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Handling irate customers

Nobody likes dealing with angry customers. But if you work in customer service, it’s part of your job.

Here are four tips that make talking to angry customers easier.

Remember that customers aren’t always right

No. The old saying isn’t true – customers aren’t always right. But they are always customers. Without them, you wouldn’t be in business. So treat all customers respectfully, even when they’re wrong. Never say “you’re wrong,” “that’s wrong” or “you’ve made a mistake.” Words like this trigger a shame reaction – which many customers deal with by becoming angry. Instead say “I’m sorry you got that impression,” “I’ll talk you through what happened” or “I’d like to clarify something.” Quickly move on to solving the problem, rather than dwelling on what caused it.

12/10/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertiveness • assertiveness training • bullying at work • conflict at work • dealing with difficult people • difficult people • handling bullies • workplace bullying • workplace conflict 0 Comments

Workplace mobbing

Chris and Ross are furious. They’ve both applied for the team leader role. But the job has been given to Brett.

Brett is the youngest member of the team. To Chris and Ross, this means he wasn’t entitled to a promotion. Rather than expressing their anger openly, they resort to passive aggressive tactics. These include deliberately making mistakes, pretending to forget important deadlines and muttering ‘care factor zero’ when Brett talks to the team.

12/10/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • assertiveness trainers • assertiveness training • communication skills • communication skills trainers • communication skills training • confident communication • dealing with difficult people • giving feedback • passive-aggression • passive-aggressive people • presentation skills • public speaking 0 Comments

How to ‘call’ bad behaviour

Psychologists recommend ‘calling out’ passive aggressive people on their tactics. How can you do this without creating conflict?

There are four steps involved in calling out poor behaviour assertively and calmly.

10/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • boundary setting • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • difficult people • email communication • emotional intelligence • professional communication • rude colleagues • setting boundaries 0 Comments

Break the rude email cycle

Terence was furious. He’d just received another abrupt, demanding email from his colleague, Tamara. He was fed up with her tone.

Terence came to me for advice on how to handle Tamara. Over three coaching sessions, he learned how to manage her behaviour professionally and assertively. Here are the steps Terence used to request that Tamara change her ways. You can use the same steps to handle colleagues who send rude emails.

10/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertiveness • boundary setting • communication skills training • emotional intelligence • saying no • setting boundaries • setting limits • time management • women in business 0 Comments

How to say no

Meredith was a Human Resources consultant. She was passionate about supporting her clients. But this meant that she often said ‘yes’ to work she had little time to do. She was working long and starting to feel burnt out.

Meredith was taking on some projects to keep her clients happy, even though those projects fell outside her core area of expertise. This meant she was working excessive hours in order to master them. It was time Meredith started saying ‘no’ to these projects. She came to one of my communication skills training sessions. Here are some of the ideas Meredith picked up. You can use the same principles to say no to time-wasting tasks in your job, too.

09/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication coaching • communication skills • communication skills training • difficult people • emotional intelligence • influencing skills • persuasion 0 Comments

Trish needed to break news her clients didn’t want to hear. She wondered how to make the process easier.

Although Trish was an auditor, her question was one many professionals ask. Doctors, lawyers and Human Resources practitioners are just three examples of people who regularly need to deliver unpopular messages. Does your work involve breaking bad news or giving critical feedback? Then you’ll be interested in the advice we gave Trish’s team in their custom-designed training program.

09/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication skills • difficult people • neuro linguistic programming • NLP • NLP training 0 Comments

Rapport building improves business results: A case study

If you want better results with people, learning how to build rapport can reap great results. Take Craig, for example. He was a freelance IT consultant who wanted help in getting on with his clients. Craig had difficulty managing his clients’ expectations. For example, he was frequently irritated by clients who ‘couldn’t’ describe what they wanted. What he wasn’t acknowledging was that people who could outline their needs accurately probably wouldn’t need his services in the first place!

08/09/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • boundary setting • communication skills • conflict resolution • customer service training • difficult people • emotional intelligence • professional communication • rude customers • setting boundaries 0 Comments

Replying to rude emails: your chance to look professional

Yes, reading a rude email can push your buttons. But before you hit ‘reply’ remember that this is your chance to look good. Remember the power of the written word and keep your reply calm, cool and collected with these tips.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertiveness • boundary setting • communication skills training • emotional intelligence • saying no • setting boundaries • setting limits • time management • women in business 0 Comments

Guilt-Free Ways to Say No

Finding it difficult to turn people down? Here’s how to say no when you need to.

The direct no

You may sometimes feel you need to explain why you’re saying no. The problem is, explanations are often heard as excuses. For some people, your excuse is an opportunity to persuade you to say ‘yes’.

A direct approach is often needed. And some ways of saying ‘no’ work better than others. Saying ‘I can’t/won’t’ gets straight to the point but the most likely instant response will be ‘why not?’ Before you know it, you’re in explanation territory again.

31/08/2016 By Eleanor Shakiba COMMUNICATION assertive communication • assertiveness • communication skills • communication skills training • conflict resolution • conflict resolution training • emotional intelligence • leadership • team building • team conflict • team dynamics • workplace conflict 0 Comments

The FAST way to sort out conflict

Negotiation can be challenging, particularly in a conflict situation. Using FAST principles will help you keep the conversation in ‘okay’ mode.

Focus on one issue at a time

Difficult negotiations can be derailed by side issues. So you need to focus and keep the conversation focussed on one thing at a time. Sometimes, during conflict, the other person deliberately tries to take the conversation off-track. But you can prevent diversions by identifying the key issue which needs to be resolved.

Tag: assertiveness