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At one point or another, for a variety of reasons, we all encounter an angry and hostile customer. If you ignore the hostility, you send the message you don't want to fix the problem. The risk is the loss of their business. When confronted with an angry and hostile customer what actions can you take to calm the customer done?
Implications to the Sales Person
Anger surfaces as frustration as expressed by the customer. The problem that initiated the outburst can be one of many events which have lead to the total frustration of the customer. While there may be a legitimate problem, their anger may be disproportionate to the scope of the problem. It’s up to you to calm the emotional state of the customer and to isolate the causes of the problem and resolve them
The Application
The key is to allow the customer to vent, calm down and demonstrate you are listening and truly care about the problem. Smart sales people realize a problem gives him or her an opportunity to shine.
Once the customer has been allowed to vent their emotions take the following steps:
1. Thank the customer for their comments.
2. Start the conversation by completely restating the customer's argument.
3. Find at least one thing you both can agree upon and build your rebuttal on that specific point.
4. Solve the problem.
Something to Think About
As the economy tightens, customer anger and hostility will tend to rise. With this in mind, consider the following points:
1. How do you respond when confronted with an angry and hostile customer? Explain.
2. How do manage to keep the customer’s problem from becoming personal and emotional on your part? Explain.
-- Timothy F. Bednarz, PhD
Timothy F. Bednarz, PhD is the Principal Partner of the American Management Development Group. He can be reached at 800.654-4935 or amdg@charter.net. Find out more at www.LetsTalkSelling.com.
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