What Is The “Distraction Technique” and What Is It Used For?
The Distraction Technique is one of a family of verbal self defense techniques we teach readers of our books. It’s function is to get the angry or upset customer to slow down, move his attention away from his anger and his attack, and begin the process of bringing control of the interaction back to the customer service representative.
Briefly, the technique involves directing the attention of the irate customer to something concrete and physical — for example, a computer screen, brochure, file, etc, pointing to it and cueing the customer that it is important in a verbal way. Generally coupled with an empathy statement, as in:
“Mr. Smith, I can see you’re upset. If you take a look at this (points), you’ll see that on October 28, you were billed for…”
Once the customer stops talking or slows down, the CSR can switch to address the specifics of the issue.
