Resolving conflict situations with bank clients. Rules for working with customers in conflict situations. Listen - Apologize - Suggest a solution

The cause of many interpersonal conflicts is situational misunderstanding, often caused by the inability of one of the parties to clearly and correctly formulate their thoughts.

People who are called "conflict" are individuals with increased neurotization, complexes, unresolved internal contradictions.

The consequences of a conflict can be both negative and positive. In the first case, this can lead to a breakdown in relations (both personal and work), and in the second, conflict is sometimes a prerequisite for clarifying hidden motives, suppressed emotions, and unmanifest discontent. If the parties to the conflict are able or strive to find mutual understanding, then the result of the conflict situation can be a mutually beneficial solution to existing problems.

In the beauty industry, as in any service sector, not only workers related to the process of providing services arise between staff and customers, but also interpersonal relationships. Poor quality or inopportune service is the most common cause of conflict situations and claims. And there are only two ways to settle such conflicts: to compensate the client for its cost and / or moral damage, or to offer a repeated, free of charge, the same procedure to correct the deficiencies.

The situation with interpersonal conflicts is more complicated. Their reasons are often not obvious, they are taken for whims and unfounded claims. Clients provoking such conflict situations are attributed to the status of "difficult". To avoid or find correct methods resolving interpersonal conflicts, it is necessary to understand and find out their causes.

The most common reason is for the client to act out his own emotions, which he had accumulated even before he came to the salon. "Plucking evil" is a common habit of people who cannot cope with their own emotions and experiences. For such people, a minimal reason is enough - too loud music or an unpleasant smell, and if there is no reason, they will create it themselves. Aggressiveness as a property of weak, notorious personalities often manifests itself in situations where a person is allowed more than in everyday life.

Another reason for conflicts is frustration, disappointed expectations, or a mismatch between the client's expectations and reality. And this does not necessarily have to do with the quality of the service. The client may be outraged by the inflated cost, the taciturnity of the master, the lack of a discount, etc.

Psychological "incompatibility", which has deep reasons for the transfer of repressed conflicts from one object to another, is another reason for conflict situations.

And finally, a conflict situation can arise due to the psycho-emotional state of both the client and the specialist - severe stress, burnout, overexcitation.

Interestingly, the behavior of the service personnel, unless they show frank incompetence or violations of communication ethics, is very rarely the true cause of conflicts.

If the client is a harmonious, balanced person who knows how to control his emotions, then any situation of misunderstanding, claims or discontent can be resolved calmly, without bringing it to conflict.

The client is always right - is that so?

Despite the above, the well-known slogan “the client is always right” does not cease to be relevant. Its essence is that the client pays for the service, brings income to the institution and earnings for its employees, and, therefore, has the right to satisfy his requests.

Moreover, in the premium segment, which includes deispas, the statement “the client should always be satisfied” is accepted. This message means that along with satisfying the request (for a specific service), the master should try to find out his motives and needs (sometimes hidden or even unconscious by the client) so that the client leaves completely satisfied, with a desire to return.

However, in relation to conflict situations, one should not a priori proceed from the fairness of the client's claims and accuse the staff of provoking the conflict. Due to personal characteristics, psycho-emotional state, the conflict may be the result of subjective reasons that have nothing to do with the quality of the service. Another thing is that the rights of the parties in any conflict situation in the salon are different. The client has the right to express his claims, no matter how unfounded they may be. And the staff is only allowed to listen and suggest ways to resolve the conflict. There is a "semblance" of absolute correctness of the client, which should not be perceived service personnel as a personal grievance or infringement of rights.

Customer conflict management

Knowledge of the basic principles and rules of the psychology of communication, ethics of interpersonal relations and conflict management are just as important today. professional characteristics, as well as mastering the skills of massage, haircuts, grooming. The head of a beauty salon or a cosmetology clinic should, when paying attention to personality traits, excluding the appearance in the team of people with character neurosis, psychoemotional disorders. After all, conflict situations arise not only between staff and customers, but also inside labor collective, which cannot but affect the general atmosphere of the establishment and the condition of customers. For a more accurate assessment of employees, it is recommended to involve professional psychologists for interviews and certification, and conduct psychometric testing.

Along with the improvement of professional skills, the salon staff must constantly instill in the skills of communication psychology, including conflict resolution.

Algorithms for working with conflicting clients and resolving disputes should be clearly formulated and spelled out in the form of protocols and scripts, which are compulsorily studied by all categories of employees and practiced during trainings.

Customer complaints: how to respond?

A fairly universal sequence of actions for ordinary personnel in a conflict situation is offered to professionals by the International SPA Association (ISPA):

Suspend any activity and turn to face the client (look the client in the eye).
Without interrupting, listen to the client's complaint. If necessary and the situation allows it, take notes (write down the essence of the claims).
Make sure the problem really exists. Repeat (reproduce) the client's words and clarify if you understood him correctly.
Thank the client for contacting you with a problem (paid attention to this question).
Please apologize for the customer experiencing the problem. Remove the personal aspect (resentment, bewilderment).
If possible, accept the client's suggested solution. Be sure to inform management about the incident.
If you are not able to solve the problem on your own and on the spot, invite a manager. Provide management with as complete and objective information as possible on the essence of what happened before the client does it.
Always stay calm, don't show hostility or make excuses.
If the client is showing hostility or aggressiveness, remain calm. Disagree politely by explaining to the client that you are going to invite someone who is the best to help them. Don't let yourself be insulted and humiliated.

Conflict for the good

Since one of the tools for dealing with a complaint is its recording, any client comments - however unfair they may appear - must be analyzed and rethought. Sometimes for apparent reason the complaint is thwarted by a deeper and more significant flaw. Here's an example: a regular customer complains to the administrator about the poor quality of a particular service. Corrective measures are being taken, the cost is compensated, bonuses are offered. The client leaves happy. However, after a while, the situation repeats itself. What is the background to the conflict? At first glance, the specialist can be accused of insufficient professionalism. But if the rest of his clients did not express similar complaints, it makes sense to assume that the true reason for the client's dissatisfaction is in the interpersonal relationship that she developed with the specialist. Possible options: the specialist does not take into account psychological characteristics a client who would like human communication, to be listened to; or vice versa, she is an introvert who is burdened by the excessive talkativeness of the master. It is advisable to subject all comments from clients to such a scrupulous analysis. And this will avoid true conflicts that interfere with a smooth workflow and

If you have worked in sales for at least a month, then you know that conflicts with clients are an unpleasant and at the same time inevitable feature of this work. In such situations, you can either keep the client, or permanently lose him.

