Customers Driving You Crazy? 7 Common Problems and How to Cope

ASK ANNIE
Customers Driving You Crazy? 7 Common Problems and How to Cope
According to one expert in conflict resolution, your customers' irrational
behavior is biochemical in origin. To calm them down, stay cool yourself.
Oct 25 2004
By Anne Fisher
Fortune.com


Dear Annie:
I graduated from college last spring and took a job as a sales rep for a
mid-sized manufacturing company. I like it, except for one thing. Some,
not all, of my customers get so upset when something goes wrong (the wrong
product is delivered, or it doesn't work the way it's supposed to) that
they're impossible to reason with. They bite my head off when I'm trying
to fix the problem, they don't listen, and they argue even when I'm
agreeing with them. It's crazy! Any ideas on how to handle these people?
—Just Trying to Help

Dear JTH:
First, don't take it personally. Andra Medea has taught conflict
management at the University of Chicago and Northwestern and now consults
to Fortune 500 companies and government agencies on how to defuse
anger-filled situations. She is co-author of a book you might want to
check outConflict Unraveled: Fixing Problems at Work and in Families
(PivotPoint Press, $19.95: see www.pivotpointpress.com). Your customers'
baffling behavior "isn't character, it's chemical," Medea says. "When
people get upset, too much adrenaline floods their brains, and their
thinking malfunctions."

Here's a list of the seven most common problems with customers on
adrenaline overload, and how to deal with them:

1. The customer can't follow simple directions."Under a flood of
adrenaline, the brain loses its ability to do sequence. That means that
steps one, two, and three become a hopeless jumble," says Medea. "If you
tell them to walk down the hall, take a right, and go in the green door,
they may get lost at the first turn." Solution: Go along and show them the
way, step by step, even if it strains your patience.

2. They snap at you when you're trying to help. The adrenaline-overloaded
"are edgy and get hostile around jargon or unfamiliar words. Think of the
last time you had a computer problem and the techie started spouting geek
at you. Wanted to kill him, right?" says Medea. Solution: Keep your words
short and simple. Repeat them as often as necessary.

3. They ignore signs and directions right under their noses. "With too
much adrenaline the brain loses its ability to pick out key objects,"
Medea explains. "You've probably done this yourself: You're dashing out
the door and suddenly you can't find your keys. After you tear the whole
place apart, you realize they're sitting in front of you. This is how a
customer manages not to see the warning on the back of the box, or the
directions on the package." Solution: Point out the information--calmly.

4. They ramble on and bring in every problem since the Reagan
Administration. "It's the problem with sequence again. They can no longer
tell what's on topic and what's off." Solution: You'll need to walk them
through it. Ask, "What happened first?" Then, "Okay, then what happened
next?" Says Medea, "As they step through the sequence, they'll probably
become coherent again."

5. They don't listen to a thing you say. Adrenaline causes people to lose
the ability to take in new information. "They're not purposely ignoring
you. It's just that that part of their brain is now disconnected."
Solution: Talk slowly and draw the customer a simple map or diagram to
emphasize your words. "If they can't recall what you said, at least they
can look at the diagram."

6. They argue even when you agree with them. "Remember, they may not be
able to hear what you said," Medea says. "You could offer them a free trip
to China and it won't matter if they can't hear you." Solution: Ask simple
sequence questions until the customer calms down. Then make your offer or
state your proposal.

7. They make you as frazzled as they are. "Adrenaline flooding is
contagious," notes Medea. "That means that, even as they tell you that
rambling story, you're losing your ability to listen to it." Luckily, calm
is contagious too. "Keep breathing deeply, keep your voice low and steady,
and you can bring them around to you."

Needless to say, this is going to take some practice, but look at the
bright side: Once you've mastered the art of dealing with fractious,
adrenaline-overloaded customers, you can use the same techniques on irate
colleagues--or a ranting boss. In all, a skill set well worth cultivating,
wouldn't you say?

Send questions to askannie@fortunemail.com.


From: annieadm@TIMEINC.NET