7 Steps to deal with rude customers

Anyone who's spent enough time in sales would know that it is inevitable you would meet, deal or have to tolerate rude customers.

Salespeople, who sell any type of products from luxury to mass produced, are living under the pressure of having to adhere to the saying: The customer is always right!!!

So let me start this article by shouting this: NOOOOOO THE CUSTOMER IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT!! Actually the rude ones are rarely right. BUT (and this is a very big BUT) read the following steps to learn how to deal with rude customers so that you don’t fight a losing battle.

If you follow these steps, you will be able to prevent rude customers from ruining your day and ultimately, leave a negative stain on your emotional being as, rude customers can really affect salespeople’s confidence, self satisfaction and sometimes, make them think of a career change.

So here we go:

1- It is not personal

Be sure that whatever a rude customer says about you is not personal. They don’t really know you personally and they are not actually annoyed with YOU. It’s probably about a mistake that occurred while purchasing (or using) your company’s products or services.

I promise you that rude customers are emotional people and they can be good friends if you meet them in different circumstances. This is why they are over reacting to whatever they perceive as negative in your service or product.

The biggest favor you can do yourself is to be convinced that whatever they say is not personally directed to you but to something related to your product, service or company.

2- Don't fight a losing battle

I know I started this article by saying that the customer is not always right, and I still believe in this but I also know that the customer would always win so don’t fight a losing battle.

Keep in mind that even if you are right, and most probably you are, you will always lose the battle against the customer because no company wants to lose a sale and your job is to make sales not to lose them.

Use this reality to encourage yourself to find common grounds with your customer and try to solve problems rather than letting your ego get the best of you and try to challenge someone who would always win.

3- Look at the situation through your customer’s perspective

Sometimes, we focus on a matter in hand from our own perspective which is shaped according to our mood, beliefs, upbringing, memories, current situation in life, and of course our experience in selling our product or service. But if we take a step back and look at the situation through the eyes of our customer then we might see things differently.

Always try to put yourself in your customer’s shoe, feel what they feel. Imagine yourself having a bad day, which was made worse by a mistake or error from whatever you are trying to purchase or use.

This way, you can at least sympathize with your customer and this is always the first step to solving the problem.

4- Win them with your kindness

Never fight fire with fire; this can only make a bad situation worse. I’ve always been extra nice to rude customers aiming to make them feel slightly ashamed of themselves being rude to a nice person like me.

This is a very likely scenario where being nice would make you a winner:

Rude customer: This is a disgusting situation. I cannot believe that my order is not ready yet. You are a stupid company who doesn’t know anything about customer service!

Clever Salesperson: Oh dear. I’m terribly sorry sir. I promise you that I would do anything to rectify the situation

Rude Customer: What can you do? My order is not here and I am not happy. I wish I went to a proper company rather than dealing with clowns like you.

Clever Salesperson: Sir, I promise you that I understand your frustration and, to be honest, I would be angry as well if my order was not ready on time. I will now talk to our head office to check what we can do and I will try my best to come back to you with good news. I just want to ask you not to be angry with me, I always respect my customers especially gentlemen like yourself and I hope that you know that it isn’t my personal fault even though I share the responsibility being a member in our company. (Said with a genuine smile).

Rude Customer: Oh no I’m not angry with you personally of course. I’m sorry if I came across as rude but this order situation is ruining my day. Ok I will wait for you to call your head office…

Problem Solved… now whatever you come back with, you will always be the innocent, nice, helpful salesperson who tried your best to correct a mistake even though this was not your fault.

5- Stay calm...

Rude customers love salespeople who react angrily to their comments, as this would give them the satisfaction to hit back and ultimately have the final say.

Never give this pleasure to your rude customer and always remember that your best weapon is to stay calm even though that this is sometimes the hardest thing to do in sales.

6- Ask the customer for the most satisfying solution and start your negotiations from there

Now, after you won the situation by being kind and calm… and your customer backed off. Lets try to solve this and move on.

The ideal way of starting a negotiation with your unhappy customer is to start from their expectations for a solution and then negotiation from there. Most of the time, your customers’ expectation is more than what your company can offer for compensation. This is including asking for a refund, which most companies don’t prefer to do.

Keep in mind that most customers would still want your product or service and the solution lies in compensating on the inconvenience that the error may have caused. Compensations do not have to be monetary. Sometimes a nice gesture and an apology can be more than enough.

The first step to solving this issue is to:

• Apologise for the inconvenience: Sir, I do apologize for the inconvenience that this may have caused. I can assure you that I understand your frustration.

• Put the situation into the right perspective without the entire emotional dilemma: So if you allow me to define the situation… your order is not here on time and I will do my best to get back to you with a helpful solution for this.

• Know exactly what you can offer by consulting with your head office or line manager

• Get back to your customer and never offer what you can but ask about what they would expect: {Sir, our head office also apologise for this and I can assure you that I was frustrated with them because I feel what you feel. Now, I would like to ask you about the best realistic solution for this situation in your opinion and I will go back to them and try my best to get you what you expect.}

• If the customer gives you a solution that is within the guidelines of what you can offer, ask your customer: {so If I manage to get you what you asked for, would you be happy?}

• All customers would say yes, then shake his hand and never offer what they want until you go and come back as this would seal the deal.

• If the customer gives you a solution that is unrealistic and beyond what you can offer then start negotiating: {My dear Sir, I understand that this is what you feel acceptable but I came back to you so that you may help me get you a solution that satisfies you and I know that this might be very difficult to be offered by our head office. I already apologized to you and I was so firm when presented the situation to our head office but honestly, I would ask you personally to help me here in order to solve this situation as this is more dissatisfying to me than to you as I never want to have an unhappy customer. }

• Use this tone to get your customer to a level where you can comply. Leave and come back to offer them what you agreed upon already.

7- Learn from it and move on

Always look at difficult customers as your best teachers. They take you out of your comfort zone and face you with situations where you excel to improve your skills.

The key here is never to take the situation personally and permanently consider it as your opportunity to test your abilities and learn something new.

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