This article provides several steps to resolve conflicts to retain customers. Regardless of who is to blame (you or the client) - in order to resolve the conflict that has arisen, it is advisable to adhere to the recommended scheme of actions.

1. Listen to the client to the end, no matter how hard it was for you. An angry person should be allowed to “let off steam”: until he speaks out, even your most just arguments will fly past his ears.

At the same time, a screaming, swearing customer must be isolated from other visitors, because your potential customers are more likely to believe him than you. Offer the outraged client to go to another room where no one will interfere with the resolution of the situation that has arisen.

While listening to the client, do not smile or interrupt, do not hide your eyes. Do not try to tell him the phrases "Calm down, please" and "Please keep yourself in hand." By doing this, you kind of inform the client that he is an unbalanced psychopath.

Don't ask him, "Well, what happened to you?" or "So what's your problem?" because you actually have the problem.

2. Control yourself, no matter how difficult it is: do not clench your fists, do not play with nodules and do not raise your voice. If a client insults you, you should tactfully and strictly ask him not to do this, explaining that swearing will not help resolve the situation.

3. Sorry! If you or your company are to blame for the situation that has arisen, then there is no need to "switch the arrows" - explain the reason for this situation and say that you are sincerely sorry that this happened, and ask to excuse you.

If the customer is to blame, you don't need to apologize. Don't defend yourself and don't say:
What do you want from me?
You should have thought earlier.
And I have something to do with it?
Firstly, it already sounds more like rudeness,
Secondly, it sounds like "fuck off, my hut is on the edge, I don't know anything." In this case, the desire to cooperate with us disappears forever.

You should express your sympathy for the client with the following words:
I'm sorry about what happened.
I understand you, this is a really unpleasant situation.
Once in such a situation, you have every right to feel this way.

4. Make sure you understand the problem... If the client has stated his complaint in a concise and understandable way, then you do not need to follow this advice, so that it does not look like a mockery on your part.

It is relevant only when the client expresses it too chaotically and tries to dump on the seller all the dissatisfaction that has accumulated for a variety of reasons. Ask the client a clarifying question: "Did I correctly understand the essence of the problem ... (then retell what the client said as the cause of the conflict situation)?" Having received an affirmative answer or an amendment from the client, you can proceed to further steps to resolve the conflict.

5. Offer the client a solution to the problem! The most important step, since the client expects concrete actions from us to resolve this situation. This should be done promptly, until the client's suspicion that we are scoundrels and swindlers turns into a firm conviction. The longer the client lives with an unresolved problem, the more he convinces himself and others of your dishonesty.

If you do not know what solution can be proposed in a given situation or do not have sufficient authority, involve your manager or other competent person.

6. If a third party is involved in resolving the conflict ... This happens quite often. Often, our colleagues from other departments of the company are involved in resolving conflict situations with clients. These can be employees of the accounting department, technical specialists and other employees, whose responsibilities do not include finding, attracting a client and selling the company's product. Therefore, their understanding of the importance and value of the customer is not as keen as that of salespeople who live off customer satisfaction.

Situations may arise when this is third party unintentionally aggravates the situation by forgetting (being late) to fulfill their duties.

In order to somehow protect yourself from such cases, make sure that the third party involved in resolving the conflict has fulfilled its obligations to resolve the situation. Call or go to this employee and ask how things are going on this issue.

In fact, there is nothing difficult in resolving conflicts with clients, remember only about the key steps of this process:

Listen - Apologize - Suggest a solution.

And, of course, don't forget to follow them.

M. Zavadsky

"Sales Mastery"

In this article, you will learn:

What you need to know about proper communication with the client

How to turn communication with a client into a gold fund of your company

What methods of communication with clients are better to use

What not to do when communicating with a client

Today, business relationships between people around the world are based mainly on trade. It can be not only the sale of goods, but also services, copyrights, etc. Thus, our society is divided into buyers and sellers who are in constant interaction with each other. And the success of all trade deals depends on how high-quality this cooperation will be, how competent communication with clients will be. Of course, this is not the only criterion for success. trading business, first of all, the quality of the product or service itself is important. But many disadvantages can be compensated for with proper communication. A customer who is satisfied with the service will definitely come back to you again, and not go to competitors. And, conversely, if your staff is not attentive enough to visitors or is rude, the buyer will not step over the threshold of your store, no matter how high the quality of the goods. This article will touch upon all the nuances of interaction with consumers, provide examples of correct communication, consider phrases that should not be used, and also analyze various techniques that are successful from the point of view of psychology. The article will help you build a competent sequence when communicating with a client and attract new customers.

How to establish the right communication with clients

Regardless of how the communication with the client is structured - via telephone or personal contact - it is the first impression that plays a fundamental role and ultimately affects the result of the conversation. It is important to follow a number of rules here, as well as adhere to the sequence of stages when interacting with the consumer. The most important rule- directing the conversation in the direction you need and keeping the interlocutor. You need not only to be able to tell him about the benefits of your product and service and the benefits of cooperation with you, but also to ask the right questions in time in order to identify the needs and preferences of the client.
Communication should be open and friendly: you should not raise your voice, argue, put pressure on the buyer, impose your product on him, be unnecessarily annoying. But it is important to be the leader of the conversation and be able to keep everything under control. It is important to conduct a dialogue, involving the interlocutor in communication, and not just speak a boring, memorized speech. You need to interest him in your product or service, as well as gain trust and dispose him to interact with you.
How to properly clarify customer objections? Find out on the training program

How to behave during a conversation

The correct line of staff behavior plays big role... The likelihood of a purchase will increase significantly if the cooperation between the manager and the client is successful. It is important to show proper and at the same time unobtrusive attention to the buyer, showing him that you are interested in him being satisfied. To do this, you need to be able to arrange the interlocutor using a smile and a friendly tone. Emotionality in communication is also very important: the buyer will not show interest in you or in the product if you speak in a monotone. If you use the right emotions during the conversation, it will help to interest the interlocutor and make the dialogue more lively and relaxed.
Every salesperson needs good diction. It is important not only to know what exactly needs to be said to the buyer, but also to be able to do it clearly and correctly. The manager should be free of speech defects. The buyer should see a real professional in front of him who knows how to tell about the product, answer all questions of interest, with whom it is pleasant to have a conversation. No one is interested in an insecure employee who does not know how to connect even two words. When communicating with a client, it is also important to get to know him and in the future refer to him by name. Such psychological reception helps to arrange the interlocutor, making the communication more personal. It is very important to listen to the customer and in no case interrupt him, but at the same time to direct the conversation in the right direction if he starts to move away from the main topic.

