How Tactful and Diplomatic Are You? Self-Assessment Quiz from Dale Carnegie

Mastering communication skills can improve your professional image and expand your authority.  Your ability to navigate through difficult situations, build consensus, and manage change can create powerful results for your organization.  Knowing your strengths and weaknesses can help establish more effective communication with your co-workers and colleagues.

Creating Loyal Customers

Sixty-eight percent of customers leave because of what they perceive as indifference from the merchant or someone within the merchant's organization. They feel unappreciated, unimportant, and taken-for-granted. (Source: Research by Dan S. Kennedy)

Today's customer is more educated, better prepared, and has more alternatives than at any other time. Given the complexity of the marketplace, it is not enough to merely satisfy your customers. You must turn them into fans, who will not only remain loyal to your product or service, but who will spread the good word about your company. You need to exceed expectations, show customers you care, and provide exceptional customer service. You need every good word you can get in this turbulent market!

Challenges to achieving high levels of customer focus and loyalty generally fall under one or more of the following areas:

Process: How your company or organization operates on a daily basis. This includes how your company communicates and aligns the features and value of the product or service with your customers' expectations.
 
Roles: Who does what in your company or organization? Your employees must agree on tasks and responsibilities and hold employees accountable to those priorities.
 
Interpersonal Issues: How your customer service personnel get along with each other and with other departments. This includes their attitude, teamwork, and loyalty.
 
Direction: How your company defines and communicates its overall and departmental vision and mission.  

External Pressures: In addition to market conditions, other sources of pressure include the availability of resources such as time and money. You may or may not be in control of the availability of these resources.

Keys to creating top-notch customer service are: BE SURE!

Broad product knowledge through insights into what your product or service can and cannot do.
 
Extreme desire to help. Show your goodwill, passion, and eagerness to please.
 
Sincere interest in your customer's situation. Don't assume the customer is simply being unreasonable when they may have a very good reason to be upset.
 
Understand customer expectations, which may be extremely demanding in these challenging times.
 
Respect for the customer's point of view.
 
Empowered with authority to provide answers, solutions, and any other help.

Tips for Dealing With an Upset Customer

From time to time, you will have to deal with a customer or client who is very upset. No matter who is to blame, it is always important to keep a few principles in mind to improve rather than deteriorate the situation with the customer. Here are some tips for dealing with an upset customer:

1. Stay calm. Try to remain diplomatic and polite. Getting angry will only make the customer angrier.
2. Try to see things from the customer's point of view. Perhaps you would also feel upset if you were in the same situation.
3. Thank the person for raising the concern and do it sincerely. Emphasize the importance of satisfied customers to you and your organization.
4. Listen for understanding. Sometimes the irate caller just wants someone to listen to their story, even if you are unable to help them.
5. Ask questions to get their facts and feelings. Listen to learn rather than to prepare your response. Don't respond too quickly.
6. Find points of agreement with their concerns. Establish common ground to show the person you are listening.
7. Always show a willingness to resolve the problem or conflict. Make the resolution seem as easy as possible.
8. Be genuine and show your personality. Respond as an understanding friend rather than by citing policies.
9. Be firm but understanding with your answers.
10. As a last resort, offer to have your supervisor talk to the caller. Your supervisor may say the same things, but sometimes hearing it from someone else has a positive effect on the customer.