Welcome to QUALITY TIME: Dealing with the Angry Customer

1
Welcome to QUALITY TIME Dealing with the
Angry Customer

• Service Quality Improvement Council Forums
  February 26 27, 2004
• Please complete one
• Inventory of Incident Report

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Introduction Marybeth Bean

• QUALITY TIME SERIES
• Purpose of this SQIC Series
• Measures of Success

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What can I do?

• Participate!
• Ask questions
• Listen to each others experiences
• Try this at home

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TODAYS FOCUS

• Identify Anger
• Deal with Emotions
• Practice the Principles

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Why Bother to Deal with Angry Customers
Effectively?

• Were here to serve its our job
• Help to minimize stress levels
• Irate customers will tell others
• Never sure who the customer is/where their
  influence lies
• Personally satisfying to be successful at it
• Challenge to understand human nature

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Identify Anger Susan Burdick

• Two kinds of angry customers
• Aggressively angry customers express feelings
  immediately
• Passively angry customers sometimes more
  difficult to identify
• Verbal and nonverbal clues

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Brainstorm Clues to identify anger?
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Brainstorming Results Verbal Clues

• Yelling
• Expletives
• I dont have time!
• You
• They didnt ask me to do that last time

• Threats
• I dont understand
• Sighing
• You said - broken trust
• Name calling

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Brainstorming Results Non-Verbal Clues

• Staring
• Quick movements
• Persistence
• Ignore you
• Raised voice

• Folding arms
• Cant wait
• Check watch
• Throw books

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Identify Anger Summary points
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Identify Anger Discussion

• Why do customers get angry?
• Fundamental principle Staff person is symbol of
  whats wrong, not personal.

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Deal with the Emotions Danuta Nitecki

• Key principle
• Deal with feeling first
• Then deal with customers problem.

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Deal with Emotions Empathy

• Dictionary definition
• the capacity for participation in anothers
  feelings or ideas.
• --Websters New Collegiate Dictionary.1981

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Deal with Emotions Exercise

• Individually complete the exercise form,
  Dealing with Peoples Feelings
• Group vote on answers

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Deal with Emotions Exercise

• Thats too bad, but it happens to a lot of our
  library users.
• Not Empathetic
• I get the feeling youre very unhappy about what
  happened.
• Empathetic
• I think you have a problem here.
• Not
  Empathetic

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Deal with Emotions Exercise

• Well, thats what you think happened.
• Not
  Empathetic
• Im so sorry that happened to you.
• Empathetic
• What are you so angry about? It happens all the
  time.
• Not
  Empathetic

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Deal with Emotions Exercise

• I can tell youre really upset, Im sorry.
• Empathetic
• I think youd better calm down.
• Not Empathetic
• I dont think we can do anything about it. Sorry
  about that.
• Not
  Empathetic
• I think we have a problem here.
• Empathetic

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Deal with Emotions SOFTEN

• S SMILE
• O OPEN POSTURE
• F FORWARD
• T TERRITORY
• E EYE CONTACT
• N NOD ATTENTIVELY
• Developed by Randy Bauer, President, Leadership
  Training Association

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Deal with Emotions Practice

• Pick a partner next to you
• Start
• A tells B about something of interest
• B practice Soften skills
• When you hear Stop Soften
• A continue to tell B about topic of interest
• B drop practicing Soften skills
• Turn roles
• Reverse process and B tells A about something of
  interest while A practices Soften skills
• When you hear Stop Soften A drops soften
  skills

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Deal with Emotions Discuss

• How did it feel when Soften Skills were
  practiced?
• When Soften Skills were dropped?

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Remember the Principles

• Be aware of verbal and nonverbal signs of anger
• Deal with emotions first, then the problem
• Empathize by asking open questions, give
  feedback, summarize the issue
• Use SOFTEN communication skills for interactive
  listening
• Staff person is often a symbol of whats wrongdo
  not take criticism personally

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Practice Role Play exercise

• Break into groups by Q-Tip colors
• Volunteers please Angry customers, Effective
  Service Providers, group reporter
• Each team will witness a role play, scripted to
  have great anger expressed and different
  principles not followed by service provider
• 5 minutes for role play 5 minutes for group
  review
• Report out to whole at end

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Role Play reporting

• What verbal and nonverbal signs displayed by
  customer?
• Were feelings dealt with first?
• How did service provider empathize with
  customer?
• Did SOFTEN skills affect dealing with the angry
  customer?

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Practice Discussion

• Group reports
• Discussion
• How did the principles help deal with the angry
  customer?
• How did an absence of a principle affect the
  situation?
• What have we learned?

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Wrap up

• Look out for a Q-Tips web site
• Prizes of course
• Please complete evaluationsgive us ideas for
  future sessions
• PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

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Thank you for coming.

• Marybeth Bean, Kline Science Library
• Susan Burdick, Divinity Library
• Danuta A. Nitecki, your sponsor