Viewpoint
The Customer is King, but are we just pawns? How the Middle East’s PR practitioners handle difficult clients
by Nidal Abou Zaki
Managing Director of Orient Planet
The Middle East’s PR community has been constantly waging a difficult war against “customer attrition,” or the loss of clients or customers, especially since the emergence of the global downturn. Industry-wide campaigns for improved retention have significantly escalated over the past years, driven by various factors such as unpredictable markets, globalization, and rapid shifts in audience profiles. These efforts are vital given the affirmation of both research and experience that the cost of retaining an existing customer is far less compared to that of acquiring a new one.
Given these challenging times, our line of business needs to abide more by the “customer is king” attitude adopted by a majority of industries, a total digression from the aggressive “shareholders rule” mentality that built some global corporate empires in the 1980s and 1990s. This mindset continuously challenges us to develop and enhance strategies and services that promote client satisfaction and loyalty. However, this daunting task can be further complicated by numerous factors such as the emergence of difficult clients, who can turn out to be either operational eye-openers or burdens depending on how they are handled.
In the highly visible PR world, we constantly face the possibility of dealing with tough customers. The saying that “you cannot please everybody” applies very much to our line of work. We all have our own stories of unreasonable customers who disregard respect and professionalism. But does the “King” concept translate to automatic submission from our side?
This is definitely a sensitive area which relies more on diplomacy and level-headedness rather than brute force. As PR professionals, we should know how to respond when the very source and core of our business becomes a complication. So how do we go about handling difficult clients?
It is imperative that long before any untoward situations occur, we should have already established clear and constant communications with the client, which facilitates open discussions on all kinds of issues. Armed with an effective communication channel, the agency or professional can easily proceed to engaging the client. An important thing to keep in mind at this stage is to be professional at all times; even the soundest logic will not prevail when emotions are allowed to direct words and actions.
Difficult customers fall under numerous categories, which include egocentrics, know-it-alls, picky people, fault-finders, and constant complainers. For the PR professional, some of the general types are the “chatter box,” the “rude customer,” and the “very difficult customer.” These three profiles require unique strategies to manage, but there are ground rules that apply to them all.
A primary dictum is to not take customers’ remarks personally; difficult clients normally have issues with the service, the company, or even themselves that are just projected onto the representative or agent. Respondents should remember that they have the necessary skills to perform their jobs; they should not allow customers to make
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them feel inadequate. It is also essential to write down complaints or concerns; this reflects a genuine sensitivity to client needs and conveys professionalism. If the customer continues to become more difficult, then the assistance of a supervisor or any available management representative should be acquired. This both protects the agent and affirms that the customer is being treated with importance.
For “rude customers,” PR practitioners should be professionally detached, stay polite, and keep on offering possible solutions based on objective or factual points. A crucial attitude is to simply ignore the rudeness and keep in mind that offensive customers show the same demeanor towards every person that deals with them. The goal should not be to change the personality of the client, but rather to let them feel that they have obtained what they want or have been listened to and accommodated.
The “very difficult customers” are the hardest to handle, but PR professionals have to bear in mind that these types of people are difficult for a reason; oftentimes they are just scared, anxious or frustrated over a certain problem and will remain difficult until an acceptable solution to their situation is presented. If such clients remain in an agitated state, it is most probably because they feel that they are not being listened to; all means should thus be used to convince them otherwise.
Of equal value is what we do after we have dealt with a difficult client. After an incident, agents should discuss the event with a reliable confidant to unload negative thoughts and emotions that may have built up. They could then identify stress management techniques that could help them cope better with the recent confrontation and will help them in future ones. Lastly and more importantly, the experience can be used to analyze what could have been done to avoid the situation and if operational gaps contributed to it, thus turning a bad incident into an opportunity to learn and improve.
In the Middle East, trust is the foundation of business. Our customers, no matter how they respond, remain our partners. We have to uphold their trust that we will react appropriately and professionally to any type of situation. Our exposure to the public means that there will definitely be times when customers will direct their emotional baggage towards us. In such moments we must remember that complaining, angry or difficult customers still care enough to communicate with us instead of just abruptly transferring to our competitors; they are thus worth our time, patience, and effort.
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