Difficult Customers

* Where difficult customer behaviour may arise and where it would be considered a risk

Tell me about a time you had to go beyond your comfort zone and personal limits to satisfy an unhappy customer.

Employees were taught to disregard disgruntled patrons and move through the line as fast as possible so that each patron would be served in a timely and satisfying fashion. Just as a machine would pull items in at the beginning of the assembly line and throw them out at the other end of the line, so did the employees treat the patrons of their establishment. This is achieved by calling them to the counter and filling their order then sending them on their way with a kind, almost sarcastic, "Thank you, have a nice day!"

Customer service is the most important aspect of any business. Without an adequate relationship with its consumer base, a company is at an enormous disadvantage.

Question 5How did you go above and beyond the call of duty when dealing with a customer?

Apologise for any product fault or poor service. Be sympathetic. Ask if the customer will allow us to send the faulty item to our quality department for testing.

“Hey, you cannot greet me. I am a potential customer. Without me, you cannot bring foods on your table”

Recently I have noticed more consumer complaints from poor service, more specially, service mistakes and customer mistreatment. When a mistake occurs, we do not handle customers in a courteous manner. In addition, we play favorites with customers and some of them are not getting the attention they require. To

Be sympathetic. Ask if the customer will allow us to send the faulty item to our quality department for testing.

Dealing with difficult customers – a number of factors must be considered when dealing with difficult customers. The problem must be clarified; this will then allow the HR practitioner to identify solutions to solving the problem. Pros and cons need to be weighed for each option and the outcome implemented.

Customer loyalty is much harder to obtain that customer service satisfaction. The most important first step is to satisfy the customer by meeting their expectations. Customers only give a company one chance and if they aren’t satisfied they will not do business with that company again, as well as tell others of their experience. The next step would be to exceed the customer’s expectations. If a business goes above and beyond to assist the customer they begin to build loyalty. The next step is to truly surprise the customer. In order to dominate the marketplace the company must find a way to make them selves stand out with their product or service, accompanied with phenomenal customer service. Once this has been done customer satisfaction and loyalty will be gained. “Acquiring a new customer can cost four or five times more than keeping a current customer” (Bestmark, 2013). So it’s essential to keep the current customer’s happy and coming back for more.

Finally, the clock says 8:55. Only five more minutes until your eight hour shift, which honestly felt more like twelve, is over. The store looks perfect and all of the housekeeping chores are taken care of. As you are walking to lock the front door, a large family comes rushing in asking if the store is closed. With a fake smile plastered on your face, you tell them the store closes in less than five minutes, so they promise to be quick. Now their kids are running around and the parents are ripping apart the T-shirts you just folded. Being polite and helpful in these situations is hard, and all you want to do is tell them to get out. Customer service is important, but it can sometimes be a challenge. Still, there are a few key steps to giving good customer service that can ensure that the customers will have a positive experience while shopping with the company.

Whether you are communicating with a customer service representative in person or over the phone, the term “the customer is always right,” has lost its meaning. It once served as the guiding principle for dealing with customer inquiries and complaints. Though it did not literally mean the customer was right and the company was wrong, it kept civil the interaction between company representatives and consumers of goods and services by compelling the representatives to see the issue from the customer’s perspective.

“Look I am the customer and it is your job to give me what I am ordering”

Complaints also tell you that the customer still wants to do business with you —Most customers don’t complain — they just take their business elsewhere, because they’ve given up hope of getting what they need from you.