If you have been a tour leader, tour guide or tour director for any length of time, there is a pretty good chance you’ve had to deal with an angry customer.
And I don’t mean a disappointed or slightly irritated client either – I mean REALLY angry. Well, it turns out that there are things that we as tour guides can train ourselves to do when faced with this kind of emotion.
I’ll let you in on two little words that can make a WORLD of difference. And guess what? We’ll even get a quote and a terrible impersonation of Lao Tzu! Alright! Now that’s the kind of tour guide training I can get behind.
This week’s Tour Guide TV, is not to be missed!
-Kelsey T
Done watching?
Let me know in the comments how you deal with an angry or upset guest! Any horror stories you want to share? = )
Transcript:
Today, we’re going to talk about that scary, paralyzing moment when a guest is upset and yelling in your face; [beep] Not very fun.
Unfortunately, a lot of tour leaders can panic, do or say things that actually make the situation worse. Now, here’s where the Taoism comes in.
A very famous man named Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism and generally regarded as a pretty smart dude, said,
“Do not resist for that creates sorrow. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they choose.”
No, he probably didn’t say it quite like that, but he did have a pretty sweet beard, this is known.
We as tour guides should not confront or resist somebody who is upset. The most important thing to do is to listen, let them vent and speak their mind completely, and there is no better way to acknowledge somebody’s frustration by saying these two magic words, ‘You’re right, you’re right, you’re right.’
That’s it. That’s all you need to say to somebody who is upset with you. Not only are you acknowledging their pain, but you’re also completely disarming the situation.
I mean who can disagree with somebody who has just said that they’re right? But just to hit this home after saying something like you’re right, know that you do really have to mean it.
Here are some great follow-up phrases that could work after ‘you’re right’, something like these:
“Gosh! This must be really frustrating for you.”
“No, I totally get how this could be frustrating you.”
“I get it. No, I really see how this is making you upset.”
Now, I hear you already.”Ah, ah, you want me to stand there and take abuse from somebody? and just take that and say you’re right. Ah, ah, girlfriend.” No, definitely not.
You’re the best person to know if someone is upset with you has crossed the line into verbal, or emotional abuse, or physical, or anything like that.
If you find yourself in that situation, you need to speak up right away and let that person know that they need to stop immediately, that they’ve crossed the line, and that you will not be treated this way.
Make that very clear. “Mm-mm, but you stil want me to tell somebody that they’re right when they are wrong, ha? They just get up on my face and they’re wrong, and dumb, and also they smell.”
Not quite. Here’s the secret sauce, just because you said somebody was right, doesn’t mean that you are wrong.
All you’re doing is acknowledging their point of view. And let’s face it, if you put yourself in their shoes and you had their expectations and maybe their knowledge or lack of knowledge, you would be just as upset as them.
So there you have it. By following the wise words of Lao Tzu, we are going to when faced with an oncoming angry guest, listen very carefully and closely, and use those two magic words “You’re right” to diffuse the situation, reduce the stress, reduce the conflict, and only then will we move on to offer solutions and other points of view.
So in the comments below, let me know your experiences with this technique or other ways that you have to diffuse angry customers. If you love this content, subscribe.
Thanks for being here and I’ll see you next time.
