Sales executives often find themselves clueless when it comes to handling an enraged customer. One often wonders whether one should offer an explanation that clearly does nothing to ameliorate the situation but adds more fuel to fire, or should one just keep quiet and listen to the tirade of the flustered customer, which is many a time, unreasonable. Let me share from experience which approach works best.
It is not possible for a person to carry on an angry soliloquy for many minutes. The enraged state is as it is, extremely draining for a person. Add to it the strain of speaking on a loud pitch, due to anger, for a longer time, and other challenges such as a busy day at work, the usual grind and other similar circumstances. These all imply that a person cannot speak in a flustered condition for a long time.
However, when we give a response while an enraged monologue is issuing from the lips of an angry customer/client, we press the reset button for him/her. We give a temporary relief to the strain, and he/she gathers second wind and begins again a long complaining speech. It is for this reason that most sales executives struggle with a customer who is in the middle of a fit of rage. The former usually interject the customer’s/client’s long complaint with an apology or an explanation, thereby, giving him/her a respite, following which, the latter launches another spate of verbal attack on the sales executive.
The best course of action in such circumstances is to keep quiet and allow the customer to speak out his/her anger to his/her heart’s content. One should maintain an attentive yet unaffected stance during these moments. A sales executive should not interrupt the flow of the angry words, but should not also come across as dismissive, inconsiderate and disrespectful at such times. Like any storm, the raging customer/client will exhaust himself/herself, and after that, will eventually return to his/her normal self.
An experienced sales executive will use nonverbal communication and his/her body language to convey attention and engagement with the client/customer, but never interject in between his/her angry monologue. The same technique can be used while interaction over the phone with an enraged client/customer. One should offer complete pin-drop silence while listening to the anger spewed from the other end of the line. And, as soon as the customer checks whether someone is actually listening to him/her, the listener, in this case the sales executive, should promptly confirm his/her presence.
There are two vital outcomes, especially for a sale deal, that emerge from this approach. Firstly, the angry customer has shared sensitive information or ‘black swans’ about his/her feelings regarding the sale/negotiation talk. This allows the sales executive to address these fears, anxieties and apprehensions in a prepared manner, which results in greater success. Secondly, the client/customer has given away his/her position of power in the sale/negotiation talk by behaving in an unreasonable manner. The sales executive, on the other hand, has come to acquire a better position, especially emotionally, in the discussion by remaining calm and quiet. The former becomes conscious and even regretful of his/her enraged behavior, in many cases.
Thus, a bit of a quiet goes a long way in retaining a customer and getting good business from him/her. The technique is equally effective in managing interaction with an angry person in the personal sphere of life.
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