Reply To: Paralyzed for words in priority situations at work

[blackdog]

@jensters1205

Start by taking a deep breath. In fact, take several of them. In……and out…..in…..and out….. 😉

I have spent far to long working in retail and food service. I have almost lost all faith in humanity. But I have developed a few tricks to help deal with “those people” so that I don’t freeze up or blow up.

First of all, if you know the complaint is coming, take a few seconds to compose yourself before you walk over to talk to the customer. Put your best “how may I help you?” face on and breathe deep. I always find that doing the exact opposite of what I want to do helps. What I want to do is choke them. What I do is be super nice- while picturing my hands around their throat in my mind.

Take everything they say as if it is dead serious, even when it is stupid. If you are having trouble focusing on what they are saying, take notes. They love it when you take notes because they think you are actually doing something. And ask them to repeat if necessary. “So let me make sure I have this right. You were here yesterday and….”

Now, I was never the top manager, so I had an easy out by saying “Let me take down your name and number and I’ll have the manager call you”. Then it was out of my hands. But when you have to deal with it yourself the key is too find out what will make them happy. Sometimes just feeling like they have been heard is enough.

In the situation where the customer called your employee stupid, for example, I would find out what the employee did and then explain it somehow. “Okay, I see. I’m sorry, she’s new (even if she isn’t) and she doesn’t quite understand how to do that yet. So I will speak with her and make sure she knows for next time. Thank you for bringing it to my attention…” Unless they are really rude and nasty in which case I would kick them out. I will not tolerate verbal abuse towards me or someone on my staff.

What other steps you can take to take them happy depends on your employer. My last employer expected us to just hand over everything but the keys to the store, whatever it took to make them happy. Not a good policy in my opinion.

If you really just can’t do anything to make them happy, give them the contact information for your head office and let them call/email and bitch at someone else. As long as you have done everything you can you should have nothing to worry about. Most people never follow through anyway.

Unfortunately there is always the chance that one of these idiots will get you fired. That goes with the territory in a society that believes “the customer is always right”. I really wish people would stop and think before they dump all their frustrations onto some poor person who is just doing the best they can to earn a living. I never complain about staff in stores/restaurants unless they do something that is seriously wrong.

It would also be nice if more people would call head office to compliment an employee when they do a good job once in awhile.

Always feel free to come here and vent where is is safe to do so. Just letting go of that stress will make it easier for you to get through your day. And remember, they are the ones who are in the wrong and you are the better person for treating them with respect. Look at it as setting an example, teaching them how to behave properly towards another human being. 🙂

Namaste

 

 

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