ASAP kennen Sie wahrscheinlich als Abkürzung für „as soon as possible“ – so schnell wie möglich. Doch dieses Kürzel kann Ihnen auch helfen, aufgebrachten Kunden professionell Ihre Hilfe anzubieten. So wenden Sie ASAP beim Umgang mit Kunden an.
You probably know ASAP (or ‘asap’) as the abbreviation for ‘as soon as possible’. American communication specialist Nancy Friedman has turned these four letters into tips for people working in customer service to deal with angry customers.
Virtually everyone who works in customer services has at one time or another been the target of a customer’s anger. It’s vital to realise that an angry customer is not angry with you butwith the situation, says Nancy. You can defuse a customer’s anger with her ASAP (acknowledge, sympathise, accept, prepare) method. Try it out next time you want to help an angry customer.
- Acknowledge that the situation has made the customer angry. Smooth the caller’s ruffled feathers with statements like, “I’m sorry this happened. Let’s see what I can do to help fix it.”
- Sympathise with the customer’s feelings. Even if he or she has created the problem, show you are sympathetic with a phrase like, “I can understand how frustrating this is for you.”
- Accept responsibility for handling the situation. Don’t blame another department or even the customer, even if it is warranted. You have been presented with the problem, so take responsibility for trying to solve it.
- Prepare to take action. Reintroduce yourself to the angry customer and affirm your willingness to take action. Use a phrase like, “I am Maria and I’ll be glad to help you with this situation.”
If you demonstrate awilling attitude to help youwill create a relationship between yourself and the customer. The customer’s anger should begin to de-escalate if they feel you are taking them seriously and really listening.