We've all heard the expression "The customer is always right". The problem is the customer isn't always right, so what do we do to handle such situations in a way that produces a positive outcome?

1. www.compassionategeek.com
What to do When the
Customer Isn’t Right

2. Is the customer always right?
Of course not!
Still, our ability to handle difficult
customers with finesse and grace is
how we create great customer
experiences.

3. Are You Creating
Advocates or Detractors?
Death by water cooler?
People talk about us behind our
backs. Will they speak well of us?
Will they come to our defense when
someone else speaks poorly of us?
Our caring behavior today helps
determine what our customers feel
about us and what they say about
us tomorrow.

4. Dealing with a difficult customer starts long before
the customer arrives.

5. Gricean Maxims
• Maxim of Quality
• Maxim of Quantity
• Maxim of Relation
• Maxim of Manner
Created by Professor Paul Grice.

6. Gricean Maxims
for Cooperative Conversations
Maxim of Quality
• Do not say what you believe to be false.
• Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.
Maxim of Quantity
• Make your contribution as informative as is required (for the current purposes of the exchange).
• Do not make your contribution more informative than is required.
Maxim of Relation
• Be relevant.
• With respect to this maxim, Grice writes, "Though the maxim itself is terse, its formulation conceals a
number of problems that exercise me a good deal: questions about what different kinds and focuses of
relevance there may be, how these shift in the course of a talk exchange, how to allow for the fact that
subjects of conversations are legitimately changed, and so on. I find the treatment of such questions
exceedingly difficult, and I hope to revert to them in later work."
Maxim of Manner
• Avoid obscurity of expression.
• Avoid ambiguity.
• Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity (verbosity).
• Be orderly.

7. Dealing with Anger

8. What is the customer angry about?

9. What is the customer angry about?
Hint: It’s often below the
surface and not obvious.

10. First Steps When Someone is
Angry
• Listen with empathy
• Apologize when necessary
• Headline (Tell what you’re going to do.)
Page 14/Section 16

11. Three Tips for Dealing with an
Angry Person
1. Pause and keep calm
2. Don’t try to reason while they’re angry
3. Express empathy
Page 14/Section 17

12. When You Get Angry
• Pause
• Be assertive, but not aggressive
• Breathe

13. How Responsive Are You?
• Respond quickly
• Adopt a can-do attitude and willingness to
go the extra mile for the customer
• Positive attitude

14. What customers Really Want
• Dependable and reliable service
• Responsiveness
• Competence
• Empathy
• Professionalism

15. The problem with “Not my
problem”.
We’re all part of the same
organization. A problem in
one area or department is
potentially a problem for the
entire organization.
Find a way to help your
brothers and sisters, even if
it’s just helping them find the
right person or department.

16. Avoid terms of non-endearment in the workplace.
• Dude
• Bud
• Honey
• Sweetie
• Buddy
• Pal
• Son
• Young man
• Young lady
• Hoss
• Bro
Sir or ma’am are
usually appropriate.

17. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

18. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

19. soundthinking point
Always get a call-back number…just in case.

20. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

21. soundthinking point
Sometimes it can help to explain the process

22. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

23. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

24. Flow for Handling customer Calls
Handout: Page 16

25. soundthinking point
Order Matters!
Problem solving is the next to last step.

26. soundthinking point
Visit my YouTube channel for more videos at
www.youtube.com/doncrawley

27. Be careful about the use of jargon

28. Be careful about the use of jargon
Different people have different levels of technical understanding. When a customer or end user asks you about
the problem, use your judgement as to the appropriate technical level of your answer. It’s usually safe to ask how
technical they want you to get.
Accurate, but Bad
• “Our BIND DNS server was using Dynamic DNS with our ISC DHCP server. Some of the A records weren’t
getting updated, which caused name resolution to fail.”
Simple and Good
• “It was a DNS problem and it should be working now.”
Accurate, but Bad
• “The VPN was down because of a key length mismatch, then we had an issue due to AES on one end and
3DES on the other, and you know what happens then!”
Simple and Good
• “It was a configuration problem. It’s fixed and should be working now.”
Accurate, but Bad
• “It’s a routing issue due to a misconfigured OSPF autonomous system number. None of the 10.100.200 slash
24 subnet routes were being propagated.”
Simple and Good
• “It was a routing issue. Thanks for letting me know. Everything is working now.”

29. • In fact, it’s usually safe to say, “It was a configuration
problem. It’s fixed and should be working now.”
• It’s not a matter of being coy. It’s a matter of
respecting your customers or end users by realizing
that most of them do not want a detailed technical
answer. Certainly, there are exceptions. For more
technically oriented customers or end users, a more
technical explanation is appropriate. If you’re not
sure, it’s usually okay to ask, “How technical do you
want me to get?”

30. soundthinking point
Respect your customers’ time. Consider placing a
soft limit on first calls, just in case the issue takes
longer that you expect.

31. For Reflection and Discussion
• Have you ever gotten disconnected?
• Did you ever receive support for the wrong
version?
• Did a support person ever end a session
without confirming resolution?

32. To-Dos
• Set up a test lab with the software or
hardware you support
• Study your processes and systems. Are
there things that would irritate you if you
were the customer?
• Make it habit to leave for your destination
15 minutes earlier than usual