Resources To Prevent & Deal With Workplace Conflict For Retail Sector Staff

Don't forget to check out The Customer Service Zone, and The Conflict Management Resource Center for extensive coverage of these two important retail sector topics..

If you are in retail business you KNOW you are selling BOTH products and service. With such a competitive environment, retailers who falter in either products or customer service don't last long. You already know that.

So, why the heck are you reading this? Because meeting the customer service challenge is difficult. Of course it takes management commitment. But it also takes:  

• staff skilled in conflict prevention with clients and customers
• staff skilled in "recovery" what you do when things go wrong with service (complaints)
• staff who don't waste time in internal squabbling and conflict with coworkers
• teamwork

Conflict Prevention With Clients and Customers

Many staff (people) communicate with customers in ways that put them off. It's not that they do it intentionally--they just use language in ways that offend people or throw gasoline on the fire. In some cases, staff can create customer problems when none exist. Imagine the effect on the hotel clerk who responds to a complaint by saying "Sorry,  Sir, ther's nothing I can do, you'll have to live with that noisy vent", and then walks away. Heck, it's polite, but you might as well tell the customer fo "f*** off". And now there's a problem that could have been avoided with proper handling -- with the use of what we call COOPERATIVE COMMUNICATION.

Through our book, Conflict Prevention In the Workplace we teach people the difference between language that causes confrontations and language that encourages cooperation, either with customers or co-workers.

We also design and deliver custom-designed seminars on this topic. No canned stuff. We teach people the use of conflict prevention techniques using examples from THEIR workplace and company. We can do that in various time spans--half-day, 1 day or two day, depending on needs. For details call us at (204) 888-9290.

What's the bottom line with conflict prevention? With respect to customers, it SAVES time because it prevents escalation of conflict, disagreement, etc. It saves stress, by keeping things in control. Everybody wins. Customers feel they are being treated well, and come back. Oh, and managers don't have to get involved as often with customer disputes.

Recovery - When Things Get Buggered UP

It's impossible to get things perfect. Stuff happens...mistakes get made. What KEEPS customers from giving up on you is how your staff and company recovers, or treats the angry customer when there is a problem. How  do your staff deal with an angry customer? Are they defensive (that's big trouble)? Do they get aggressive (kiss your customer goodbye)? Are they helpful and supportive? Do they know what to do and say even if they CAN'T fix the customers problem?

They'd better be able to do this right.

Hw can we help.? First we can design and deliver custom-designed seminars on defusing hostile customers. We do it your way, consistent with your company policies. Send us email for more information at ceo@work911.com

We have produced several books and workbooks on defusing hostile customers (see left hand side of this page). At the moment we don't have a version for the service and hospitality sectors, but may do one in the future. However, the principles are the same.

Bottom Line: We teach you and staff how to deal with the difficult, the ornery, the offended, the angry, and the manipulative customer, so if you want to keep them as customers you can!

Teamwork & Internal Conflict Among Personnel

Still with us? It's impossible to provide effective customer service if staff don't work in concert and in harmony. THey need to be harnessed and pulling in the same direction, not in different ones. And, yes, there's an art to it, and people can learn to hanlde internal conflict much more effectively, and to prevent it from occurring in the first place.

We can consult with you to create a plan to help staff work together. We can work with you to teach those "ole" conflict prevention techniques. Or we can provide multiple copies of Conflict Prevention In The Workplace at a significant discount.

Enough Already!

OK. I could go on and on and you have better things to do than read more. Here's the summary:

We provide training, publications and do motivational speaking on the subject of conflict, communication and customer service for the service and hospitality industry. (hotels, restaurants, insurance, finance, etc).

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Contact us by email at ceo@work911.com, by phone at (613) 760-0241. We are located near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.