Customer service does not always go to plan and we can find ourselves in situations where terminating the call appears to be the only option. Most organisations don’t have a documented policy or procedure to help staff to know how to do this, resulting in most calls (in my opinion) being terminated incorrectly.
Remember, all interactions have two elements to them which the customer needs addressing, these are:
- the issue itself
- the customer’s emotions
It is our challenge to send every customer away fully satisfied, satisfied that their issue has been fully resolved and that their emotion was respected and handled in the right way.
On some occasions the customer may be so emotional about their issue, they vent this emotion out on the customer service advisor; this is not normally a personal attack but it can feel like one. When we feel we are being attacked (verbally or physically), we will want to defend ourselves. Unless we control this defensive action we will either come across as being submissive or aggressive.
Tolerance Levels
Each of us have different tolerance levels and where as the organisation we work for will not tolerate aggressive or abusive language from customers, it will not support an early or unnecessary termination of a call.
Some of us are more sensitive to customers swearing or shouting. It is important you check with your line manager what tolerance level is acceptable within your organisation……..or you may find yourself without the support of the organisation. Our challenge is to turn the customer around.
The following tips may help you in handling aggressive or abusive customers:
- Respond to the customer’s emotion first
This might be a statement of empathy, an apology, a comment of appreciation etc..
- Listen (verbally) & let them talk (let of steam)
For example: yes, umm, ok, I see etc. Don’t stay silent as you may come across as not being interested, or if on the phone, not listening. Give them time to tell you their issue. This is what they’ve been building up to and for you to interrupt at this stage will anger and upset them. If face-to-face, maintain good eye contact and give visual signs of listening and understanding.
By ‘verbally listening’ not listening silently, you are part of the conversation and this makes it easier to move to steps 3 and 4 i.e. speak.
- (again if appropriate) Respond to their mood
After you’ve heard the full story from the customer, acknowledge the mood and the situation they’re in. This goes a long way to help defuse anger and emotion in the customer.
Show understanding through: a sense of urgency for those in a rush, a sense of calmness for those upset, show anger for those justifiably angry about being let down by your company (care – you are there to empathise with the customer, not to show disloyalty towards your company).
- Take (or regain) Control
Tell them you want to help them by using a “reassurance statement” followed by a “verbal signpost” i.e. tell them you want to help them and what the next step is. If the customer continues to shout go back to step 2 again and when you think it is the right time, move to step 3 and or 4 to take control.
Terminating the Call
If you’ve tried the above without any luck and you think a warning to the customer is justified, the following 3 steps are considered best practice. The main principle here is to start with a positive statement that you want to help them…….and finish on a statement which says the customer’s behaviour is preventing you. This is repeated three times and gradually gets closer to the termination.
(Note: Please note that the following is not a script, and the words chosen should be your own and sound sincere. The overall message should be that you “want to help them”.)
Step One (the request)
“I can help you with that, but would you mind not shouting at me please?” Or
“I want to help you but I can’t help you when you’re shouting at me.”
Note that you have not threatened to terminate the call here. More often than not the customer will apologise at this point.
Step Two (the warning)
“I can help you with that but I can’t help you while you’re shouting at me. If you carry on shouting I shall have to end the call.”
n.b. The word ‘end’ is less threatening than ‘terminate’.
Step Three (the termination)
“I’ve told you that I want to help you, but I can’t help you while you’re shouting at me. I’m going to have to end the call.”
Other options
As an alternative, rather than terminate the call as in step 3 above, you have another option:
- offer to call them back in five minutes after you’ve retrieved some information. The customer has often calmed down by the time you’ve called them back.
Remember, your customer is emotional about something which has happened to them. Hold back any prejudgements you may have….they need someone who:
- is willing to help them
- understands their issue / problem
- is confident to take ownership of the problem to help them
I hope this has been of use to you and your teams. For more information on how CFA Training can help please email me at neville@cfatraining.co.uk.
I look forward to hearing from you.