There's always going to be rude, insulting, aggressive and angry customers. You've met them. They chew up your time, threaten, bully, cajol, even cry in order to get what they want from you and your company. And it costs big time. It's stressful, for CSR's, whether dealing in person, on social media or on the phone. It costs company money due to bad publicity, and lost customers. Is there a solution? Ways to reduce the effects of customers who are too pushy or complain in anger?
The answer is yes. We've been training customer service representatives to defuse angry and difficult customers for over twenty years in our seminars, and now we've created a "seminar in a book" so you can learn on your own and on your own schedule. We took all the principles and techniques from our seminars and added exercises so you actually LEARN them, and bundled them up into workbook of over 200 pages.
We'll tell you what techniques you can use to get ranting customers to stop ranting, and start listening. We'll teach you to use very specific techniques to both calm people down, and shorten difficult interactions. We'll even help you have more confidence in tough situations, and provide workplace violence related safety tips.
This workbooks weighs in at over 200 pages, and doesn't just tell you what to do, but provides exercises you can do to practice customer defusing skills. The answers to the exercises (and detailed explanations) are provided at the back of the book. It's like a seminar in a book, but you don't have to do "role-playing" to practice.
The workbook was originally designed for those working in government, public sector and publicly funded organizations, including educational institutions (e.g. schools, school boards). Don't be fooled though. The skills and techniques inside apply to virtually any type of job that involves interacting with customers or clients.
Here's just a few of the things included:
Robert Bacal has trained thousands of people to defuse hostile customers, over the last twenty years. In fact this book is based on his seminar, and contains techniques drawn from psycholinguistics, psychology, and perhaps more importantly from the thousands of customer service staff that have attended his seminars. He is also the author of Perfect Phrases For Customer Service, published by McGraw-Hill. For more information about Robert, click here. Overall, his books have sold over 400,000 copies world wide and been translated into French, Spanish, German, Chinese and other languages.
First, you have my personal guarantee that you WILL find techniques and principles that are completely new to you, regardless of how long you've been serving customers, or how many customer service seminars you've attended. We guarantee that this is not the same old simple minded repetition of what you already know. To stand behind our products, if, for any reason, this book hasn't helped you, you can return it for a full refund (some conditions may apply, depending on the format of the book you've purchased).
We understand that people like to sample and browse books before they purchase them, so we've provided sample chapters and more complete information to you. Below are links to that preview material.
Defusing Hostile Customers Complete Table of Contents
Chapter 2 - Part 1 - Nature of Hostile and Abusive Behavior
Chapter 2 - Part 2 - Learn why customers act badly, and the basic customer defusing principles
Chapter 2 - Part 4 - What Angry Customers Want and Need
Examples of Exercises Included in the Workbook
Examples of Exercise Answers in Workbook Appendix
The downloadable version of this book is in Adobe PDF format and contains the exact image of the book in its printed form. It's viewable on almost all devices, and probably won't require extra software to read on your preferred computer, tablet or other device. And, if you like, you can print it out, or any portions you want to print out.
There are several advantages to the downloadable version:
It costs less because there's no physical product to produce
No shipping costs, so overall you'll save about $20 compared to buying the printed version.
You will receive your copy immediately after ordering. No waiting for the physical book to arrive, and no waiting to start reaping the benefits of applying defusing hostile customers skills. It's almost instant.
Of course, some people prefer to read in the traditional paper way, so no problem. You can purchase the physical version of The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook by clicking here.
Posted by PL on 14th Mar 2016
I found that the book confirms why I don't seem to have issues dealing with customers. I did pick up some useful tips and will review the book occasionally.
Posted by Toni Velie on 1st Sep 2015
I am very satisfied with my product. I am in the process of implementing a customer service policy and the information has been more than helpful. I am learning so many new things.
Thank you!
Posted by Benjamin Schiltz on 31st Aug 2011
This review is from: Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook (Public Sector) (Plastic Comb)
I just wanted to tell everyone that I am very satisfied with this book and the delivery of it was ahead of schedule. There is a ton of very informative and useful information in this book. A MUST READ! for anyone who is a government employee or call centre rep who deal with people on a daily basis. I am about to work for a call centre and I find this book easy to understand and easy to learn. I am one very satisfied customer indeed. thank you.