How to properly communicate a product or service

Often, difficulties arise when communicating with a sales client at the very first stage of the conversation - he is initially not interested in hearing about the product. How to profitably present your product or service to a customer? The main task is to interest him in the product and draw attention to his company. People are very fond of promotions and special offers, and you can't help but use this to attract new customers, as well as keep existing ones. During your conversation with the consumer, tell us about the promotions, explain all the benefits of buying this particular product, interest in a new product that has recently entered the market. Find out the needs and interests of the client in order to offer the right product for him, meeting all his wishes and requirements.
Once you have decided on the buyer's requirements, focus his attention solely on those details that interest him. There is no need to overload the interlocutor with an excessive amount of information, in which he will only get confused. It will be enough during communication to correctly place accents and describe the product exactly according to those parameters that are of interest to the client. The final stage- work out all objections potential buyer, thereby dispelling his doubts, and encourage him to make a purchase. Even if the consumer, after communicating with you, refused to purchase a product or pay for a service, you need to maintain goodwill and courtesy towards him. Then there is a very high probability that a visitor will come to you in the future, keeping in mind your professionalism and desire to help with the choice. Thus, following the correct sequence of stages when communicating with a client is very important if you want to grow your business.

Simple rules for communicating with a client

There are many examples successful sales when a person just for the sake of interest went to a store, and after talking with an employee trading floor came out with the purchase. It speaks of professionalism and high level preparation of the seller. Many consumers need to be encouraged to make a purchase. For this, a number of rules have been developed by specialists in the field of trade and psychology. If sales managers follow them, the company's turnover will definitely grow.

Customer focus. The most important thing when communicating with a client is to convince him that you are pursuing his interests, not your own, and really want to help him. This will build confidence in the buyer and help to win him over. Openness and friendliness are some of the main keys to success. You need to be especially careful in those moments when the visitor himself asks you questions. Answers should be as informative and detailed as possible. You need to show that the buyer is important to you, and you are ready to answer all his questions. Indifferent, dry remarks will leave a bad impression of the quality of service.

There are several ways to show your interest:

when talking to a customer, your attention should be focused only on him. You can not be distracted by extraneous matters;

communication should be emotionally charged. It is important that the interlocutor sees in front of him a living person, not a robot;

during communication, you need to look the interlocutor in the eyes;

it is important to conduct a dialogue, encouraging the client not only to listen, but also to speak;

it is necessary to give as much information about the product as possible for the buyer, but at the same time make sure not to overload with unnecessary information.

When communicating with the buyer, try to speak in the most understandable language for him. There is no need to delve into professional terminology in which a person does not understand. If we are talking, for example, about a blender, it is not necessary to say that its power is 1500 watts. This information may be completely useless to the client. It will be much better if you list the main foods that you can grind with it. So will you tell about technical characteristics goods, but they will be clear not only to you, but also to the buyer.

Don't stoop to the level of the client. At first glance, this is a rather strange advice, because the first rule says that you need to speak with the buyer in his language. This is undeniable. This rule was created only to warn you against the possibility of a conflict brewing when communicating with a client. The contingent of buyers is completely different, and not all of them are able to communicate adequately, allowing themselves the use of profanity and the manifestation of rudeness. It is in these cases that one cannot become like ill-mannered people and respond with aggression. It is important to be able to remain calm and to find the strength to always be polite and friendly. The reputation of the company you work for depends on this.
The client is always right. It has long been a hackneyed and rooted rule by all sales managers. But it is not entirely correct. Every seller understands that in fact the customer is right in very rare cases. Most potential buyers don't know what they really want, and they are far less versed in your store's products than you. You are the owner of the store, not the client, and you are the main one here, because everything that happens to him depends on you: whether he can find the product he needs, whether he leaves with the purchase. But the buyer should never know this. He must consider that he is the only one who is really right.
Don't insist. When offering your product or service, don't go overboard and don't be too intrusive. There is no need to put pressure on the buyer, forcing him to make a choice and make a purchase right now, if it is noticeable that he is not ready to do so. The person should not get the impression that you have imposed a product that he did not need at all.
Don't get lost. If we are not talking about a one-time sale, but long-term cooperation (regular deliveries of goods, construction, a large project, etc.), a very important rule of communication with the company's clients is to always be in touch. First, the customer may want to know how the work is progressing and at what stage of the process, whether everything is going according to plan and whether he should worry. Second, the client may want to make some adjustments to the original project plan. Keeping in touch is in your best interest. If the customer remains dissatisfied with the result of the work on which you have spent more than one day, it will be much more difficult to fix everything than if the checks and adjustments were made in intermediate stages.

These five rules of communication will help you not only find the right approach and win over any customer to the conversation, but also bring him to the conclusion of the transaction.

