Devoted to customer service and the principles of exceptional customer services

Here's an excellent article by Bill Lampton who shares with us a better way to talk to unhappy customers.  It's been dubbed the "noncommittal agreement".  This is a more productive approach in which you listen to the customer's side of the story without judgment or without interrupting them. 

Hard to do for some folks out there, but try it out and see what happens!

This is the approach I used one time when a customer was upset about an order that didn't come in.  It wasn't my fault, but I stood there and listened to her story, nodded in agreement, and used a calm voice to apologize.  The customer ended up apologizing for taking up my time.  "I'm sorry.  I'm not mad at you.  I'm just upset that someone dropped the ball..." was what she said to me after her little rant.   

Related Posts:
Practice Your Listening Skills
Dealing With Irate Customers