Conflicts are inevitable and happen in all aspects of your life, including disputes with your customers, disputes as a customer, with family, neighbors, and in any situation. However, there are ways of minimizing conflicts and to also resolve them fairly and quickly. Here’s how:
Resolve at the lowest level: A perfect example is when a customer at the grocery store is not satisfied for some reason and they immediately ask to speak to the store manager. Quite often, the easiest way to have resolved the issue would be to let the cashier know the issue first, then customer service if still not resolved, then finally with the store manager.
Don’t make threats or take drastic action: As soon as you say that you are going to contact your attorney, then you just escalated your issue to a whole level higher, and the relationship will most likely be damaged forever. Ironically, I think that this threat has been overused anyway and nobody really cares all that much. Another example is to demand a raise from your employer and if not given one, then threaten that you will leave. Why not either ask for a raise, if you deserve it, or ask your boss what you can do differently to receive a raise?
Avoiding conflicts: Avoiding conflicts does not mean trying to make everyone happy because that is not possible, and you will make yourself unhappy and exhausted in the process. Do not avoid conflicts just to avoid conflicts or just to be nice as sometimes the truth hurts, although you should make sure that you say it in a charitable way. A good practice is to always strive to determine how to conflict proof your decisions. For example, if you know that you are going to make a change to your business practices, then let people know ahead of time, when possible. This can involve alerting customers to price increases, billing methods, payment methods, and timing of providing a service. The key is to communicate with people in a smart, proactive, truthful, and thoughtful way.
Put it in perspective: Is the conflict really that important or even worth pursuing? Weigh the pros, cons, and the actual cost of entering a battle.
If you like what you just read then don’t hesitate to forward/share with your friends.
Make sure to subscribe to our weekly emails to receive practical business, financial and tax strategies! Click Here to Sign Up Now!