Basic generally accepted standards of communication with the client

Every self-respecting organization necessarily develops internal regulations and standards for communication with the company's clients. They are aimed at properly establishing a dialogue with the buyer and building a competent sequence of stages of communication with him. This article will describe the main standards based on which you can develop your own regulations.
1. Emotional attitude and openness to the client. The sales floor or sales office staff should look such that the visitor wants to contact them. Here we are not talking about the external data of the staff, which, by the way, is also important, but about the image of a friendly manager who is ready to advise and help. Sellers, of course, are people too and have the right to be in a bad mood, but this should not affect communication with customers in any way. A bad mood should be left at home or on the street, and the employee should be at the workplace with a friendly smile, and not scare off visitors with a sour expression on his face.
2. The client doesn't have to wait. There is hardly a person who dreams of sitting in line for an hour or two. The wait is painful for anyone. Therefore, it is important to ensure that your customer service is structured in such a way that there are as few waiting visitors as possible. If there are such, you need to show maximum care for those who are waiting for their turn. First you need to apologize to the person and clarify how long he will be served. This is often important, since perhaps at this time he will be able to solve some of his other affairs. It is also necessary to keep the guest busy with something if he is waiting for his turn in the hall: it can be magazines, catalogs, tea, coffee. The most important thing is that a situation does not arise: a visitor came in, and you did not pay attention to him, because you were busy. It is important to meet the client and let him know that he will definitely be served.
3. Be able to conduct a dialogue. To win over your interlocutor and impress him, you need not only to be tactful with him, but also in relation to your competitors. You should not compare your product with someone else, pointing out the disadvantages of others and your advantages. You are unlikely to inspire confidence by discussing competitors. You also do not need to engage in excessive self-promotion: it will be like boasting and exaggerating existing merits.
Better to avoid big monologues, lengthy descriptions and explanations. It is worth remembering the main characteristics and advantages of a particular product and conveying the very essence to the buyer without overloading him with unnecessary information. If you talk too much and for a long time, then, firstly, you can easily get confused yourself, and secondly, quickly tire the client. So that the visitor does not get tired of listening to you, you need to communicate with him in the form of a dialogue, ask questions, and involve him in the conversation.
4. Be able to hear and listen. These concepts, which are similar to each other, are somewhat different, because listening and hearing are two different things, and a true professional in trade and in communicating with clients should know these differences. Listening is the ability to demonstrate to the other person that you are listening to them. There is a special technique of active listening, which everyone can master: you need to look in the eyes, nod, not interrupt.
The ability to hear is the ability not only to listen to a person, but also to understand everything that he wanted to convey to you. Understanding the buyer while communicating with him is often very difficult. Many factors play a role here: people see the same things differently, a person does not always have sufficient knowledge to correctly express his thoughts and wishes. In such cases, you need to be able to unobtrusively get to the bottom of the truth, ask leading questions, find out as many details and details as possible. Sometimes it's enough just to put yourself in the shoes of your interlocutor and look at the question through his eyes. Once you have mastered the ability to hear people, you can not only quickly help the buyer solve his problem, but you can easily manipulate him, which is beneficial for the seller.
5. Address the customer by name. How to win over the interlocutor with just one word? Say his name. A banal truth that has a huge success in communicating with a client. When you address a person by name, it creates a more comfortable, supportive and trusting atmosphere for him, and also emphasizes the importance of this particular customer for you.
6. Don't lie... Your reputation will be completely undermined if you are caught in a lie. Never exaggerate the merits of a product and do not say what is not in reality. Even a small lie can cause irreparable harm and lead to a loss of trust on the part of the client.
7. Always do a little more than is required. A very simple, but at the same time effective technique. It is easy enough to exceed consumer expectations. You need to pay a little more attention to him, provide an additional, even the most insignificant, service, pleasantly surprise him, and he will become your regular customer. The more you do for the buyer in the form of some additional bonus, the more you get in return. He will talk with you more willingly and with great interest about further cooperation, if you charm him with your special attitude.

Sequential stages of communication with the client

Stage 1. "Getting in touch" or "Establishing contact"

Any sale or deal is impossible without this stage.
Purpose: to attract the attention of a potential buyer to yourself and to win them over to further communication.
Before moving on to identifying the needs of the client, it is recommended to resort to communication with him on abstract topics. Exist whole line methods for establishing contact with a visitor. You can offer tea, coffee, a couple of compliments, etc.
It is very easy to understand whether it was possible to establish contact with the buyer by his actions. If he actively enters into communication, reacts positively to the words and actions of the seller, behaves at ease and relaxed, it can be concluded that the connection has been established. If the client is squeezed, is in a tense state, avoids communication, answers questions dryly and briefly, looks away - this indicates that contact was not established. In this case, the contacting stage needs to be given more attention using various techniques.

Stage 2. Identification of needs

Purpose: to identify the preferences and wishes of the client.
The more accurately the manager is able to identify the preferences of the buyer, the more favorable light he will be able to present the product, which will result in a purchase.
To find out the needs of the client, the manager must use the correct sequence when communicating with him, be able to ask the right questions, listen and understand the interlocutor.

Stage 3. Presentation

Purpose: to offer exactly what the buyer needs, based on his needs, identified at the second stage of communication.
When presenting a product or service, the main thing is to convey to the client the benefits of purchasing the product. It is important here not to confuse the concepts of “benefit” and “advantage”.
Advantage- this is the benefit of this particular product in comparison with analogues. Anyone who purchases this product will benefit from this.
Benefit- this is such a feature or characteristic of a product that is able to satisfy the specific need of this particular customer.
Thus, knowing all the needs identified during communication with the visitor, it remains only to correctly present exactly the product, which in its characteristics corresponds to the wishes of the client. It turns out that any product parameters can be beneficial for a specific client.

Stage 4. Dealing with objections

Purpose: to dispel doubts of the buyer about the quality of the goods or its compliance with the requirements set, as well as the need to purchase.
The better the previous stages of interaction with the client are worked out, the fewer objections will follow. Perhaps the manager will conduct all the communication so correctly that he will not face any objections at all.
Objections are often related to the fact that:

not all of the buyer's needs have been identified;
initially weak contact was established, and not enough time was given to communication with the client;
the presentation was uninformative and could not give full description goods, and thus answer all questions of the buyer.

Every manager who wants to achieve success in sales should try to minimize the number of objections, because their excess is a signal of poorly performed work on interaction with the client.
It will not always be possible to completely avoid objections, so you need to learn how to respond to them correctly and take appropriate measures.
Strictly adhere to the scheme of working with objections:

listen to the buyer's objection;

smooth out his emotions using phrases of understanding (“I understand your indignation”, “Yes, I agree that it’s unpleasant…”, “I understand how it feels…”, “I understand you”);

get the necessary clarifications through leading questions;

offer an alternative solution to the problem.

