Answering tough questions is the easiest way to get noticed at your job. Maybe that’s good, if you do it well, and maybe that’s bad if you don’t do it well. If you want to brush up the tough questions answering skills, start here.
1. “Why don’t you have it in stock?” This is an accusatory question, because the object is focused on you and why you don’t have it in stock. This question can best be handled with the future present past technique. The answer might sound something like this.
“Mr. Customer it is my job to make sure that all of your parts orders are handled in timely manner. As of this moment, the part required to repair your widget is out of stock. Although we have met your needs in the past, we have dropped the ball on this one. This is what I can do. I will express ship the part to your address on a priority drop shipment and leave a discount for your next order in your file. How does that sound?”
Here I have moved away from a reply based on the “you” of the question and addressed “what” I can do about the situation.
2. “Why didn’t you or your company tell me?” Nearly every time I have ever heard this it was the result of an employee not being fully trained, not following procedure or just not following through. The real root of this question is that the person now distrusts you and your company, and is looking for a reassurance or a reason to re-engage that trust.
Your reply might sound like this. “Mr. Customer, we did not hold up our end of the relationship we share. It’s my job to make every effort to repair and regain your trust. I will personally handle all of your future requests until we straighten this out. Does that sound acceptable to you?” .
Here the future present past technique is reversed.
And don't get defensive. Look, if they are upset that you didn’t notify them about something, you standing there defending the indefensible is wasting their time and demonstrating that you have more interest in covering your butt than in repairing the relationship.
3. “Why did I pay less the last time I was here?” I hated hearing this question and actually I hate writing about it now. You and I both know that there are a million different reasons that prices change. However, if there has been say a 20% increase in the price of an item in the past week, you might have “some ‘splainin to do Lucy.” (unless you are an oil company)
Your answer might sound like this. “Mr. Customer, there is a price difference between this visit and your last visit. May I take a look at your files, receipt, record (whatever you have to use as a reference point)? Here is what I can do. We will credit your account for the difference on this increase, however, please be aware that future increases will occur from time to time as our costs change. Is that fair?”
It never was easy for me to talk about this subject, yet after I had dealt with it so many times, I felt that having a little script would be better than winging it. Don’t you agree?
4. “Can I have a refund on this item?” Another of those money questions. It’s not too hard to deal with if the item has been purchased recently. It’s much harder to do when the item is discontinued, 6 months or even a year old or worse yet, cannot be returned to stock and cannot be returned for an RFC. (Return For Credit)
There is one rule you have to follow. If the refund is due the Customer, GIVE IT TO THEM!
Don’t begrudgingly process the refund and then hand over the coin with a snide or sarcastic comment like “Thanks for you business.” (I actually witnessed that once at a retailer.) Or worse yet, BLAME THE CUSTOMER for asking for a refund. I witnessed that as well at a dealership.
If you know that the item cannot be returned for RFC or there has been an extremely long time since purchase, offer a compromise.
It might sound like this. “Mr. Customer, this part/product/service was purchased quite some time ago. What I propose is this. I can offer a 50% credit for the part/product/service on a purchase today or I can offer a store credit for 50% for a future purchase. Which would you prefer?” Giving them an alternative is the best way to tell them you care and are willing to help, but not get taken advantage of.
5. “You guys did it for me the last time I was here! Why can't you do it this time?” This is the other statement I absolutely hated to hear. It means that during the last visit something happened and someone either circumvented a policy, procedure or process to expedite a situation or take care of a situation.
Worse, you may have trained your Customer to expect the additional product or service every time they come in while setting a precedent if you have not followed the action steps below. In a court of law, precedence is paramount to proceeding.
You must properly explain to the Customer exactly WHAT you are doing and WHY you are doing it. You must properly DOCUMENT what service or product you provided. Documentation beats Conversation every time. Make sure that the word “favor” is not used. Do something once as a “favor” and you are cooking yourself in your own juice.
In Customer Service we don’t do “favors.” We provide a product, service or experience for a price. There are no favors. You either handle the request or you don’t. Great Customer Service Reps handle requests.
6. “You said the problem/product was fixed!” Yep, it happens. It didn’t get done right. In the car business, this is what’s known as a comeback.
