Karens can be a real nuisance to deal with. They throw tantrums in front of everyone, whine about insignificant matters, and take advantage of hardworking staff by demanding tips.
Thankfully, there are some customer service tricks to keep the Karens away. To do this effectively, focus on three “P”s: Welcome, Appreciate and Validate.
1. Listen To Them
Listening is essential in any conversation with a customer. By listening intently and paying attention to what the person says, you can gain insight into their issues and work toward resolution more quickly.
Showing that you value and prioritize their concerns and needs is a great way to demonstrate your appreciation. By explaining what they say in a way that makes sense to them, customers will feel more at ease with your company and be less inclined to leave negative reviews.
Another tip is to remember that most customers who call with complaints are likely not in a good mood. It’s understandable for them to feel frustrated, so try not to react negatively when you can’t resolve their problem quickly enough.
Instead, attempt to empathize with them and put yourself in their position. While this can be challenging, if you take the time to do so, your efforts will be much more successful in helping them resolve their problems.
If your team is small, consider assigning someone who specializes in social media and messaging to answer any inquiries about your business. Doing this will reduce the number of complaints customers have about your service by engaging them on channels they frequently use.
Additionally, summarize their remarks in your own words to show that you’ve been listening carefully and convey their points of view accurately. Doing this will encourage them to return for future services from your company. It would also be beneficial to jot down any pertinent information such as notes about previous interactions with the business.
2. Don’t Stoop To Their Level
It can be tempting to give in to these trolls, but that isn’t a wise move. Not only will this make you appear weak, but it could put your job in jeopardy as well. Remember: these people work in your workplace and it is up to you to protect them.
To achieve this, set clear expectations for your team so they know what is expected of them. Furthermore, encourage them to demonstrate excellent customer service skills by being consistently polite and respectful towards others.
Stumbling to their level is not the only way to look bad, but it’s definitely the most memorable. To succeed, you need to understand your limits and keep calm – which may require some strategic thinking. Delivering excellent customer service not only benefits you personally but can lead to new customers who will spread word of your good deeds. A positive attitude will make all the difference and keep customers coming back for more. Karens may come in a dime a dozen, but you have control of your destiny with some planning and hard work.
3. Stay Calm
No two customer conversations are alike, but there are strategies your team can employ regardless of what the customer says.
First and foremost, your team must comprehend that customers aren’t angry at you – they’re simply distressed about the situation. It is your responsibility to help ease their feelings by speaking calmly to them and making sure they feel understood.
Second, remember that everyone is unique and learns at their own pace. Even if your team has a standard way of handling irate customers, they may need to adjust it when dealing with a new client.
Third, remaining calm can help you manage the situation and prevent feelings of frustration from spreading to the next customer. This is especially crucial when dealing with challenging customers or those with a bad reputation.
Fourth, try to focus on the customer’s problems and how you can fix them. Whether it’s about their product, customer service problems or an unpleasant experience, staying calm will help you empathize with the person you’re communicating with and give them space to express their view point.
Fifth, take into account the words you choose and the tone of your voice when communicating with customers. A patronizing or angry tone could irritate them further and make them want to speak with someone else about their issue.
Bionic, a company that analyzes customer reviews to identify the best businesses to buy from, recently conducted an interesting study about Karens and how they can affect your travel experience. They looked at names of women and men who frequently complained on Trustpilot to identify those most likely to be Karens and where they often appear.
4. Do Your Job
If you’ve ever had to deal with a customer service issue, you know it can be stressful. You might feel like nothing is being done to resolve the situation or even cause friction within the staff. But there are steps you can take to improve things and make your customers happier about your company’s performance.
One of the best ways to demonstrate professionalism is by taking your job seriously. That means not only responding promptly to complaints, but also making sure that you’re doing your job as a human being by providing exceptional customer service and treating everyone on your team with respect.
Though it’s impossible to please everyone, there are ways you can make it simpler for your team to handle complaints and other matters. For instance, using software can help monitor and resolve daily performance issues more efficiently.
You can train your employees to be more aware of how their behavior impacts customer experience and guarantee they do their best to maintain customer satisfaction. To do this, educate them about your business policies and procedures as well as providing them with opportunities to interact positively with customers.
Though the best practices to ensure your business runs efficiently are well-known, there’s another lesser-known trick that may help keep Karens at bay: “Karens for Hire.” This relatively new service is growing rapidly in popularity and costs $50-$75 and allows customers to have a Karen do all the hard work without having to spend hours on the phone or filling out long forms. With Karens for Hire, customers don’t have to spend hours waiting on hold for results; instead they get results without having to spend any time or energy on tedious tasks like calling or filling out lengthy forms.
5. Keep Them Informed
As a customer service professional, it is your duty to make sure your customers feel welcomed, appreciated, validated and engaged with what you do. This includes keeping them informed about what you do, creating an atmosphere of courtesy and showing that you genuinely care about them.
One way to achieve this is by making them aware that you are always available to answer their queries. Furthermore, ensure they have all of the information required in order to make an informed decision about your business or product.
For instance, if a customer calls about an item they purchased that doesn’t fit properly, you can be there to help them solve the problem and return it. Furthermore, make sure they understand the process so their experience remains positive throughout this endeavor.
Similarly, if your customer is acting irrationally, take time to calm them down and explain your plan of action. Being an effective customer service provider involves being able to predict potential issues with customers ahead of time and being proactive about resolving them. This is a crucial aspect of providing excellent service for your clients and can help avoid future conflicts with them.
The word “Karen” first gained notoriety through Dane Cook’s 2005 comedy special and has since spread through memes and subreddits as a way of characterizing someone who is rude and irrational.
Karen has increasingly found herself in legal trouble. She has even been known to shoot protesters on the street – an issue particularly in cities such as St. Louis where Karens have been known to shoot people in their neighborhood.
