How to deal with unhappy customers in English — like a professional!

- Unhappy customers.

If you're in business long enough,

eventually you'll have to deal with them.

And if English is not your native language,

well, you got two extra challenges:

Understanding the culture, so you know what to do and say,

and using diplomatic language,

which sometimes is a little advanced.

So let me help you with all of that.

Hi, I'm your English coach, Christina,

and welcome to Business English with Christina,

where you become better at English and better at business.

In today's episode,

I'm gonna help you deal with unhappy customers in English,

like a professional.

And you may have a lot of experience in business,

but I found that many of my clients,

they still need a little help

using some diplomatic expressions.

Why is that?

Because, there's two reasons, really.

Number one, if you're not 100% comfortable in English,

and that's okay, and you're in a stressful situation,

you're more likely to revert back

to the more basic structures that you're comfortable with.

And most of the time,

if you use the English that you learned in school

or those very basic structures,

it's a little too direct for a very delicate situation.

So by the end of today's lesson,

you'll have lots of expressions that'll help you.

And there's maybe another reason that sometimes my clients

are a little too direct in these delicate situations,

and it's the cultural differences.

Different cultures have different expectations

for their business contacts and for customer service.

So it's important to be aware of that also.

I'm originally from the U.S.

And one of the first things that I noticed

when I arrived in France

was that difference in customer service.

I think everyone has heard the expression,

the customer is king.

It's a very common expression in English.

And I heard something from a French person who said,

"Yes, customer is king,

and in France, we know what we do to kings."

(Christina imitating bones breaking)

So anyway, let me help you handle

these kinds of uncomfortable, delicate situations

like a pro.

The first thing that's interesting

actually doesn't have anything to do with English.

It's all about body language.

So the way that we speak or communicate with our bodies

and the way that we hold ourselves.

Good news is you don't have to memorize any expressions

to have good body language.

Maybe, let's start with what not to do

when you're dealing with an unhappy customer.

For example, if you've got your arms crossed,

it looks a little defensive or closed.

And of course also if pointing my finger at you,

well, it doesn't look like I'm trying to find a solution.

Or if I'm kind of standing here.

Okay, you don't see me there.

If I'm standing with my hands on my hips like this,

again, not very a helpful position there.

So what should you do?

Well, before we look at that,

go ahead and hit that thumbs up, body language, on YouTube

and subscribe to my channel,

just to let me know that you're enjoying this lesson.

So what should you do?

One thing is to face the person that you're speaking

and it's okay to smile.

(star chiming)

Not as cheesy as that, but just a slight smile.

Even I recommend it.

And I know people who even on the phone will keep smiling

because you can actually hear that in the voice.

And if you're dealing with an unhappy customer,

but you're smiling on the phone,

it helps you to have a more pleasant,

more diplomatic sounding voice.

And that is important.

And as you can probably already imagine,

showing someone that you're listening to them

can really help to, let say,

calm down a difficult situation.

And this is very easy to do in English.

So here are some expressions

that will help you to sound more diplomatic

and show that you're listening to that unhappy customer.

I see what you mean.

I see what you're saying.

Or, I hear what you're saying.

And, I really do understand your frustration.

And if you want to show your customer

that yes, you do understand,

try reformulating their concerns.

Something like, I understand

that you're not satisfied with...

Or, I understand that you're not happy with

dah, dah, dah, dah.

For example, I understand that you're not satisfied

with that service that you received.

And you can apologize.

When you've been in business long enough,

there will be occasions to apologize:

Missed deadlines, commitments that your company

couldn't meet, human error or whatever.

There's no shame in apologizing.

And here's how you can apologize with style in English.

I'm sorry that...

For example, I'm sorry that we didn't meet your deadline.

Or, please accept our apologies.

For example, please accept our apologies

for any inconvenience caused.

And you can focus on solutions.

I've heard that there are two types of people in the world:

The people who try to find the problems

and the people who try to find solutions.

Now, your client has already found the problem,

so you want to be the person who tries to find a solution.

And your client is probably expecting you

to find a solution for them.

So here are some ways that you can suggest solutions.

For some problems, you can offer one of these things:

A discount, so that your client pays less.

Or a refund, when you give all of the money

back to the client.

For example, you could say,

I can offer you a discount

for the items that you received late.

Or, we're really sorry

about the technical issues on our website,

and we'd like to offer your company a refund

for this month's service agreement.

And for some other problems, you can offer these things:

A voucher.

That's an agreement or a certificate

that your client can use for free services or products

in the future.

Or a replacement.

It's when your company sends a new part or a new product

in place of the defective or unavailable product.

For example, you could say,

"We realize that our current product has a defect

and we're very sorry for that,

but we'd like to offer you a replacement."

And if the problem is more complex than that,

then you'll want to show that you're trying

to solve the problem.

And some phrases that you could use.

I know you need dah, dah, dah, dah,

so I will try to dah, dah, dah, dah.

And if I can't do that, I'll dah, dah, dah, dah.

Let me give you an example

of that little bit of conversation.

I know you need the results of the research

by the next month,

so I'll try and see if we can speed up the process

by putting more team members on the project.

And if I can't do that,

I'll see if we can collaborate with another laboratory.

And now you know what your clients and customers

are expecting when they come to you with a problem.

And you also have an idea

of the types of body language you can use

and what you can say in those situations,

so you can help your customers

with their problems in English, even if they come

from many different cultures and countries.

And if you don't use it, you lose it.

So here's how you can use what you learned today.

Think of a situation where you might have to deal

with an unhappy customer

and write a phrase that you might use in that situation

in the comments below.

It's the perfect opportunity to practice,

to make sure that you're using it correctly

and to add that to your active vocabulary.

And if this lesson was helpful for you, I'd love to know.

And there are three simple ways that you can tell me,

hit that thumbs up on YouTube and subscribe to this channel.

You can go over to my website

and get your free English Habits Kit

to help you build solid habits for lifelong learning.

And the link is down in the comments below the video.

And of course you can watch this next lesson,

which is going to help you

to just feel more confident in English.

All right, thank you so much for improving your English

with Business English with Christina.

And I'll see you next time.