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BPA Quality Monitoring White Paper

“Dealing with Grudge Customers”By: Craig Antonucci, CCO

The dictionary defines grudge as:

grudgegrej/nounDefinition: A persistent feeling of ill will or resentment resulting from a past insult or injury.

In many industries that have limited or no customer options, such as many utility companies, there is a subset of customers that are called Grudge Customers. These are customers who feel that they are captive, have no choice and are begrudgingly using a company for services.

A grudge is rooted in resentment, and in these cases is often unfounded. Despite this, the difficulty in dealing with this type of customer is real. These customers can drag the best agent down into a mire of negativity. To this, BPA Quality researched the best ways to deal with these difficult customers.

Best Ways to Deal with Grudge Customers 1

Best Ways to Deal with Grudge Customers 2

Kill Them With Kindness – While the urge may strike to jump down this angry customers throat, their unreasonable attitude can be disarmed with a constant barrage of kind words. As long as you are actively solving their problem, taking the high road and using positive words and phrases to take the customer down the road of solving their problem will greatly improve the overall experience for the agent and customer alike.

Don’t take it Personal – First and foremost, an agent must remember that this customer is mad at the world. They don’t know the agent and anything they say is born out of frustration. Never take anything the customer says personal. While some customers may cross the line of decency, it is not directed at the agent.

Don’t take it Personal – First and foremost, an agent must remember that this customer is mad at the world. They don’t know the agent and anything they say is born out of frustration. Never take anything the customer says personal. While some customers may cross the line of decency, it is not directed at the agent.

Let the Customer Talk – Half of the battle is to let the customer vent. Once you have identified the customer as a grudge customer (or just angry), the best approach is to sit back and let them talk. Be sure to listen as they will be providing tons of context to their dissatisfaction. Which leads to asking questions.

Ask Questions – A common mistake agents make when dealing with tough customers is getting flustered and rushing to the solution. Take a deep breath, focus and begin asking questions. Identify the root of the issue and learn about why it is such a problem for the customer. Once you get the answers, you will begin to understand the customer and develop a better sense of empathy for them.

Empathy not Sympathy, and then Move on – One of the most commonly misused criteria for a call, empathy is the act of understanding and assuring the customer that you are the one that can help. Sympathy is often used instead and simply saying, “I’m sorry,” won’t cut it for these difficult customers. Avoid apologizing and start understanding and associating their pain with the power you have to solve their problem. Once you have done this, be sure to move right into the solution itself and leave the sorry statements behind.

Command the Call – After the customer is done venting, you are done asking the questions, and you understand what do to, the best approach here is to take command. Like a leader in a crisis, the grudge customer wants action. Explain throughout the call what you are doing, why you are doing it and give them constant assurance that you will work through the problem to their satisfaction.

Best Ways to Deal with Grudge Customers

As the sphere of influence of the contact center and quality functions grow, covering all aspects of the business from; Sales, Marketing, Product Design, Legal and Compliance to the Customer Facing Operations so the need to capitalize on this key resource becomes more imperative.

The BPA Quality approach has proved to deliver real competitive advantage and outstanding results for our clients and their customer facing teams.

Our many years of specialized Contact Center Quality Assurance places us in a highly informed position; we have listened to millions of human customer contact situations, covering almost every customer type, having every conceivable difficulty or requirement.

We have also undertaken this activity internationally, covering 45 languages, so we understand the differences between customer service expectations across multiple cultures.

This activity has enabled us to gain a detailed knowledge of the behaviors and processes that drive positive customer experience and engagement and the development of effective quality and coaching programs.

Best Ways to Deal with Grudge Customers 3

About BPAWith over 28 years experience, over 100 different clients, and millions of observations made worldwide, BPA Quality has the experience, knowledge and ingenuity to help you achieve the highest possible Call Center Quality Customer Experience. BPA is the most experienced and qualified provider of Contact Center Quality Services worldwide.

Visit us today at www.bpaquality.com or contact us at 866.646.8509 in

North or South America, or +44 (0) 1404 44004 in the UK, Europe, Asia, Africa or Australia.

If you would like to learn more about this study, or any of the work that BPA Quality does in the utility industry, feel free to contact us via the information below.