Stage 5. Completion of the transaction

Purpose: to bring the buyer to the conclusion of the purchase and to confirm the correctness of his decision.
At the stage of completing the transaction, you need to make sure that the client is ready to make a purchase. The manager can judge this by his behavior:

the client has already formed a positive opinion about the product;
he agrees with the words of the manager;
directly says that he is ready to purchase goods or conclude an agreement on the provision of services;
interested in specifying details.

Completion Methods:

compliment method (“you made right choice»);

a method that sets a certain time frame ("If you make a purchase within three days, you will be given a 20% discount");

a win-win alternative (“Should I send you the measurers tomorrow or Friday?”).

The company's turnover is directly dependent on the professionalism of the account manager. The more skills and techniques he has, the more sales he will eventually be able to make. Therefore, it is important to constantly train your staff and improve the qualifications of employees, send them to training courses and lectures, develop and motivate.

Psychology of communication with a client: effective methods of working with a difficult consumer

It is thanks to difficult clients that you can quickly identify and eliminate the shortcomings of your company, because such visitors will rush to point them out to you. The principle of working with such customers is to make the pressure exerted by them neutral, not ignore, and at the same time be able to translate them into the status of loyal customers.

Rudeness, aggressiveness of the client.

When communicating with a client, you should never be like him if he behaves unworthily. In response to rudeness, abuse, disrespectful statements and gestures, he should only see your friendliness and calmness. Do not allow the interlocutor to piss you off.
Rudeness is used when there is no other way to prove your case or defend your interests. When a person has tried all the other methods, used all the arguments and lost patience, he begins to be rude. Therefore, such harshness does not express the strength of the interlocutor, but only indicates his helplessness.
When dealing with these customers, it is important to give them the opportunity to blow off steam and show that you are ready to solve the problem. You need to listen to the client without interrupting him. It will be correct to discard all emotions and, not paying attention to the presentation of information, get to the heart of the matter. To do this, you need to show the interlocutor that you are ready to listen to him calmly, no matter how much he swears, that you do not intend to argue, but want to help in solving the problem.
In the event that a scandal occurs in front of other visitors, try to take the client away as quickly as possible in order to continue communication in private or as far as possible from strangers.

Softness, shyness.

There are types of people who themselves will not make contact, because they are shy, do not want to be distracted, or are very shy by nature. When dealing with a manager with such clients, he needs to show as much gentleness as possible: no pressure, more smile, encouraging remarks, pushing to make a decision. Such a buyer needs to be guided and guided, helped to make a choice and be very tactful and unobtrusive at the same time.

Indecision of the client.

Do not confuse indecisive people with soft ones. Indecisive customers are mainly those who are afraid of making a mistake, and therefore cannot make a choice or decide whether they need a purchase in principle. Such buyers will constantly question already decision, to clarify the details, to seek advice again and again. It is difficult for them to stop their choice on one thing. They will rush between different models of the same product and will not be able to select the one that suits them, because they will doubt that it is the best one. When dealing with such clients, you need to deliberately narrow the range of choice. You should not offer them six options at once, it is enough to focus their attention on two, and only if they refuse these options, offer two others. So you will help your customers make the right choice, and the purchase will not drag on for several days.
Such clients should also not be pressured or rushed. In no case do not show that you are tired of their indecision, but on the contrary, try to encourage and support their desire to make the right choice. When communicating with a customer, you need to instill confidence in him, dispelling his every doubt.
To nudge an indecisive person to make a purchase, it is often not enough just to present the product correctly. Additional tools must be used. In this case, you need to indicate a limited amount of this product, the upcoming price increase or something else that will make the buyer understand that it is not worth delaying the purchase, but you need to hurry up with making a decision.
More intermediate commits - more chances of reaching an agreement as a whole. So that the client does not change his mind in the future, say that work on the agreed issues is already underway. Sometimes this is done on purpose so that the buyer no longer comes back to this. Better to let him get scared and refuse altogether than to endlessly deal with his doubts, wasting time and not being sure that the deal will take place.

Familiarity.

There is a category of visitors who themselves are fluent in the techniques of communicating with people and methods of manipulating them. They will behave too friendly, trying to arouse your sympathy and thereby achieve a special disposition towards themselves, in the hope of getting some kind of personal bonuses. The task of the manager during communication with such clients is to show that he is also friendly and ready to cooperate, but adhere to business style communication, demonstrating professionalism and seriousness.

Talkativeness.

As in life, at work you can often encounter a chatty client. It is quite difficult to conduct a dialogue with such a person. Nevertheless, you need to try to focus his attention on your proposal and control the communication process. Here you need to manage to correctly insert your remarks into long monologues during pauses, without interrupting the interlocutor.
Ask leading questions that bring the buyer back to the topic of the conversation, focus his attention on the product. Do not try to say more than the interlocutor, strive to say the most important thing. Your task is not to talk to the client, but to convey the essence to him.

Silence of the client.

The taciturn visitor can be opposed to the chatterbox. The difficulty in communicating with such clients is that it is sometimes difficult to understand a person's reaction to your words. It is important here not to go into a long monologue, but to involve the interlocutor in a dialogue, asking his opinion and encouraging them to communicate. It is best to give information in portions, constantly monitoring the reaction of the buyer.
It is necessary to ask as many questions as possible that identify the needs of the person, and in those rare moments when he speaks, listen carefully to him. The Echo method will work great here. Its essence is in repetition last words interlocutor.

Demonstration of competence.

This buyer is well versed in your product and familiar with its properties and characteristics. He will hasten to demonstrate his knowledge during communication, considering it dignity and superiority. You need to be tactful and not try to compete with him, proving that you are more aware. Give him the opportunity to show off his knowledge. Try to have a casual conversation, ask questions, and be an attentive listener.
If a buyer expresses his personal opinion about a particular product, specify what exactly it is based on. To do this, use the following questions: "Why did you decide that?", "What is it connected with?" Try to translate the buyer's personal attitude towards the product into a set of specific arguments. It will be much easier to react to them than to try to convince the interlocutor.
If, while communicating with a client, you notice that he is mistaken, you do not need to directly point out the error and try to correct him immediately, as this can cause a dispute. Remember that your job is to sell the product, not impose your opinion.

