What an awkward customer! In this lesson, students will discuss the topic of resolving issues with difficult customers. The lesson features a video that explains some strategies for handling customer complaints and how to solve problems so every party is happy. Students will learn and practice vocabulary relating to the topic. The lesson includes plenty of engaging discussion activities and worksheets that have been developed for adult and teenage learners.

Lesson Objectives

Grammar: Students will practice using modal verbs and imperative forms, which are essential for giving advice and instructions in customer service scenarios. They will learn to construct polite and effective responses that can de-escalate conflicts.

Listening: Students will enhance their listening skills by engaging with a video that provides strategies for handling difficult customers. They will focus on understanding key problem-solving techniques and the tone appropriate for such interactions.

Speaking: Through speaking exercises, students will simulate customer service scenarios to practice resolving complaints effectively. They will learn how to communicate empathy, reset expectations, and negotiate solutions that satisfy all parties involved.

Vocabulary: The lesson will introduce specific vocabulary related to customer service issues, such as "acknowledge," "reset expectations," "mutual benefit," and phrases used to diffuse tension. This vocabulary will help students articulate solutions and understand customer concerns more clearly.

Cultural Awareness: Students will discuss various cultural expectations around customer service, exploring how customer complaints and resolutions may differ across cultures. They will examine the importance of cultural sensitivity when addressing customer concerns.

Homework: Students will engage with exercises that reinforce the vocabulary and strategies discussed during the lesson. They will fill in blanks with the correct words to complete sentences about handling customer complaints, match vocabulary terms to their definitions, and apply these terms in written responses to hypothetical customer service scenarios.

Video

Do you deal with difficult people at work? Is the customer always right? Watch this video to learn some strategies for handling customer complaints and how to solve problems so every party mutually benefits.

Video Transcript

-Hey, I'm Emma. This is my co-host, Sam. And when it comes to dealing with difficult people.

-They don't have to be difficult to manage.

-All right, Sam, so I know you deal with customers. So tell me about a time or an experience, we had to deal with a difficult customer. Whatcha do?

-Well, sometimes you have to properly reset expectations. Some customers may not understand exactly what their service entails. So you have to first hear them out, let them vent, let them talk, don't interrupt. And then once they're finally finished, repeat back to them summarizing hey, I've heard you, I understand, and you are totally valid in how you feel. But then the next thing, which is more important, you come up with a plan that within the scope of your service, you mutually benefit from what you're about to offer. Say how you're going to partner together, give them a little bit of homework, and then finally wrap it up by letting them know you're going to take care of it for them. So I remember a time when a customer of mine, let's call him Joe, he called in and he was expecting us at GoDaddy social to post every day on social media. And that's not actually the case. And that's not what we offer. So I made sure that I was able to reset and align his expectations that fit our service model.

-So how did you keep Joe on board? How do you keep them cool? I mean, did you have to educate around this topic? Whatcha do?

-Well, I had to first of course, acknowledge the fact that I understood where he's coming from. And I wanted to understand what did he want to accomplish. In order to actually go through the steps of how we're going to fix this, I want to know what are you going to accomplish. And then as the subject matter expert, we were able to, within the scope of our service offering, give him the steps of how he's going to still get what he wanted, but not necessarily in the way he wanted to do it. So here's some steps that I use to be able to keep myself together while receiving that call.