CS Chapter 2: Difficult Customers and Services

In everyday lives of every ERA ages, everyone in the world will definitely have some bad experiences with all different kinds of difficult Customers and Services.

Why do we have such experiences in this world?

In ancient times, when people encounter difficult Customers, fights, conflicts and even wars will be the end product of Bad Services, even now, we can still see such things happening in the world. It's due to some terms and conditions that both parties do not agree upon and do not give ways bit by bit.

Times definitely have changed, so do people. People has studied people in terms of emotions, characteristics, behaviours, mentalities, believes etc. People has learnt and imparted some skills of handling difficult Customers and Services.

Strictly speaking, all the skills learnt will only be half effective or no effect at all if only one of the party learns to communicate while the other don't and seldom or never constantly put in use. Dealing with Customers and Services is about two-way communications, half duplex system. Just like communicating with your loved ones, if communications breakdown, what will happen?

Half Duplex System is a system whereby one send messages and the other receive messages one at a time. When one person talks, the other listens, then communication is successfully established and that the other person can receive 100% messages. If both were talking at the same time, who's listening? And how much do each of them receive each other's messages?

So back to today's Topic, What's a difficult Customer and Services?
A difficult Customer is one whose actions and behaviours intentionally causes difficulties to people around them and same for Customer Service Providers.

I'm sure most of you have some experience with difficult Customers and Services. Have you not been a difficult Customers yourselves too? Well, if you have, you'll be able to understanding more for those difficult Customers and probably you can handle them more easily if you were in their shoes before, isn't it? But 1st, one has to be calmed, in controlled mood to handle difficult situation.

I've purchased an item and to be delivered on a specific weekday as they were packed with delivery schedules. As I'm working on the weekday they delivering and my parents not around to receive the package, so I've to specially take a leave to stay at home waiting for the delivery. But when the day comes, the delivery did not come on the timeslots they'll be delivering. I've made a call to the service provider and they told me that the delivery was pushed back to few days later and I wasn't informed of the delayed delivery.

What do you think was my reaction? If you were in my situation, what will your reaction be?

After the reactions you may think of, think back. Is the service poor or can there be any improvements on my part? By being angry and fuming up anger to others, will not solve any problems, but will instead create more frustrations, miserables and anger within oneselves. Things done cannot be undone unlike typing words in computer, can undo. What's done is done, but be calmed and just think back for moments if things can be better to prevent such events to occur in the future.

There are ways to actually prevent such unhappy scenarios. One of which is the service provider should have sent a notice that the delivery will be late. And the other is I should have made a call a few days earlier just to confirm if the delivery was still on its schedule, it just don't take much time to make a call to confirm.

"It takes two hands to clap or handshaking."

I don't know about your encounters, but things can be better if you were to think back and be proactive to make sure such things will not happen in the future.

Even if things still happen in similar ways, think back and analyze what can be done better before venting out anger.

It's simple, but may not be easy to do, especially on emotional part.
1. Think Back.
2. Analyse situation.
3. Be proactive to confirm again and again.
4. Implement a system to prevent same event happen again.

It's all in the mind, it's of how one can control the mind.

"Don't let emotions control you, be a Master of controlling emotions instead"

There's no one-off solution of handling Difficult Customers and Services as everyone and every situations varies. Its always easier said than done, but without a start to do it, there'll be no start at all and things will not be changed. So let's start analyze and practice to learn handling Customers and Services right away to build a better world for ourselves and generations beyond!

Next, I'll share how to be a good listener.