What rules dictate the ethics of communication with clients

Professional ethics of communication with clients includes the following rules:

always be able to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer and in no case allow such an attitude towards him that you would not like to receive in your address;
in case of admitting an ethical violation, immediately correct it as soon as it was revealed;
observance of the tolerance of the company's employees to the moral foundations, customs and traditions of other organizations and the surrounding world in general;
have your own opinion, but understand that it is not the only one that has the right to exist;
freedom that does not restrict the freedom of others;
ethical service conduct an employee that leads to the development of the organization from a moral point of view;
when communicating with the client, pressure on him or the manifestation of his superiority in the behavior of the manager is not allowed;
by all possible ways find a compromise and avoid conflict;
the employee must not only behave himself correctly from the point of view of ethics, but also encourage the client to do so;
avoid criticism of the interlocutor.

When communicating with clients, you cannot:

throw mud at competitors. You should not discuss competitors and speak badly about them, even if it is true. If the client himself asks your opinion about a particular company, the feedback about it should be as neutral as possible, and it would be most correct to refer to his ignorance of how the competitors are doing. The client's opinion about third-party organizations must be formed without your participation;
use slang... Often, employees communicate with each other and understand each other perfectly, but from the outside it seems as if they speak foreign language... It will be difficult for the visitor to understand you and navigate correctly in your terms. Therefore, communication with clients should be conducted in a language they understand. Sometimes it is even better to show clearly what you are trying to convey to the interlocutor;
let your emotions rule you. No matter how difficult the interlocutor is, no matter how he tries to piss you off, your main rule is to be calm. All of us, of course, are real people and have a right to emotions, but not a client manager. In response to any of his actions, the consumer should see only your benevolence and no irritability or aggression.

What should be the communication with the client on the phone

When communicating with a client by phone, the most the main role intonation plays. The impression of a conversation is formed in the first 20 seconds of conversation. During this time, the person decides whether he wants to continue the dialogue with you. Therefore, you need to monitor how you present information: your voice should be confident, and your speech should be clear.
The structure of a telephone conversation is something like this:
Preparing for a conversation:

The telephone conversation itself:

There are many techniques for communicating with customers on the phone. One of them is based on the identification of the interlocutor's main sense organ for the perception of information. The fact is that we all use hearing, sight, touch, kinesthetics, sense of smell to cognize the world around us. But each person has a leading way of thinking about the world, identifying which you can easily interest the client. You can determine the leading modality based on a conversation with him.
Examples of client statements indicating the predominance of a particular way of thinking:

visual: "It looks attractive", "This description seems vague to me", "I see it this way ...", "Let's try to shed some light on this problem";
auditory:“I heard you”, “Everything happens out of time”, “Sounds like good”, “I just can't tune in to what you are saying”;
kinesthetic (motor, motor):“Try to weigh everything thoroughly”, “I feel that I can do it”, “Warmth emanates from him”, “This is a very slippery situation”;
olfactory:“It would be great to have a good taste of this.” “I just smelled like a solution.”

For many people, the priority method of obtaining information is visual, and this is easy to understand by using the verbs that define visualization: “see”, “imagine”, “seem”, “observe”, “see”, “decorate”, “looks”, etc. e. Such people perceive better what they see than what they hear. They prefer to watch rather than listen to descriptions, even the most detailed ones. During the conversation, clients will record important points: They are very fond of visual examples, make an action plan, take notes.
Auditory orientation is inherent in far fewer people. When communicating with such consumers, you will hear verbs related to hearing: “heard”, “sounds”, “pronounced”, “crackles”, “creaks”, etc. These interlocutors have good auditory memory and are able to remember most of the conversation without any notes and notes on paper. Such people love to communicate, but are also easily distracted by extraneous sounds.
A very small group of people are guided by the kinesthetic communication style. When talking, they often use the verbs: "build", "create", "use", etc. Such people need to be constantly in motion, it is difficult for them to sit in one place. They show expression in communication, actively using facial expressions and gestures.

How to establish online communication with customers

It is necessary to join the circle of your target audience and make contact with her. To do this, they use various thematic blogs, pages to which a person must subscribe, all kinds of mailings and subscriptions. Build a team of like-minded people and actively communicate with their leaders.
Use your data, prepare for meetings with your team:

select some of the most important this moment questions (three to five);
check out the profiles of your interlocutor in social networks;
make a psychological portrait of a person, indicate on paper your assumptions about him;
decide what exactly is important for you to get from the person and how to build communication with the client.

Communication via e-mail:

Seamless pickup. If there is a need to replace a manager leading a specific client (vacation, sick leave, load distribution), this replacement should take place unnoticed by the consumer. For this new manager must familiarize himself with all the nuances of the transaction. A previous employee, who is aware of all matters, is obliged to help him in this. He must transfer all related materials on this buyer and tell as much as possible about the details of the work done and upcoming work with him.
You can not change the subject of the letter... During correspondence, the subject of the letter should remain as it was originally. Then the client and you will have the opportunity to filter this particular correspondence from among other letters. If you change the subject even a little, the letter will not get into the filter and will be lost. If some correspondence has come to a logical conclusion, and there is a need to continue communicating with the consumer on other issues, a new topic is assigned to the conversation.
Talking topic... The topic should be structured in such a way as to convey the essence of the entire conversation.
Reply All... In the case when several interlocutors are involved in the correspondence, it is necessary to use the "Reply to all" function in response to letters so that all participants in the conversation are involved in it and are aware of what is happening.
Summaryandcall to action... At the end of each letter, summarize and remind what result you want to achieve. This is how you program the client's actions to achieve your goals.
Resume after chatting on Skype... After the end of communication with the client via Skype, it will be correct to send him a letter, which will describe the essence of the conversation and summarize the results. This way, you can be sure that no one will forget what was said.
The last word... Always try to keep the communication completed by you. To do this, it is enough to use the phrases at the end of the communication: “Thank you for your cooperation!”, “Thank you for your time!”, “Have a nice day!”.

