Customer Relationship Management

Scenario 1:

1. The brief explanation how I would handle this scenario.

This scenario was clearly identified as the environment of an angry customer because of service breakdown. In her mind, something is wrong and we all need to respect that and handle it to her satisfaction. You must deal with an angry customer and do it in a respectful, professional manner. Always keep in mind that customer wants to be heard respectively. Often it's best to let customers vent their anger without interruption, or you risk setting off the complaint from the beginning.

In this kind of condition we must make sure to keep the customer calm by practicing assertive communication and totally avoid aggressive communication between you and the customer. Before you can get the customer to calm down, listen, and address the situation you must first deal with her emotional state. Until you reduce the customer's emotional level, she will probably not listen to you or be receptive to what you are saying or your attempts to assist.

Firstly, I will smile and greet Miss Jamilah warmly and sincerely. Always use customer focus language and send positive nonverbal cues. Listen to her problem carefully. Firmly nod to show my understanding and interest. Show her that I am empathetic to her problem. Say, "I understand how frustrated you are. I'm sorry and I don't blame you for being upset."

Secondly, I will genuinely try to understand her situation and not be defensive. Hopefully this will help calm her down. Talk through to her the issues explaining why the solution that we proposed did not work and problem still occurs, besides the repairs that had been done a few times to her mower. Promise her my full commitment in helping her to solve the problem.

Before I can decide on a course of action, I must first identify the nature and scope of the problem she are facing. As the company representative, I will take responsibility for the problem, even though I didn't actually cause it. It is important to let her know that I am sincerely regretful that the problem has occurred and will do whatever possible to quickly and effectively solve it.

Finally, brainstorm other possible solutions and see if something else will work to her satisfaction. Get her agreement to a solution. If you jointly solve the problem, the customer feels ownership when she has made the decision. This likely will be a satisfaction to her.

In this case, as it is due to the problem with our product I would offer for a discount or other partial compensation that would be acceptable. Convince her that I will deliver what I promise, on-time and make a follow-up to make sure she is satisfied. I will make sure she received the service and solution that she was expecting.

Don't avoid upset customers or their problems. You have to address their concerns and not try running away from them. Trying to avoid their problems will only make matters worse. A common example of this is when the person who takes the call or visit tries dumping the customer off on someone else by transferring them to the department that handles these issues. It will cost you more in lost customers and a bad reputation to fight your dissatisfied customer than if you spent the extra time or money fixing the problem in the first place.

2. The negative or unclear messages, verbal or non-verbal, communicated.

In this scenario, the word in the third sentence 'She is getting upset' shows a negative non-verbal message.

Other negative non-verbal messages communicated in this scenario are in the fourth sentence. The word is 'She is beginning to raise her voice' and 'her frustration is becoming evident'.

Scenario 2:

1. The brief explanation how I would handle this scenario.

Knowing how to identify and handle difficult customer can help you turn a negative situation into an opportunity to build a stronger relationship.

In this scenario we can categorized this difficult customer as demanding. Customer can be demanding or domineering for a number of reasons. It could also be a reaction to past customer service encounters. A demanding customer may feel a need to be stay in control, especially if he or she has felt out of control in the past. There are some strategies that I can use to effectively handle this scenario.

Firstly, I will be professional and patience by not raising my voice. Instead I will greet the customer politely. Show respect at all time by avoiding verbal or nonverbal cues that could send a negative message. But that does not mean that I must accommodate the customer's every wish. Take notes when talking to difficult customers over the phone. A customer will only get more upset if they have to repeat information over and over.

Secondly, as per his request I will also need to brief him a bit about the procedure that is the practice in this matter of ordering. Explain to him what he should do and what I can do to help him in this matter. Offer to assist him in any way that I will be able to. I must not promise anything that can raise the customers hope and expectations with something that cannot be done. I would tell him that to deliver his orders in the next two days might not be possible, but I will try my best to send it to him as soon as possible if he still wants to go ahead with the order. I will get his confirmation on the order.

Finally, I will end the tele-conversation politely and promise to give him a call by the end of the day to confirm and update him on the status