Posted by Autumn Bell on 31st Aug 2011
This review is from: Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook (Public Sector) (Plastic Comb)
Robert Bacal has filled a niche that has been empty for too long - customer service literature that focuses on the public sector. Most customer service material is geared toward the private sector - retail, manufacturing, etc. Advice on such topics as winning customer loyalty, pricing, word-of-mouth advertising, etc. doesn't always apply to the world of the government agency, the university, or the Motor Vehicles Department. In many public sector jobs, telling people "no" and telling them what they "must" do is a regular part of the job - and this leads to a natural increase in hostility from patrons. I have researched countless customer service books, programs and resources to use here at our public institution. Not only is Robert Bacal's material one of the only sources geared specifically to the public sector, it is also one of the best sources on handling upset, angry, or hostile customers that I've ever seen - for any type of workplace! Beginning with a four-part model (or process) for defusing hostile customers, he then goes into countless specific tips and techniques that are as practical as they are effective. He goes so far beyond the trite techniques found in other customer service materials to cover topics such as: · how to tell someone "no" in a way that doesn't elicit hostility · handling non-verbal intimidation · verbal self-defense · a step-by-step process for "solving" customer problems · dealing with threats · and much more! Examples of dialogue and written exercises in each section help readers apply the material. We have tried these techniques here at work and the results have been outstanding. I highly recommend this book for anyone who encounters customers, clients, patients, students, or members of the public - whether you work in the public or the private sector. This is the best source on handling customers you can find!
Posted by Steven Katz on 30th Aug 2011
The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook (Third Edition 2010) by Robert Bacal is the best material I've ever seen on this subject. It gives the government worker everything he or she needs to defuse hostile customers. I can unequivocally recommend this book for any government worker who regularly deals with hostile customers.
The business case for buying this book is that angry customers eat up lots of organizational time and energy, particularly when they decide to climb the organizational ladder with their complaints.
The promise Bacal makes for the Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook is that: "Employees can do things to defuse anger and reduce abusive behavior. People can learn to act in ways that reduce this kind of behavior, and ensure that they do not do anything that will result in an unpleasant situation going ballistic." Escalation doesn't have to happen. This workbook fulfills that promise magnificently well.
The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook is a workbook, a manual, and a practice guide all in one. Bacal's content is enriched from the experience of several thousand public sector employees who have participated in Bacal's seminar called Defusing Hostile Customers.
The workbook features 117 tactics you can use effectively to defuse hostile customers, and it has useful, thought provoking exercises you can do. The tactics will reduce your stress levels at work and protect your valuable time.
This workbook doesn't use a cookie cutter approach. As Bacal says, "There are no hard rules that you apply automatically to defuse angry customers. Each hostile situation is different. There is no magic solution or cookbook approach that works every time." But, his solutions are exceptionally useful and hands on.
The core concepts of the workbook center around a master strategy called the CARP System. The letters in CARP stand for Control, Acknowledge, Refocus, and Problem solve. You can't problem-solve until you've done the first three steps, and it's crucial to deal with the feelings first.
Among the many pivotal tactics and concepts that the workbook offers are the following: The language you use. Type 1 language is confrontational even if you might not think it so. Type 2 language is the language you should use, cooperative language. Bacal also gives us eight verbal self-defense techniques. And, sometimes you have to refer a hostile customer to another worker, supervisor, or manager, so Bacal offers a chapter on referral techniques that use third parties to defuse hostile situations.
Reading the Assertive Limit Setting chapter alone is worth the price of the Workbook. The workbook emphasizes that it's crucial when dealing with unacceptable behavior to use assertive limit setting by describing the unacceptable behavior, requesting behavior change, and stating consequences. Here is one of Bacal's examples: "Sir, if you continue to swear and yell, I will have to end our conversation. Would you prefer to continue or stop now?"
The 2010 edition of the Defusing Hostile Customer's Workbook has two new sections. The first new section is Customer Interactions through Media. Bacal delivers a profound message when he tells us that when the medium changes, so does the communication. He then describes those changes in clear language. Bacal teaches us that customer service, marketing and branding, and reputation management have converged into one entity. Therefore, "anything that negatively affects people's perceptions of government affects you." So when customers enter communication with government employees, those customers often have a chip on their shoulders. That makes it much more difficult to defuse the customers' anger, since their anger is based on expectations and prejudice and not on direct experience with the government employee.
The section on email exposes the limits of email and shows how best to use it to convey facts, but we should all be warned that email as a communication mode has many problems. Bacal cites a 2004 study of internet service providers that suggested that as much as 25 percent of requested corporate email was inaccurately identified as junk email and sent to the junk folder or deleted. The workbook also gives insights into social media and its limits for our work.
The other new chapter is about Audiences, Groups, Crowds, and Mobs. The material on delivering presentations to hostile or resistant audiences and public speaking will be particularly relevant to anyone who presents government positions and policies to hostile or angry audiences. Those audiences are often not happy to hear the information we deliver. Bacal gives us the means to enhance our credibility by focusing on the similarities we share with the audience such as how we dress, common ground we share, the language we use, etc. He stresses preparation, focusing on your audience's concerns, using a balanced approach that honestly broaches the audience's objections that we've anticipated. Finally, he stresses the value of co-presenting or using a team speaking approach to cover for each other and to play off each other's strengths.
Buy this book!
Submitted by Steve Katz, Trainer, Child Support Enforcement Division, Minnesota Department of Human Services.