Take immediate action to resolve the problem.
10. 10)  Know that a win-win situation is possible. Don’t lose the war before fighting the battle. Don’t make it a ‘them or me’ situation. Difficult customers are here to stay so you’ve got to decide, ‘well, so am I!’

Going head to head with a difficult customer produces no winners. You may prove your point, but you lose a customer and everyone else the customer could have brought to your business.

So how do you solve a problem like a difficult customer? You deal with him.

Because in the ‘service-verse’, the customer may be nice, nondescript or nestling on your last nerve but the customer is the customer and he is always right.