Prickly Customers

Hard-to-please customers are a fact of life for garden retailers. It seems no matter what you do, you can’t make certain “prickly” consumers happy. The best way to deal with their barbs is to calmly defuse the situation. “Encounters with ‘prickly’ customers can be understood and managed,” said Rich Gallagher, author of “What to Say to a Porcupine.”

There are several techniques that can be learned and practiced by anyone in your store. Among the most-effective are reflective listening, using “staging” to deliver feedback or bad news, and using verbal cues to show respect and empathy.
 

Reflective listening
Reflective listening is both a way to empathize with a customer and make sure you’re on the same page. Gallagher breaks it into five steps:

1. Give your undivided attention, and then respond.
2. Paraphrase what the other person says before you reply.
3. Share your knowledge of the situation.
4. Provide active feedback.
5. Summarize the action items.

According to Gallagher, paraphrasing is particularly powerful - and underused. “Even when you don’t agree with a customer, it lets them know you heard and processed what they said.

Try saying things like ‘So you spent $2,000 on landscaping, and you’re really upset about how it came out. Let’s see what we can do here.’ and watch the tension dissolve.”

Staging feedback
Here’s a common scenario: A customer comes in with a dead plant that’s long past its warranty date. How do you respond?

I’m afraid you’ll have to pay to replace the plant at this point.

Or…

Let me go through the details of the warranty with you.

The second reply is a good example of “staging” your response when delivering bad news. You’re helping the customer understand why there is a problem.

You’re also lowering hostility and conveying that you’re doing the best you can for the customer. “Staging” your response has three key elements:

1. Introduce what you are going to say before you say it.
2. Explain why you’re saying it as you are saying it.
3. Empathize with the customer’s feelings after you have said it.

Take customers who try to haggle with you on price versus discount centers: Try using this three-step process to say, “No one likes to overpay for their plants. We tend to have premium stock - let me show you some of the differences we look for in our plants. And thank you for your feedback, because we try to be price-competitive within our quality range.” Planned in advance, you can take the stress out of many “prickly” customer conversations.

Showing respect and empathy
It’s impossible to separate a customer’s complaint from the feelings surrounding it—whether it’s frustration, anger or impatience. 
 
It’s important for salespeople to show respect (acknowledge the problem and the agenda behind it), as well as empathy (validate the other person’s feelings).

When dealing with “porcupines,” you have to carefully choose what you say and how you say it. Something as simple as phrase substitutions can help (see chart).

Gallagher also encourages salespeople to focus on what they can acknowledge and can do—however small the gesture might be. He playfully calls this the “can-can” strategy.

“You can avoid saying ‘no’ much more often than you think,” Gallagher said.

For more: Rich Gallagher, Point of Contact Group; www.pointofcontactgroup.com