Avoid Arguments
In all businesses, customers expect service that consistently meets their expectations. It doesn’t matter how many great products or services you offer them, they won’t remember those. They will, however, remember what happened when something went wrong.
And something will go wrong sometime or another. However, you have control over the situation based on the way you respond to this error.
When something bad happens, you might find that the customer gets in “attack mode” trying to push all the blame on you. While you might prefer to get defensive and put some blame on the customer as well (which might be the case), it is always better to accept fault and do your best to amend the situation.
A positive response will most likely cause the customer to re-examine his or her initial statement and back off of it a bit.
As Dale Carnegie says, “the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.” He also gives an interesting example:
“‘Frederick S. Parsons, an income tax consultant, had been disputing and wrangling for an hour with a government tax inspector. An item of nine thousand dollars was at stake. Mr. Parsons claimed that this nine thousand dollars was in reality a bad debt, that it would never be collected, that it ought not to be taxed. “Bad debt, my eye!” retorded the inspector. “It must be taxed.”
“This inspector was cold, arrogant, and stubborn,” Mr. Parsons said as he told the story to the class. “Reason was wasted and so were facts….The longer we argued, the more stubborn he became. So I decided to avoid argument, change the subject, and give him appreciation.”
“I said, ‘I suppose this is a very petty matter in comparison with the really important and difficult decisions you’re required to make. I’ve made a study of taxation myself. But I’ve had to get my knowledge from books. You are getting yours from the firing line of experience. I sometimes wish I had a joblike yours. It would teach me a lot.’ I meant every word I said.”
“Well. The inspector straighted up in his chair, leaned back, and talked for a long time about work, telling me of the clever frauds he had uncovered. His tone gradually became friendly, and presently he was telling me about his children. As he left, he advised me tht he would consider my problem further and give me his decision in a few days.”
“He called me at my office three days later and informed me that he had decided to leave the tax return exactly as it was filed.”‘
This story might not align exactly with the arguments that you get presented with in your everyday life. However, the way that he dealt with the argument is something that we can all learn from. By showing the customer that same appreciation you can disarm them and allow them to see your side without having to present it yourself.
Consistency is ideal. However, when something goes wrong it is still important to have the customer feel good about the situation. In the end, you’ll be better off making civil conversation than you will by getting defensive because of their dissatisfaction with your products or services.
