Dealing Politely with Difficult People

陳豪在北京的ABC美國公司工作。美國同事Amy今天來找他。

(Office ambience)

A：Chen Hao, how is everything going with your new responsibilities? I heard that you have been asked to handle our customer complaints.

CH：這個差事可真不好干。不知道老板干嘛讓我跟投訴的顧客打交道。

A：I think you were asked because you are concerned about being courtesy and polite.

C：可是顧客在電話里大吵大鬧的時候，要繼續保持禮貌，還真需要訓練有素才行。

A：What kind of challenges have you had?

C：很多時候，投訴的人打電話過來，其實我已經知道該怎么解決他們的問題了，可他們就是不聽我講話，沒完沒了地抱怨。

A：You need to let them vent.

C：Vent? 什么是vent?

A：It means to let people express their feelings or emotions.

C：那我就得耐心等他們把怨氣全都發泄出來嗎？

A：That's right. Don't interrupt them even when you understand the problem and the solution.

C：那不是浪費時間嗎！

A：When people are angry or upset, they need to talk about it. If you listen patiently, by the time most people get to the end of their tirade, they feel better and are not nearly so upset.

C：我要是中途打斷他們呢？

A：They think you are not listening to them. And when you interrupt, you may miss an important detail that will help you deal with the problem.

C：那倒是。有時候我沒聽完就下結論，往往都是錯的。

A：When your customers realize that you are listening and caring about their problem, they often calm down.

C：你在這方面好像很有經驗，下午有時間再給我講講！

A：Sure.

******

下班后，陳豪又碰到Amy。

C：Amy，今天天氣真好，咱們走路回家吧！

A：That sounds good to me. So what other questions do you have about handling difficult situations with good manners and customer service?

C：有時候顧客蠻不講理，就好像一切都是我的錯。

A：You need to realize that the customer does not care whose fault it is. It's ABC's fault and you represent ABC to them.

C：那我該怎么跟他們解釋呢？

A：Simple. You apologize.

C：Apologize? 明明不是我的錯，我還得道歉。這不是替人受過嗎！

A：And be sure that you sound sincere. People can tell by your tone of voice if you mean it or not.

C：還有什么其他建議嗎？

A：Let them know exactly what steps will be taken to correct the situation and whom to contact if it is not resolved.

C：需要注意的事情真是太多了。Amy, 你能總結一下嗎？

A：Listen patiently to your customers. Apologize and take responsibility. Let them know how the problem will be resolved.