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Today is the first in a two-part series on handling angry customers on the telephone.
Good customer service is essential to success in any industry.
But it's particularly important in the service and hospitality sectors.
Hospitality means treating guests well.
And here, we're talking specifically about hotels.
Because service is so vital to hospitality, hotels are a good place to look for excellent service practices.
So today we'll be listening in on a phone call from an angry customer at the Majestic Hotel, a five-star hotel in Shanghai.
By listening to a bad example and a good example of service practices, we'll be studying skills that are useful in any industry, no matter whether you're dealing with internal or external customers.
We'll see that a very important part of handling angry customers is showing empathy.
Empathy is similar to sympathy.
It means showing that you understand the customer's pain.
Now let's first listen to a bad example, what not to do.
Then we'll discuss.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
First, how does the customer, Steve, learn the service associate's name?
Two, what is Steve's problem?
And finally, How could Jenna have handled the complaint better?
Front desk, how can I help you?
My room is freezing.
I had tons of work to do, but I can't concentrate like this.
Uh-huh.
Well, aren't you going to do something about it?
I'll send someone right away, sir.
Yes, please do that.
This is very important.
Okay.
Anything else?
Can I get your name?
It's Jenna.
Okay.
I'm going out to dinner now.
I'd better have heat on by the time I get back.
Of course, sir.
Do you think Jenna did a good job handling Steve's complaint?
Not really.
Let's briefly go through the dialogue and identify the key areas where Jenna could have done better.
First, how about her voice?
To perform service successfully, you should have a smile in your voice.
But Jenna sounds depressed.
She frequently sighs, showing that she'd rather be doing something else.
Then, when she says, I'll send someone right away, sir, she actually sounds annoyed.
Understandably, this just makes Steve angrier.
Second, she seems to be avoiding responsibility because she doesn't volunteer her name.
Third, do you get the feeling that she's really listening to Steve?
I don't.
Listen again to her response to the complaint.
My room is freezing.
I had tons of work to do, but I can't concentrate like this.
Jenna makes no real attempt to show Steve that she's listening carefully to what he's saying.
Nor does she give him the basic sympathetic response we expect from a caring human being.
This is unfortunate, because empathetic response is the best tool she has available for calming Steve down.
Now let's listen to a better example where the empathetic response is successfully employed.
Steve returns to his room after dinner to find his problem has still not been solved.
Now he's really angry.
Fortunately, the new service associate, Sandy, does a much better job of calming him down.
As you listen, try to answer the following questions.
The answers will be posted in a few days on our website at wwwbusinessenglishpodcom.
First, when Steve says I'm at the end of my rope, what does he mean?
And second, what does Sandy do to calm Steve down?
Front desk, this is Sandy.
How can I help you?
My room is freezing.
Freezing?
I'm terribly sorry to hear that.
And this is like the third time I've called you guys.
I can see why that's frustrating.
That's great, but what I want to know is what are you going to do about it?
I'm at the end of my rope.
Yes, of course, sir.
Can you please explain the background so that I can get a clear understanding of the problem?
Two hours ago, I called the front desk to get someone to turn on the heat in my room.
Two hours ago.
Mm-hmm.
I spoke to someone.
Jenna?
Hmm.
Jenna.
I see.
And she said it would be taken care of.
But it wasn't.
No.
I came back after dinner and it's still freezing in here.
I've got work to do.
I understand.
Sandy did a much better job calming Steve down than Jenna did.
Let's take a close look at the techniques he used.
First, how about his voice?
This time, Sandy spoke in a cool, calm, and concerned voice.
After several exchanges, the customer couldn't help but mirror or reflect him a little bit.
Steve starts off angry, but in the face of Sandy's calmness, it's hard for him to stay upset.
So using a calm voice to get the customer to mirror you is a simple and effective strategy for dealing with an angry customer.
Also, Sandy responds empathetically by expressing human concern for Steve's problem.
My room is freezing.
Freezing?
I'm terribly sorry to hear that.
And this is like the third time I've called you guys.
I can see why that's frustrating.
As Sandy shows us, the first step in dealing with an angry customer is to show empathy.
Before you can deal with the customer's problem, you have to deal with the customer's emotions.
Frequently, dealing with the emotions is much more important than dealing with the actual complaint.
What customers often want most is to have their feelings acknowledged.
I'm terribly sorry to hear that and I can see why that's frustrating are two great ways to show your empathy.
Let's practice those phrases along with some others you can use.
I'm terribly sorry to hear that.
I can see why that's frustrating.
That must be very frustrating.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Thank you for bringing the complaint to my attention.