This type of statement from the Customer is generally a statement of frustration, anger and fear. You said you were going to fix it and you didn’t. This is another one of those times when it is not in your best interests to defend the indefensible.
Acknowledge and make amends. “Mr. Customer, we’ve let you down. It’s my job to get this repaired/replaced/etc. and back to you as quick as possible. This is what I will do. I will order a new part/product/etc. or provide a new service and have it delivered/repaired/provided to you by the close of our business day today/tomorrow. In addition I am authorizing a rental/replacement etc. to take care of your immediate needs. How does that sound?”
Notice I did not go into a long winded apology. I said “we dropped the ball.” You can use anything along those lines as long as you acknowledge the Customer and their situation. The real thing they are looking for is for you to handle the request. Not a long winded sound byte.
7. “You said you were going to call me when the part/repair/service is completed!” The absolute worst thing you can hear as a Customer Service Professional.
The one thing you cannot do is not FOLLOW UP!
You can do everything right, from the greeting all the way to sending them out the door. If you have not followed up with them on something YOU are responsible for, all the schmoozing in the world will not make them trust you again and most likely they will move on somewhere else.
Every time I had a Customer in my office that had not been followed up with on something that was very important to them, the situation turned out badly. And by badly, I mean it cost 2 or 3 times as much to repair the situation than would have been spent if it had been handled properly. It might be that the best you can do is convince your Customer that you and your staff are incompetent. That’s the best! The worst you can do is to let them believe you DON”T CARE! Nice choice, huh!
It might sound like this. “Mr. Customer, I am not going to mince words here. We did not complete our end of this transaction. Here is what I am going to do. I will credit this transaction and ask you to extend some consideration in using us again. I am sure that we can meet our obligations to you as our Customer and earn back your trust.”
In all of those situations, you will want to acknowledge the Customer's disappointment, remain calm, set aside the emotion, deal with the facts, form an action statement of what you are going to do, offer the solution, ask for acceptance, confirm the result.
Those are seven of the top tough questions and some possible responses. Try them modify them to fit your situation or write your own scripts. For the manager, you might have some Lunch and Learns with a list of the top ten questions you face and role play some answers. It’s an easy way to have some training in house.
