Making it Big Monday

Retail: How to deal with rude customers

We all know that customer: The one who talks on their phone incessantly while you try to serve them. They may smack their gum, or they may roll their eyes while purveying their distinct brand of ungraciousness. We know them better by their true name—The Rude Customer. Your first instinct might be to turn into a green rage monster, but before you go destroying everything within arm's reach, we have five tips for dealing with rude customers that might just help you out while working in retail.

Stay calm
“The first thing that I would tell someone to do is stay calm,” says Jason Nedelkos, a barista at Starbucks Coffee. “I’ve learned to keep a respectful tone if somebody has an issue. If someone is rude or shouting at you, there’s no need to sink to their level.” An added benefit of this strategy is that it might force the customer to tone down their unreasonableness. “It’s hard to be rude to someone who is being calm and collected,” Nedelkos shrugs.

“Kill them with kindness”
Sarah Erwin, a cashier at Shoppers Drug Mart, has similar advice. “For me, what works best is to kill them with kindness, so to speak.” Erwin graduated from University of Toronto and has been working at Shoppers Drug Mart for the past year while job hunting. “Never stop being overly polite. The meaner they get, the nicer you get in response.” This technique always feels like a personal win, and you still get to be as great at your job as ever.

Put the power in their hands (and get them off your back)
“As a barista, the small complaints I usually get are about mixed up drink orders, which are pretty easy to resolve.” Nedelkos explains. “The really rude people are upset about things that I can’t fix. Like why we don’t have cups in a certain colour or something.” Erwin agrees that most of her angry customers are upset with things she has no control over. “The two things that cause customers to yell at me are long lines and prices.” Nedelkos offers a solution to this situation. “I usually explain to them that I personally can’t change this, but I invite them to fill out a comment form or talk to a superior and say ‘They will listen to you over me’.” Not only does this get them out of your hair, but puts the power in their hands to resolve their own problem.

Maintain a neutral tone of voice and body language
As rude as the customer is being, you represent the entire store and organization. So as rude as they are, any hint of snideness or confrontation on your part will exacerbate the situation. “A rude customer feels threatened already, you make one false move and they will get madder,” Nedelkos laughs. Really, just stay calm, be as kind as you can, apologize profusely and keep a neutral tone of voice. You should make it through in one piece.

Don’t take things personally!
We know, easier said than done! But having a rude customer can really ruin your day, and make you feel bad long after you’ve left work. Instead, choose to remember the good times at work when you are decompressing after a long shift. “Rude customers are rude customers,” Nedelkos remarks. “But if you choose to remember the person who left you a great tip, or the one who was really nice, you’ll have a much better outlook.”

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Tip Tuesday

When A Co-Worker Takes Credit For Your Work

I can’t believe he presented my work as his own! He didn’t even acknowledge that it was my work. It was even my PowerPoint presentation he used!” moaned a career-coaching client. “Now what am I going to do? And what if he does this to me again?” she added.
Unfortunately, this situation is not unusual if you work in corporate America. Try asking 10 friends who work for large, global companies and I’ll bet at least half of them have had someone else try to take credit for their work or ideas at some point in their careers.

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Wondering about the best way to handle it without turning something negative into an even worse issue? How you handle the situation of someone else trying to take credit for your work depends on two main factors: who the person is and how egregious the credit taking that occurred.
Let’s look at two types of situations when a co-worker tries to take credit for your work. The first example provides tips for handling what I’ll call the “low key” situations and the second example includes tips for dealing with bigger issues of credit stealing.

Co-worker/low key situation

• If a co-worker took credit for your work but what they took credit for was fairly low-key (such as leaving your name off the list of project participants or not including you on the email distribution list for work they completed with you), then the solution may be as simple as sitting down with the co-worker to understand what happened and why they behaved the way they did.
• In this type of situation it is best to go immediately to the person and resolve the situation directly with them because sometimes it can be a simple oversight on their part. Gain their agreement that this will never happen in the future.
• Depending on how your co-worker reacts to the discussion, you may also want to let them know that, if it does happen again, you will need to escalate the situation to your manager.

Co-worker/bigger issue

• If the co-worker took credit for something that is a big deal (such as presenting your ideas for a new product or promotion and passing the ideas off as their own, or, using a presentation, report, or business plan you had created but changing your name to theirs and taking credit for your work), in addition to immediately speaking with the credit stealer (as mentioned above), it’s important to also have a confidential discussion with your manager about the situation.
• Remain calm and avoid whining or finger pointing when you speak with your manager. You are there to make them aware of what happened so they can help prevent this situation from occurring in the future. Be prepared to rationally explain what happened and how you handled the situation with your co-worker.
• In addition, try to come to the meeting with your manager with evidence that demonstrates you were the person with the idea or who did the work so your manager will have concrete information to work from when they deal directly with the credit stealing co-worker.

I can personally attest to the fact that it’s not fun to be caught in the situation of having to deal with a credit stealing co-worker, but it’s imperative that women in business deal with the issue immediately after it has occurred.
Dealing with it may be difficult, but it puts the person on notice that you know what they did and lets them know you won’t stand for that type of behavior in the future. Not dealing with it gives free reign for the co-worker to continue their unethical behavior – and they could potentially end up sabotaging your career. So ladies…no matter how hard it is, stand up for what is right and protect your work and your ideas.
If you’ve successfully dealt with a credit stealing co-worker, please share your tactics in the “Comments” section below.
Co-workers aren’t always the only ones who can be credit stealers. Stay tuned for my next blog, “When A Boss Takes Credit For Your Work.”

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Making It Big Monday

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: How To Earn Respect At Work

Someone I was coaching recently wrote in their development plan that one of their goals was to “earn the respect of more people at work.” I thought that was an interesting goal and asked her to tell me more about her comment. She said, “I just don’t feel like people respect me so I want to earn more respect.” When I asked her specifically what behaviors she thought she needed to exhibit in order to earn respect, there was a long pause and she gave me a blank stare.

You’d be surprised how many times I go through this same “respect” discussion. So here’s the deal…respect is something you have to earn – it’s not something handed out free on a silver platter. If you want to earn respect then you need to ask yourself this question, “How can I change my behavior to earn more respect from others?”

Here are some of my personal suggestions for earning respect:

• Use active listening skills – really listen and hear what people are saying.
• Treat others with dignity and courtesy at all times.
• Keep all your commitments – and never make a commitment you can’t keep.
• Be patient with people; realize that most people want to do what’s right.
• Treat others as they would like to be treated; in other words, learn to flex your social style so you can work better with others.
• Don’t state your opinions unless you can back them up with data. And be sure you fully understand the situation before you comment on it.
• Be sincere.
• Be generous.
• Be humble.
• Be confident, but exhibit confidence without arrogance.Sometimes I think we speed through life so quickly that we don’t take enough time to really hear other people. To do so takes the ability to be patient, generous with your time, and sincerely care about others. These are all behaviors that will lead to earning more respect from co-workers.

Now it’s your turn. What do you believe are behaviors that help earn respect at work? Share your thoughts with other readers in the “Comments” section below

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