It does not matter what type of business you work in, medical office, post office, fast food restaurant, retail shop, when you have demanding customers they can take a toll on you. What is a good practice management solution to serving these types of customers? I happen to work in a medical office and today our physician said that he had some of the most unrealistic, demanding patients he had ever encountered. I think you probably know the types I am referring to; they know more than you, they want you to give them more time than you do with anyone else, they argue with everything you say and you are the professional in your field, and they want you to give them something for free. How do you handle people like this and not lose your cool? That is exactly what I asked my employer. What did you tell these people who came to you for advice and not only didn’t want to listen to it, but demanded that you give them what they wanted and see things their way instead? He said ” I let them know what I could do for them and what I could not do and that they either bought into the plan or I would be happy to give them a referral to someone else.” I thought about what he said and realized that this was a great way to handle demanding customers.
Think this through with me; a customer comes into your store and wants to buy an insulated water bottle. You show them what you have and then they begin to argue that there are other bottles that are better than what you have to offer and you should be able to provide customers with this certain bottle that “they” think is the best and they want you to order that certain bottle for them. Wow…pushy or what? Now you have a choice, either you are intimidated by this customer and try to see if you can order just one of these bottle to please them or you can nicely let them know what exactly you can do for them. It is okay not to meet the unrealistic demands of some customers. You just need to let them know what it is that you can do for them upfront and right away, and what you cannot do, then it is their choice as to what they do.
There is never a good reason to banter back-and-forth with a customer it only makes for frustration on your part and possible anger on theirs. You will lose customers occasionally, but isn’t it better to lose them quickly than to have them create a scene or for them to drag you down by getting you to bite-their-bait and taking you for a run that will actually take you no where, but exhaustion? The answer is yes, not only do you win by not going down the dreaded road to no where with them, but you also win by saving time when you give them direct answers and move them on their way quickly.
My employer said that over the many years of treating patients, he has learned that you cannot always provide the answers or fixes that people are looking and demanding from you. So why not do everyone at big favor by stating so right from the beginning so that everyone can move on? Sounds like pretty good advice to me. Be honest, provide the information of what you can do and what you cannot and let the customer decide what they want to do, at least you have done your part. Remember you cannot please everyone.
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