Diffusing a Cranky Situation

The economy has a lot of folks feeling down these days and quite a few of them take it out on others. As our horticultural technicians go about their day caring for plants in business and homes, they sometimes encounter cranky clients. I remind them on a regular basis that whatever they are being yelled at for may have nothing to do with them, and everything to do with the person doing the yelling. Plus we train our employees on how to handle difficult situations.

The following is my list of techniques to diffuse a bad situation and cranky people:

1. Be empathetic. Use terms such as "I know how you could feel like that."

2. Let people talk. Sometimes they just need to talk it out. The worst thing anyone can ever say when someone is trying to discuss an issue is "I don't want to talk about that". Of course the other interpretation of I don't want to talk about it is when someone says to you, "All you are doing is harping on the same issues. Move on." People need to talk things out. That's why psychiatrists have patients come back again and again. Shut the door on the communication and shut the door on the relationships.

3. Ask for a remedy. If you did something wrong, then ask how it can be corrected.

4. When dealing with the unreasonable remedy, simply use the expression, "I wish we could." That works just about every time.

5. Thank you. We cannot thank people enough. I am becoming a believer that we are in the midst of an epidemic of people who just expect everything. You do something for someone and they don't thank you. It is so easy but so few people do it. When was the last time you thanked a client for choosing to work with us? Send a thank-you note after a sale!

6. Expectation management: What does a client expect when we walk into their office or home? Take the time to write it down then have a friend or even yourself practice. You will avoid problems before they happen.

7. Become a Flexetarian. Don't be so rigid. Lighten up. The times they are-a-changin' and the rules of the new normal are yet to be written. Things are never just black or white. There are many shades of gray.

8. Be a Seeker and a Doer. Many times our policies become stale because we never shop other businesses to see what our clients are experiencing. It's one thing seeing good ideas but it's another thing implementing them. You can't be successful without both of them.

9. Decisions of Convenience: Again, I am seeing more people make decisions because it's the easy way out. In the service business we sometimes get lazy and make the decisions because it's easy or convenient to do. Somehow we start to have different rules and policies for different customers and employees. It's the same as buying from a rep because it's easy. Just be aware of the amount of decisions we make because of that. It's scary and extremely dangerous business.

10. Commitment. The service business isn't easy. There can be long hours and frustrating times. BUT you have to love it. You have to get excited when new clients get installed and the plants and planters arrive. You need to get excited to call a client up and be so enthusiastic that you were able to get exactly what they are looking for. You need to get excited about every orchid, palm or ficus tree that you push yourself to visit one more nursery when you're dead tired but that new resource becomes the winner of the season.

Hopefully, the client's mood won't last long, but the way you and your team handled it will, creating a better relationship in the long run....