Classic phrases for communicating with clients for all occasions

1. Incoming call (external / internal).

Greeting (external):"Good afternoon / morning / evening, company (name), position, department, name, I'm listening to you."
Greetings (internal):"Good afternoon / morning / evening, position, department, name, I'm listening to you."
Excluded phrases:"How can I be useful", "I'm listening", "You've got it", "(company name) is listening", "Hello", "At the device."

2. Outgoing call new client.

"Good afternoon / morning / evening, my name is (name), I am (position / department) company (name)."
"Can you please tell me who you can talk to about organizing staff training?"
"Can you please tell who is engaged in procurement in your company?"

3. Outgoing call to the current client.

Excluded phrases:"Did you recognize me?", "Can I disturb you?"

4. Outgoing call to an old customer who needs to be returned.

"Good afternoon / morning / evening, my name is (name), I am (position / department) company (name), can I talk to (name)?" If necessary, you can clarify on what issue you are.
“Good afternoon / morning / evening, my name is (name), I am (position / department) company (name). Is it convenient for you to talk now? "
If the answer is yes:"Thanks! We have already cooperated with you (what kind of cooperation), we would like to continue our interaction. Please tell me, are you interested in (clarification)? "
Phrases excluded: "Calling you", "Bothering you."
If the answer is no:"When can I call you back so that it is convenient for you (specify the time and date)?"

5. The client came to the office.

Unfamiliar client, greeting:"Good afternoon / morning / evening, (walk in / sit down)", "I'm listening to you."
Excluded phrases:“Who are you for?”, “Man!”, “Woman!”, “Whom do you want?”; phrases are not recommended:"Can I help you?", "Are you looking for something / someone?"
Familiar:"Good afternoon / morning / evening, (walk in / sit down)", "Nice to see you."

6. Meeting at the client's office.

Unfamiliar client:"Good afternoon / morning / evening, my name is (name), I am (position / department) company (name), can I meet with (name)?" If necessary, clarify on what issue.
Familiar customer: " Good afternoon / morning / evening, name / surname / patronymic of the client, glad to see you ”(you can make a compliment).

7. End the conversation.

By phone or in person:“I was glad to talk to you! All the best, good day / week / weekend! " etc.

Do you love your clients, customers and customers? Of course, love, because they are the ones who bring profit. But there are clients who are very difficult to love. They give us so many problems, inconveniences and moral discomfort that it seems easier to end cooperation with them than to constantly suffer.

But what if you do not suffer, but try to understand them and find a special approach? Then they are full and you are safe.

Most people are conflicted not of their own "good" will. The reason for this is the conditions in which people were brought up in childhood, which means that they formed the foundation of their difficult character.

If the following methods of working with conflicting clients do not help, then the case is clinical, and you can safely let go of such a client.

Liz Burbo, a Canadian psychologist and philosopher, in her studies of personality problems, came to the conclusion that the true nature of man is hidden by five psychological traumas inflicted in childhood.

Based on this typology, five types of problem clients can be distinguished. Our editor, Nadezhda Merkusheva, had a chance to meet with all five.

Fugitive

This is an alarm client. He is not confident in himself, often agrees to any conditions you offer, so as not to bother you once again, but at the same time does not satisfy his needs. By doing this, he misleads you about the true desires of the target audience of your project.

How to work with him

The fugitive does not answer letters for a long time or, conversely, answers instantly, usually agreeing with everything. If you cannot get an answer from him for several days, it means that something does not suit the client in your conditions, he doubts the decision and does not dare to disturb you with questions and clarifications.

Write or call him again yourself. Unobtrusively ask leading and as specific questions that can be quickly answered.

Do not press on him, do not rush, but do not reject immediately. It is important for the fugitive to create a comfortable, safe environment when they will not sell anything to him from the doorway.

Stick to a casual style of writing or conversation, dilute the business proposal with light humor, but do not use flattery: fugitives are afraid of too much attention to themselves, so insincere sweet speeches can scare him even more.

The fugitive is the most grateful listener and reader of the "Warranty" section, as he is always careful and prudent.

An example from personal practice: I found my "fugitive" on the freelance exchange. At that time I was just starting to write according to the rules, and before that I was writing free texts about yoga and Ayurveda, and I saw an application for texts just in this topic.

The first order immediately became great stuff, to which details about the target audience of the customer were badly needed, but the client stubbornly avoided answering clarifying questions, very briefly filled out the brief for the article, but the text really, really wanted and was even ready to pay more. In the future, he promised more orders, and I was interested in cooperation.

Then I made the following move: I wrote two short texts about the same customer's product, but for completely different segments of the target audience. The client chose the one that he liked, and on its basis I made a great material. Everyone was satisfied, in the future the customer was no longer afraid of detailed questions about the articles, and we cooperated for a long time.

Dependent

A customer that someone brought in. He almost never has his own opinion, he always refers to relatives ("My wife advised me to you"), friends or someone's expert opinion.

Addicted customer: give him extra attention

How to work with him

Such a difficult client needs to be given maximum attention, provide support, find out the problem and help with its solution.

Reassure him how much you enjoy working with him - this is where moderate flattery will be quite appropriate.

When you hear about who the client is referring to, do not rush to please him and confirm it, because the secret desire of the addict is to become independent: use this if you want to get his favor.

Dependents turn out to be quite flexible in discussing the conditions of work and cooperation, so you can safely defend your principles, armed, of course, with objective justice and ethics.

An example from practice: my addicted client turned out to be a woman who came on the recommendation of another client, which seemed strange to me, because they were with that client at completely different levels of business development, and my texts clearly did not suit her either in style or in topics, in which I am strong, but a fairly competent, strong article was needed.

I conducted long and careful negotiations with this woman, as a result of which we became friends, and it turned out that she always trusts that client of mine - her friend - in everything, therefore she came to me unconditionally.

We did not cooperate with her, but good friendly relations happened. I helped her find a suitable specialist for her business, and after some time she "got" a very good regular customer for me.

