CHAPTER 12
Don’t You Know
Who I Am?
YOU PICK UP THE PHONE WITH A POLITE, “Front desk. May I help you?” The woman’s shrill voice at the other end of the line almost knocks you flat: “How dare you!”
Before you can catch your breath, she continues:
“I am a very important opera singer, and our company is here at this hotel for one night. I always make it clear when they make our reservations that I am to sleep in nothing smaller than a king bed. This room has a queen bed. How did you allow this to happen? Didn’t they tell you that a diva was staying here tonight?”
“Yes, you are a diva,” you think silently to yourself, as you ponder your options. The hotel is sold out. It is now past midnight. And no one ever informed the front desk that anyone staying tonight had to have a king bed. As you keep thinking, she demands to know, “What are you going to do about this outrage?”
Now it’s your turn. Oh, and of course, you are the only person left on duty tonight. In this chapter, we offer some tips on how to deal with an angry customer.
Mirror the Customer’s Emotions
This person is confronting you, and if you are like most people, you probably feel like defending yourself (“Ma’am, we have no record of this request”) or setting limits (“You have to understand that we are sold out tonight, and there is nothing more we can do”). Both of these responses will probably just shift her from being angry to going ballistic. So what else can you do?
For starters, mirror her outrage. She is using emotionally charged phrases and terms like “How dare you” and “outrage” to try to get your attention. Matching her emotions feels like you are veering dangerously close to accepting blame, but you aren’t. Instead, you are acknowledging what she is feeling and treating her complaints as being legitimate to her. And frankly, it is your only hope of getting her to calm down and talk rationally with you. Try lines like these:
“That’s outrageous! I don’t blame you at all for wanting your usual bed.”
“What a rude surprise, especially the night before a performance!”
“I can tell by your tone of voice how much you were inconvenienced tonight.”
How will she respond to this? Perhaps she will calm down. Perhaps she will continue ranting. Either way, one thing is clear: If you don’t acknowledge how upsetting this is to her, it is practically guaranteed that she will get even more upset. Next, you must move on to problem solving.
Explore the Options
You are basically a very nice person. In a situation like this, you would probably love nothing better than to move this guest to a room with a king bed posthaste. Unfortunately, you do not have that option, unless you want to go wake up and move another guest—which Ms. Diva would probably love you to do. So at this point you have two choices: (1) ask her what she might like in lieu of a king bed, or (2) go for the LPFSA (Low Probability Face-Saving Alternative) problem-solving technique we discussed in Chapter 8.
This guest is so angry that it may feel hard to ask what she wants—for fear she will demand a king’s ransom, or your head on a platter—but you must move forward and trust in your communications skills to handle whatever she responds with. Otherwise you will be blindly proposing solutions without ever making her part of the process, which is usually a recipe for disaster. Try framing your question something like this:
“First, I want to apologize that you weren’t put in a room with a king bed, and I intend to find out why this didn’t happen. If I could move you right now, I would gladly do that. Unfortunately, we are completely sold out tonight, and I don’t have another room available. I realize you wanted a larger bed, but I wanted to explore if there is anything else we can do for you to make this a good stay tonight. Perhaps something nice from room service?”
This statement apologizes for the situation, even though the fault of the situation is not yet clear (and is irrelevant at this stage). It also promises action, summarizes the situation, and engages her to solve it with you. How will she respond?
She may propose a mutually acceptable solution, such as breakfast in bed tomorrow. If so, congratulations: You’re done.
She may continue railing on about how unacceptable this is. Keep acknowledging this and offering solutions.
She may propose something unacceptable, like a free week’s stay in the future. In this case, acknowledge her (“I can’t blame you for being upset enough to want that”) and calmly keep responding with what you can do.
In each of these cases, you are now engaged in a totally mechanical process of acknowledgment and problem solving, as outlined in Chapter 6. Keep working the process, and see if a solution presents itself.
Use the LPFSA
If you are still stuck at this point, the LPFSA may represent your best chance of closing the transaction on a peaceful note. Examples of such alternatives might include offering to try to arrange a room at a nearby hotel (she is not likely to want to leave at midnight, especially with her entourage), or offering to swap rooms if other guests vacate theirs prior to her bedtime.
Using the LPFSA effectively requires disclosing that your suggestions are low-probability alternatives. Moreover, the customer needs to perceive that you are sincerely trying to be helpful and not just trying to get rid of her. That said, creatively brainstorming options can send a powerful signal to the guest that you are engaged with her problem and thinking on her behalf.
Show a Personal Interest
Most desk clerks would focus on this guest’s problems, and her anger, in situations like this one. A few people, however, would take things a step further and show a personal interest in her by using appropriate questions and/or compliments. For example, some might ask her about her performance, explore how sleep affects her singing, or express interest in the fact that she is an opera star.
You do have to be careful here: The wrong kinds of questions can sound patronizing, especially if you haven’t done enough yet to try to resolve her concerns. Follow your gut on how to proceed. Many bad customer relationships can be turned around when you honor the customer’s self-importance, as discussed in Chapter 9. When you respect your guests as people, with their own unique gifts and needs, even angry and arrogant ones can ultimately leave with a good impression of you and your service.