This is a free excerpt from the Defusing Hostile Customer Workbook. While the book is written for use in the government context, you’ll find that the techniques, principles and tactics explained within
are applicable to customer service and angry customers in any context or sector.
Preface To The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook – Third Edition – 2010
Written originally in 1995, and updated in 1998, Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook for The Public Sector has continued to be in demand, despite limited availability. It just keeps on selling, and I think one reason is that few authors or writers are interested in writing books intended to help people in the public sector interact more effectively with members of the public — their customers. There wasn’t much competition when this book was written originally in 1995, and there isn’t much competition now.
There are other reasons this book has been popular. The content is unique, even within the broader context of customer service across industries, accounting for why so many purchasers are not actually IN the public sector, but still want this book. While we cover a lot of basic techniques to deal with the difficult and unpleasant customers, we also include a number of advanced tactics that most people have never really heard of or seen, because we’ve adapted them from Psychology or Psycholinguistics.
Add to the mix that the book is a true workbook, with exercises and ‘job work’, and really is a “seminar” in a book, and you have the reasons for the ongoing popularity of this title.
But Things Change — About This Edition
Things change though, perhaps not as much as some people would like us to believe, but certainly, there are new technologies to contend with, even if people haven’t changed quite so much. Like everyone else, our ideas grow and change too, and that’s a major reason for the writing of this new 2010 edition.
It was just time to do a major rewrite of the book, improve the writing, and add updated material that reflects our improved understanding of customer behavior. Since we had to do a major overhaul, we also decided to increase the availability of this book by accessing other distribution channels, and to publish it so it could be available through online resellers and offline bookstores.
Overall we’ve added about 20% new material, and there are now 117 tactics compared to 80 in the earlier editions. We’ve made better use of the pages by removing a lot of empty space, and editing the text so it’s tighter, and that’s how we were able to add material without increasing the page count.
It is a MUCH better book now and I very much hope that you and your colleagues will benefit by staying saner, safer, and becoming more effective in dealing with a public that still does not easily trust those who work in government.
I’d love to hear from you. Drop us a line at ceo@work911.com.
Robert Bacal
March, 2010
Casselman, Ontario, Canada
Chapter I – Overview
In
this introductory chapter from Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook, we discuss the difference between working in the private and public sectors, and how to use this workbook to improve your defusing hostility skills.
What’s Happening Out There?
A casual observer of our society might conclude that we become more aggressive, more abusive, and less tolerant of frustration over time. As a government employee you probably wonder what the heck is happening with people. It seems that angry, hostile and abusive behavior is increasing, and government employees are convenient targets for the frustrated and angry.
Severe situations are occurring more often ‑‑ hostage takings, threats of violence, and physical violence are increasing, although they are still rare. Verbal abuse of employees is on the rise, and while we don’t see this kind of abuse reported in the media, it is becoming more common. It’s a hidden form of abuse. For those in adversarial or regulatory roles with respect to customers, verbal abuse is often an everyday occurrence.
This trend is likely to continue and it gets worse when the economy is bumpy.
The Government Context
There is no question that government staff work under different constraints than those in the private sector. You may be in an enforcement position, obliged to identify breaches of legislation or government regulations. You may be in the position of determining financial benefits for people that will have an effect on the well‑being of those people and their families. Or, perhaps you work in an administrative job within a department that carries out tasks that annoy the public.
Government departments have far more impact on people’s lives than, let’s say, a Zellers, or a Canadian Tire. As such, those that work in government operate as magnets for hostility, both from direct customers, and from the media. These days, each city seems to have a self‑appointed champion of the people who “investigates” government decisions. Every talk show host takes “shots” at some aspect of government. Government “bashing” has become a favorite pastime of both print and radio journalists.
Apart from being under the microscope, you don’t have the flexibility of private sector employees. While Wal‑Mart can take the position that the customer is always right, your customers are not always right, and you can’t always meet their requests without breaking the laws you may be charged to enforce. You don’t give refunds on purchases, or replace a product if the customer doesn’t like it. Often you can’t forward their comments and suggestions to senior government officials and politicians because you don’t have the access. In a bureaucratic hierarchy, the policy makers and decision makers are not easily accessible to government employees who deal directly with the public.
