If you’ve been a salesperson, a businessperson, or a customer service personnel for a while now, you probably have had your fair share of having to deal with angry clients.
I’ve been a real estate agent for about two and a half years now and I’ve certainly made some blunders which put me in dreadful situations where I’d to face REALLY angry clients.
I particularly remember one incident, which I shall not go into details here, where one of my clients called me up to complain about a tenant and blamed me for not handling certain issues soundly enough and that it had caused a great deal of stress on her.
She didn’t call up and started yelling through her lungs. At the beginning of the phone call, she merely sounded upset and a little bit angry.
But as she spoke on, she got more and more emotional and started to shout and cry and made groundless accusations. In short, she became unreasonable and intolerable.
I’m the kind of person who can’t take it lying down when someone accuses me of things which I’ve not been guilty of. It makes my blood boil.
I have to admit that I was at fault in a few things but it was definitely not what she made it out to be.
I was certainly on the verge of blowing up and give her a piece of my mind, but I held back. I knew that if I were to open my mouth at that moment, it would be war.
And I also didn’t want to tarnish my own reputation by losing my cool. Instead, I seek to resolve this sticky situation as quickly as possible and as amicably as possible. That was the only smart and sensible thing to do.
So, how do you handle a situation like this? Here are 10 tips which you might find useful.
1. Keep your mouth shut. Just as I mentioned earlier, if I were to open my mouth then, it would have been war. You don’t want the situation to get worse. Your main objective and responsibility is to resolve your client’s concerns no matter how unreasonable they may be.
2. Keep your cool. Keep reminding yourself to keep your cool and that you don’t want your hard earned reputation to be compromised just because of this single incident. It’s just not worth it. This is a time to be rational, not emotional.
3. Let the person talk freely. When a person is angry, upset, and stressed out, there’s bound to be a lot that he/she wants to get off his/her chest. Be patient and let them get it all out.
4. Acknowledge the person’s anger. Ok, once you’ve kept your cool and are ready to say something, say this, “Yes, I understand your concern. You’re right.” This should help the other person calm down slowly because he/she knows that his/her concerns are not being ignored.
5. Apologise. The person may have blown the whole matter out of proportion, but that shouldn’t be your focus. Your focus should be to first calm the person down. A simple “Sorry” can go a long way. It will be best to apologise repeatedly so that you’ll nail into them that you’re really apologetic.
6. Show your concern. Let them know you realise how angry he/she is. And tell him/her you’re sincere in assuming the responsibility to help him/her in any way you can.
7. Note down all the details. This is crucial because you don’t want to make mistakes. Mistakes will only bring about another round of confrontation. And ask for the specifics so you know exactly what need to be addressed and resolved.
8. Discuss about the solutions. Don’t end the session by telling them you’ll get back to them. Provide them with specific solutions. When someone’s angry, they’ll want to know there and then what you can and will do to solve the problems.
9. Tell them when you’ll get back to them. After you’ve agreed on the solutions, tell them you’ll work on the solutions right way and get back to them within a specific time frame such as in 2 to 3 days time.
10. Keep your words. Work on the solutions right away or at least get someone to work on it right away. Any delay is also bound to stir up another round of confrontation. This is your second chance with the client, so don’t blow it.
I did exactly all of the above and eventually, I managed to help my client resolved her concerns.
And was she happy with the result? You bet.
Below was the sms she sent me after she saw what I’d done for her.
“Thank you so very much Mark! You did a great job. Restores my confidence in you. May God bless you!” – Mrs Chan
Cheers~
Mark
P.S. Do you have any tips on how to handle an angry client? Please share with us in the comments section below.
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on May 10th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Hi Mark,
thanks for sharing these tips with us. As a customer oriented project manager I have been in similar situations several times. By the way, I feel the same, when it comes to unsubstained accusations. But there is one little note I pinned as a postit to my screen:
“The efforts of winning a new customer are ten times higher as solving the complaints of an existing one”
From my point of view, this is absolutely correct. I had the situation severa times, that customers, which complaints where taken care off are now some of our biggest assets in their organisations (most of them are multi-million $ companies”.
Hope these little thoughts help others
Phil
P.S.: And if you still cannot get it and the customer is purely unfair, you can still call him all these nasty things you want to… after you hung up the phone. That would get you all the stress from your chest.
on May 10th, 2009 at 11:50 pm
Hi Phil,
Thank you for sharing your post-it message. It’s great advice.
I’d also like to add that, an angry client actually presents you a very good opportunity to win a very loyal client because the angrier the client is, the more likely it is that he/she will remain loyal to you if you do a wonderful job in helping him/her resolve the problems.
Cheers~
Mark
P.S. Yes, I agree that’s a very good way to relieve your anger.
on May 13th, 2009 at 4:30 am
I don’t have any client-related tips, but I do think you’ve made a lot of great suggestions about relating to angry people in general. I think #2 is really important. It’s essential to keep your cool!
on May 13th, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Hi Mark..
You have done a great job by compile the tips in a perfect order.
In business, customer is a top priority.
Customer can fired us anytime they want.
By gain their trust, we are one step forward to win the competition.
For salesperson, customer’s trust mean for repeat-order and reference
on May 13th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
I don’t have to deal with angry clients in my line of work but I do have to deal with angry high school students. i find this advice very applicable. I had a student today who got angry with the work I was setting. Instead of reacting I had to just let her talk and try and understand the real issue.
Cheers Mark
on May 13th, 2009 at 9:16 pm
@Positively Present – It is indeed essential to keep your cool, but it’s really damn hard to do, especially for a quick temper person like me. At that moment, I literally summoned all my energy and strength to hold myself back from blowing up and maintained my cool. I am glad I did it.
@J. Chu – Yes, it’s always easier and more economical to retain an existing customer than to acquire a new customer. Trustworthiness and sincerity are very crucial.
@Thomas – I’m glad you find this to be helpful in your line of work.
Thanks so much for your comments guys! I really appreciate it.
Cheers~
Mark
on May 20th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
[...] always an opportunity behind every problem. In the comment section of my previous blog post, How to Handle an Angry Client, I mentioned that an angry client actually presents you a very good opportunity to win a very loyal [...]