Humiliated

Clients of this type do not like quick decisions because they do not know what they need. They take too much on themselves, because they do not feel their own boundaries and the boundaries of someone else's influence. Realizing this, the humiliated tend to hide these shortcomings, becoming control freaks (primarily in relation to themselves) and closed skeptics. Such a client often looks nervous and depressed, his words and actions are inconsistent and often illogical.

How to work with him

First of all, do not be afraid and try to overcome the initial rejection, if it has arisen.

A humiliated person deeply in his soul considers himself generally unworthy of all people on earth, therefore it is important to win him over by showing what dignity of his personality or his deed, business will emphasize your product or service.

Choose your words and phrases carefully when dealing with such a client. Any little thing can upset him, but if you find an approach to the humiliated, he will always be faithful to you, will recommend you to everyone and everywhere, which, by the way, can lead to the other extreme: he will become unnecessarily intrusive. Therefore, very tactfully and gently set the boundaries of your cooperation.

An example from practice: working with such a client became one of the most difficult for me. The client was always offended by something, expressing the offense with either short dry messages on Skype, or long incoherent tirades in the mail.

However, the grievances were not even about articles, but about some inconsistent design features or payment methods, but the work was accepted, payment came on time, there were no obvious rudencies, so I had nothing to be offended at, and the work continued.

Several times I made a moderate discount to the client, additionally attached information that might interest him, congratulated him on the holidays, and as a result I got the very indecent obsession and unreasonable expectation that I was ready to fulfill any request at the first call. The cooperation still had to be stopped, but only because I raised the general price level.

Supervising

This type difficult client immediately gives the impression of a confident person. Even too confident. He usually makes contact easily, and at first it is quite comfortable to communicate with him. But then you start to feel uncomfortable. Many words of the controller begin to diverge from reality, although he positions himself as a very responsible person. Sometimes aggressive, but quickly departs.

How to work with him

Be prepared for the client to manipulate you. And he will also try to convince him that he is right and insist on his own to the last.

Stock up on patience - you will need a lot of it, because your client does not have it at all: he is equally impatient himself and intolerant of others.

It would seem, why work with such conflicting clients at all? But the controlling client has one advantage: he very quickly delves into the essence of the matter, you do not have to indulge in long and detailed explanations. Give him immediate benefits and the result that he will receive after working with you. There is no need for introductions, preambles and deep immersion in his problems.

An example from practice: for me this is the most problem-free client. :) I myself love clear instructions and order, so the terms of reference of this client, written briefly and point by point, were a real song.

In our time, the complete absence of conflict is an impossible phenomenon and when it occurs, the client can either be lost or retained. Dissatisfied customer, whose claim was not satisfied, is unlikely to return to this organization and, moreover, will not recommend visiting it to his friends, acquaintances, colleagues, business partners, but with a competent resolution of the conflict, the client will be loyal in the future and will again use the services of your company, recommending it in your social circle. Therefore, the conflict requires competent management, for which it is necessary to understand the causes of the conflict.

Communication is the main tool in a conflict with a client, if you do not know how to correctly inform the client about your intentions and proposals for resolving the conflict, then it will never be resolved. The effectiveness of communication often suffers from the anger of the participants, so here it is necessary to discard everything personal and look at the existing problem from the outside, which helps to get away from emotions and focus directly on the problem, in order to learn how to communicate effectively - it is important to be able to listen to the client. If things start to get out of hand, it's best to keep quiet. Do not try to win the dispute, conflicts are not won, but settled. If you read the article about the causes of the conflict, then you can easily conclude that the employee, in the vast majority of cases, is not a party to the conflict, and the causes of the conflict situation are outside your store, salon, clinic. The search for several options for a way out of the conflict contributes to its real resolution. Several possible options give the opposing side a choice, and the likelihood of a favorable outcome of the conflict increases.

We offer you an example of solving a conflict situation with a visitor or client:

1. Allow the client to express himself completely, to the end, everything he wants to say, this will help to understand the situation in the form as the client perceives it and to reduce the degree of conflict.
When you are polite and reserved in conversation, as a rule, the client very quickly calms down himself. You should not tell the client to calm down and not worry. In no case should you interrupt the client and contradict him. You do not need to give any reasons if the client is in an irritated state, he is not ready to either understand you or believe you.

2. Show the client that you take their comments and criticisms seriously.
When the client sees that you are writing down his complaint, he will refrain from exaggerating, his statements will be more objective and less emotional.

3. After expressing understanding, tell the client that you are also concerned about the problem.
When talking about the client with third parties, in the presence of the client, avoid the pronouns he, she. Pre-check with the client how to address him correctly, by name or by name and patronymic, and repeat the essence of the situation in the words of the client. Thus, you once again:

show your attention to the client's statements;
additionally diagnose the situation, eliminating your own mistakes in determining the cause of the conflict and the way out of it.

4. Make every effort to resolve any misunderstanding as soon as possible.
Be attentive and sympathetic to the client who has filed a complaint; this is a good opportunity for you to increase his loyalty to your company. It is at such critical moments, with prompt action and careful attention, that you gain new regular customers... Don't promise the impossible. Customer complaints should be treated as clues, because, by their logic, they give you an idea of how to improve your business and an additional competitive advantage, but at the same time do not forget that The best way treatment is prevention, if clients make the same claims, then the problem is bad job firm and its employees. The task of managers is to ensure that their staff have not only highly professional knowledge and skills, but also have a practical understanding of working with problematic or dissatisfied clients.

5. If you or the organization are wrong, then you should apologize to the client for the situation that has arisen on behalf of the company and yourself.

6. If the client or visitor continues to express displeasure, even after the implementation of the first four steps of resolving the conflict situation, in some cases you can:

ask the client, "for a better understanding", to once again state the sequence of the development of the situation;
to clarify how he himself sees the solution to the problem.

Unfortunately, theoretical knowledge in the psychology of conflict is not always sufficient for practice, especially when we are faced with a conflict person or profanity, and it is expensive to practice practical skills on clients. One of the ways to reduce the number of conflict situations is to analyze conflict situations with a client and order training, the purpose of which is not only to develop the practical skills of the company's personnel, but, first of all, to prevent the emergence of conflict situations with clients. The task of the “Outstaffing company” specialists is not only to train the employee how to get out of the conflict competently, but also how not to get into this conflict.