It’s a tough situation. The public seems to want more even though staff and other resources are being cut. Governments and those that work in them are blamed for everything. Chances are that your customers have to wait longer to receive service. Or, your department may no longer offer the service that customers expect. Or, you now charge for services that used to be free.
People don’t like it, and they take it out on you because you’re handy and the “face” of the government with which they are angry.
Who Pays The Price?
Employees on the “firing line” deal with the stresses, great and small, resulting from dealing with angry, frustrated customers. Angry customers eat up lots of organizational time and energy, particularly when they decide to climb the organizational ladder with their complaints. Employee safety can be threatened by angry customers. It just isn’t fun, and it’s no laughing matter. You pay the price. As do your co-workers, managers, and even other customers who are delayed by angry customers.
You CAN Do Something About It
It may seem you can do little to defuse the anger and hostility of customers. It seems to be set off by the smallest things, it seems unpredictable. The truth of the matter is that employees can do things to defuse the anger and reduce abusive behavior. People can learn to act in ways that reduce this kind of behavior, and ensure that they don’t do anything that will result in an unpleasant situation going ballistic.
That’s what this book is about. It was written to help you deal more capably with hostile situations so you can reduce your stress levels, protect your time, reduce the occurrences of crisis situations, and enhance the reputation of your organization.
You should know that it takes some time to learn how to deal with these situations and it takes diligence and effort, but it isn’t hard. Most people can learn the defusing skills, and put them into effect. Our goal is to become practiced in defusing hostility so it becomes second nature. Over time effective defusing responses replace less effective ones.
Using The Workbook
The material in this book is drawn from a number of sources, not the least of which is the experience of several thousand public sector employees who have participated in my seminar called Defusing Hostility Customers.
The book you are holding will provide you with a better understanding of angry behavior, and will present a number of strategies and tactics you can use with hostile people. Most chapters include exercises you can do to “practice” the thinking skills needed to use these strategies and tactics. We have provided answers for many of the exercises so you can evaluate your own progress. These can be found in Appendix A at the back of the book.
Keep in mind that many of the exercises can have several “right answers”. While your answer may be different than the one provided at the back of the book, it may not be “wrong”.
So we recommend the following:
always read the relevant chapter in this book before trying the exercises that follow each chapter.
do the exercises! You will learn and retain more if you actually write out your answers to the exercises.
read only a chapter or two at a time before doing the exercises. We suggest that you read a chapter, make some notes, then do the exercises for the chapter. Don’t overload yourself. Retention is best if you do a bit at a time.
Caveats
There are no hard rules that you apply “automatically” to defuse angry customers. Each hostile situation is different. You must use your own judgment to determine what you ought to do. There is no magic solution, no cookbook approach that works each time. This book includes tactics and techniques you can use, but you must decide when and how to implement the techniques when the time comes. I can’t do that for you.
You can get better at it, and reap the benefits. There are few things more satisfying than successfully dealing with an angry customer so they leave relatively satisfied.
Important Note On Safety
It is important — very important — that you consider safety as a bottom line. Your safety and the safety of other staff, customers and members of the public is paramount. There will be times when it will be impossible to defuse someone, particularly if he or she is prone to violence, or mental instability. While I can sit at my keyboard extolling the virtues of gentle approaches to defusing hostility, you must always be concerned with safety, and must do what is necessary to keep everyone safe. Always err on the side of safety!
Final Note
I hope you will find this material useful. If you require more assistance, consider taking the Defusing Hostile Customers seminar. For more information, or if you have comments and suggestions, I can be contacted at:
Bacal & Associates, 722 St. Isidore Rd
Casselman, Ontario
Canada, K0A 1M0
(613) 764-0241
E-mail: ceo@work911.com Website: https://customerservicezone.com