I understand your frustration and would certainly like to rectify this to your satisfaction.
I can see what you mean.
That's terrible.
Great.
So an angry customer calls you and you respond empathetically.
But that's just the first step.
What should you do next?
Let's keep listening.
Remember, Sandy has just said, I can see why that's frustrating.
That's great, but what I want to know is what are you going to do about it?
I'm at the end of my rope.
Yes, of course, sir.
Can you please explain the background so that I can get a clear understanding of the problem?
First, let's take a quick look at an idiom that Steve uses.
To be at the end of one's rope.
This means you've used up all your emotional energy or patience.
If you're very tired or very angry, you can say, I'm at the end of my rope.
Now remember, Sandy has already responded empathetically.
What's the next thing he needs to do?
He asked Steve a question.
Can you please explain the background so that I can get a better understanding of the problem?
This is the next step in dealing with a complaint on the phone, identifying the problem.
It serves two purposes.
First, you continue to acknowledge the customer's complaint and his emotions, which helps to calm him down.
Second, you find out any additional information about the problem that might help you solve it.
Frequently, when an angry customer first begins talking, He's too upset to present his ideas logically.
So it's up to you to dig deeper and find out all the information you need in order to help.
Let's listen to some more example phrases that we can use to identify the customer's complaint.
Can you please explain your complaint so that I can get a clear understanding of the problem?
Could you please just give me a little more background on this issue so that I can take care of the situation for you?
To help ensure that I can solve this problem to your satisfaction, please tell me a little more about what happened.
So that I can rectify your complaint to your satisfaction.
Could you please tell me a little more?
Perhaps there's something we can do to help.
So that I can be more helpful, could you please give me some more background?
In these example phrases, notice the strong use of collocations such as solve a problem and rectify this complaint.
Also, it's good to use such phrases as to help ensure that I can solve this problem to your satisfaction.
This clearly explains to the customer the benefit to them of identifying their complaint.
Be careful, however, to distinguish complaints from problems.
They're actually quite different and if a customer is complaining, it's important that you acknowledge that.
If you call a customer's complaint a problem, you just might make them more angry.
Good.
Now let's practice.
Listen to two more customers making typical complaints at a hotel.
After each complaint, give an empathetic response.
Then, use the language we just learned for identifying the complaint.
It's so noisy here that I can't sleep.
It's been going on for two hours.
You people forgot to give me a wake-up call.
Now my day is ruined.
Now let's listen to some example answers.
It's so noisy here that I can't sleep.
It's been going on for two hours.
I'm terribly sorry to hear that, sir.
That must be very frustrating.
So that I can solve this problem to your satisfaction.
Could you please give me a little more background?
What kind of noise do you hear?
You people forgot to give me a wake-up call.
Now my day is ruined.
I'm sorry to hear that.
That must have been very frustrating.
Let's see what we can do to help.
Could you please give me a little bit more background on your day?
Remember, in real life, it's very important to give more time to the empathetic response.
Depending on the person or situation, it may take two or three expressions of empathy to show the customer you are truly sympathetic and listening, in order to calm them down.
Before we finish the show today, let's take a look at one more thing that Sandy does very well.
Remember, he's just asked Steve to give him more background on the complaint.
Two hours ago, I called the front desk to get someone to turn on the heat in my room.
Two hours ago.
Mm-hmm.
I spoke to someone.
Jenna?
Jenna.
I see.
And she said it would be taken care of.
But it wasn't.
No.
I came back after dinner and it's still freezing in here.
I've got work to do.
I understand.
Sandy uses several strategies to show that he's listening.
He echoes Steve's words, repeating key points such as two hours ago and Jenna.
He uses sounds to show attention, such as mm-hmm.
And he participates actively in the conversations.
When Steve says, she said it would be taken care of, Sandy responds, but it wasn't.
These and more strategies were covered in BEP 45, which would be a good episode to review.
Listening actively helps calm the customer down because it tells the customer you do care.
And that's about it for today's show.
We've learned three strategies for dealing with angry customers and handling complaints on the phone.
We studied the empathetic response, identifying the customer complaint, and active listening.
Remember these strategies are useful no matter what business you're in and whether you're dealing with internal or external customers.
In the second part of this series, we'll learn three more important steps you can follow to completely resolve an angry complaint.
In the meantime, study hard.
Come to our website at wwwbusinessenglishpodcom, where you can pick up the study notes for this and other shows.
There you'll find more useful language, a complete transcript and exercises to further develop your skills.
Thanks again for listening.
See you again soon at Business English Pod.
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