As you know by now, I travel a lot for a living-which means that I spend a lot of time in airports-which means that I am around a lot of people who have a REALLY difficult time following directions, and yes, a lot of customers who are very, very wrong!
On a recent trip I remember someone in boarding group 5 for an airline trying to board with the “Elite, Premier, Ruby, Platinum” you know the ultra special peeps…and couldn’t understand why she couldn’t board in that group. If you know air travel, you know that a Group 5 boarding group is probably the last group before the plane departs (believe me, I know, I’ve been in that group many times), so someone who is in the last group trying to board with the VIP group causes frustration for the crew and passengers.
There was another time when a passenger kept trying to jam an (obviously too large) bag into the overhead bin, even after the flight attendants made announcements regarding this. The passengers behind him were getting irritated because he kept trying to do something he couldn’t (and it didn’t fit!) and it delayed them getting to their seats. Finally the flight attendant grabbed the bag (nicely) and brought it out of the plane to get gate checked.
In all of these situations the customer was wrong.
You have two problems when a customer is wrong. The first is the obvious-they don’t know they’re wrong, so they dig in their heels and keep doing, or saying, or believing what they believe to be true. The second is-even if they realize they’re wrong they may not want to back down from it for fear of looking bad, embarrassment or just plain ego!
So, what can you do?
When a customer is wrong and you’re trying to de-escalate a situation or just bring a situation to a resolution, try giving the customer a graceful way out, instead of backing him/her into a corner … even if you really want to back them into a corner! If you try and prove to the customer that s/he is wrong, s/he will often fight back, just to save face or to spite you.
So, find ways to let your customer bow out gracefully. Don’t pounce on every inconsistency you see in what the customer is telling you. And don’t miss an opportunity to keep your mouth shut!
Sometimes you just need to ride the storm out-and let the customer be wrong in peace. And in those times when you must correct, do so in a way that doesn’t make the customer feel stupid … even if the customer was stupid.
Trust me, it’s worth it … and you’ll feel better too!
