Difficult customers come in many forms. Whether they are angrily ranting at your staff stressing them out, disputing invoices, or simply not paying the bill at all, difficult customers can come at a huge cost to businesses.
There will always be difficult customers it’s part and parcel of running a business, but to run a successful business means dealing with these difficult customers correctly. They contribute largely to problems such as employee work stress and a poor business reputation. This means that it’s important to identify problem clients early on so that you can work towards turning things around as quickly as possible, reducing the drain on your business and its resources.
Here are some ways you can protect your business from difficult customers.
Remain Calm
Most commonly, a customer will become difficult because they are unhappy with the product or service that you have provided. Some customers might be rude to your staff because of this or argue that should be entitled to a better service but sometimes a customer can be downright rude, aggressive and abusive.
It doesn’t matter if a customer is screaming at you, or making a scene, you need to remain positive and calm, handling the situation in a professional manner so that the reputation of your business is protected.
Stay in Control
One of the most important things to master when dealing with difficult customers is learning how to stay in control of the situation. To do this, you must ensure that you are always the person to make the first move towards resolving the problem.
>Avoid being pushy and focus on helping the customer by offering the possible best solution for their needs. Asserting your authority of the situation will set the tone for your customers and allow you to stay in control.
Avoid Lengthy Disputes
One thing that never helps resolve a client dispute is time. As soon as an issue arises with a customer it should be your first priority to resolve it. By doing so, you are validating the client’s feelings and establishing good communication. Your customers want to be listened to and feel encouraged that their issue will be resolved.
Don’t get hung up on unimportant details, try to remain focused on the facts of the situation and always avoid saying sorry as you do not want to accept any blame during the initial dispute. It could imply that you know that you’ve done something wrong and create an atmosphere of distrust.
Offer Solutions
An unhappy customer will likely become the bane of your life until you resolve whatever their issue is. Quickly offering solutions allows you to stay in charge of the situation whilst letting the customer know that help is being offered. As long as you stick to the facts, you will gain your customer’s gratitude for handling their issues quickly and responsibly.
Offering solutions isn’t about accepting blame, it’s about finding a quick way to resolve the problem. Always be realistic of the solutions that you are providing, your business will not survive if every difficult customer is immediately offered a full refund.
Protect Your Business
Finally, if an issue reaches the point that it cannot be resolved, the best thing that you can do is to make sure that you the right business insurance coverage. Professional indemnity insurance will help you to cover the financial costs if a claim is made against your business.
This type of insurance will protect your business from the potentially costly risks of client and customer lawsuits, even if you are not liable. Professional indemnity cover also pays out for solicitor costs incurred from defending a claim.
You can call Ashburnham Insurance FREE ON 0800 1696137 and one of our helpful staff will be able to give you an instant quote over the phone.