The important thing is to have some verbage in place and a real sincere desire to provide Professional Customer Service.
About the Author
Leonard Buchholz leads seminars in Customer Service, Attitude and Skills and Management. He also provides coaching and consulting in Customer Service. He resides in Southern California and you can reach him at 760-529-5635 or email him at selfemployedagent@cox.net.
译文:
面对客户尖锐的质问，你的回答游刃有余吗？
回答棘手问题是在工作中大展生手的好机会，如果处理的好，是件好事，如果处理的不好，就有麻烦了，想知道如何回答这类刁钻问题吗？好好听哦。
1.“干嘛不多存点货呢？”这是个指责性的问题，因为目标是你，为什么“你”不多存点货。这个问题最好从将来、现在、过去三方面来回答，你可以这样说：
“亲爱的顾客，我的职责是保证你预订的部件及时到位，但现在修理所需的部件没有库存，虽然我们曾经满足过你的需求，但这次我们失职了，我只能让快递把直运部件送到您那里，等您下次订单的时候给与折扣，这样处理您满意吗？”
这样就不用从“你”的角度出发，而是用我会“如何”处理来回答。
2.“为什么你或你的公司不告诉我呢？”基本上每次我听到这句话都是由于员工没有做到训练有素而引起的，有时不按章程办事，有时又太按部就班。这个问题的根源是客户不信任你和你的公司，希望寻找一个放心的理由。
你可以这样回答：“亲爱的顾客，我们没有做好自己的本分，我应该尽力去修复、重获您的信任，我个人会处理您以后所有的要求，直到你满意，这种解决办法您可以接受吗？”
这就是如何从将来、现在和过去三方面来处理问题。
不要辩解，如果客户因为你没有通知他而感到不满，你为自己辩护只是在浪费他们的时间，因为你只是一味的想要掩饰自己的错误，而不是尝试着弥补你们之间的关系。
3.“上次我来的时候为什么便宜？”我讨厌听到这个问题，实际上我连写的懒得写，你我都知道价格变动的原因成千上万，然而如果一个星期内货品价格上涨20%，没有人会无动于衷。
你可以这样回答：“亲爱的顾客，这次的价格和上次价格是有所不同，我可以看一下你的收据、记录（任何可以作参考的凭证）吗？我们会把之间的差价计到你的账上，但是由于我们成本的变动，以后时不时的价格也会上下有起伏，这样公平吗？”
每次谈到这个问题我都不太爽，但处理了多次这种情况后，我觉得事先有个准备总比临时搪塞的好，不是吗？
4.“这个可以退款吗？”又是一个关于钱的问题。如果东西是最近才买的话，处理起来还不是太棘手，但如果东西已经损害，而且买了6个月，甚至是一年的话，根本无法退回到仓库，也不能退还现金。
这时就只有一种办法了，如果顾客退款要求正当，那就退呗！
不要吝啬这点退款，也不要边退钱边说些讽刺的话，如“谢谢您啊”（我曾经亲眼目睹过一个零售商这样说），更糟的是谴责要求退款的顾客，一家代理商就做过这样的事情。
如果由于购买时间太长或其他原因不能退货、退款，那么就找个折中的方法。
你可以这样回答：“亲爱的顾客，这个部件/产品/服务购买时间太长了，要么这样，你是想今天买部件/产品/服务得到50%现金折扣，还是下一次买东西的时候打五折，两者选一个吧。”给顾客一个选择，告诉他们这件事情你很在意，也愿意提供帮助，但是千万别被利用了。
5.“上次有人是这样做的呀！这次你为什么不能这样做呢？”这是另一个我讨厌听到的问题，这就告诉你，上次你同事灵活运用政策、手续或其他方法帮我解决了这个问题，这次你看着办吧。
一有了这样的先例之后，如果你不采用以下对策，那么每次顾客都会要求你提供额外产品或服务。
此时必须适当的向顾客解释，你在做什么，为什么要这样做，还要为你提供的服务或产品提供文字证明，文件每次都比口头说明有力，千万不要用“帮忙”这个词，这样只会让你搬起石头砸自己的脚。
在客户服务中我们从不免费帮忙，我们提供的产品、服务或是体验都是有偿的，并不是无偿的，处不处理这些要求都随你便，但优秀的客户服务代表都能应对这些要求。
6.“你说问题/产品已经解决/修理好啦！”顾客说这句话通常表现出他们的失望，气氛和恐惧。你说你已经修好了，但事实没有。此时你也无需为自己辩解。
承认错误并给与赔偿，“亲爱的顾客，我们让你失望了，我应该把这个修好/换好…然后尽快送还给你，现在我这样处理：为您定一个新的部件/产品…或重新服务，并在今天我们打烊前送到/修好…另外您有需要可以先租/使用替代品，这样可以吗？”
注意我没有一直抱歉，我只是说“让您失望了”，只要你认清了顾客和所处的情况，那么表达出抱歉的意思就好，重点是你是否能满足他们的要求，不停的抱歉没有任何意义。
7.“你说过部件/修理/服务完成了就打电话来通知我的！”作为专业的客户服务人员，没有什么比听到这句话更糟糕的事了。
绝对不能不跟进客户要求啊。
就算一路上低头哈腰，但一旦你没有做到及时跟进客户要求，那么很难让顾客再次信任你，大多数情况下他们会转向其他方面寻求帮助。
每次办公室来了因为没有跟进他们认为十分重要的事情而倍感不满的客户，情况就会急转直下，处理这种情况通常要花平常的2、3倍精力，这时你最好承认自己和员工无法胜任，无能为力，要么就表现出一幅无所谓的样子，随你选啦。
你可以这样回答：“亲爱的顾客，我不想拐弯抹角，这次确实是我们失职，这么办你看好吗，先赊购货品，希望你以后再和我们合作，我相信我们一定能够尽到自己的职责，赢回您的信任。”
在这些情况下，你要了解客户的失望，保持冷静，把情绪放一边，面对事实，告诉对方你将采取什么措施，提供解决方案，寻求宽容，确认结果。
这就是7大棘手问题及其答案，尝试着这样去回答，并作些修改以适用于特定情况，作为经理，你可以在午间学习会上提出自己所遇到的10大问题和解决方法，内部训练其实很容易。
其实最重要的还是要有一颗为客户提供专业客户服务的真心。