Prepare yourself emotionally to give customers bad news

- You are no stranger to bad news. There have been plenty of times when you've endured it. Let me prove it to you. Whether it is telling your teenager you're taking away their cell phone, ending a relationship, or telling your grandmother you can't make it home for the holidays, you've delivered bad news, you made it through no matter how hard it was. The same goes for delivering bad news to customers. You'll get through it. I'll walk you through three questions to help you prepare to give bad news. First question. How do you react when someone gives you bad news? Is your stomach in knots? Can you listen without interrupting? How long does it take for you to process what you've heard? The answers to this question will vary from person to person. My point is, you react and your reaction may be triggered by the shock and the inconvenience of the situation or by something else entirely. It's the same for your customers. It's normal for customers to react to the news. Knowing it's normal, I want you to give them space to react. Question two. How do you think your customer will react to your bad news? The next time you feel hesitant about telling a customer no, ask yourself this question. What would the customer's response be if you had to guess how they might respond? Will they yell, cuss, or ask for your manager? When you take the time to think through how customers might react, you're less likely to experience anxiety at the moment with the customer. In the next team meeting, take some time to review a few situations where you have to break bad news to customers and describe what you expect to happen. Final question. How would the most confident person you know have this conversation? It has been a great help to me to ask this question. If I have a challenging conversation with a client, my husband, or one of my children, I imagine how someone I see as confident would handle it. It is my sister who is that person for me? When Taracita gives bad news, she is assertive, doesn't shy away from difficult conversations, and is comfortable with conflict. How I imagine my sister responding to the situation I am preparing for, emotionally prepares me for the conversation. Think of someone, a colleague, a friend, a parent, or maybe even a character from a movie or TV show. If this confident person talked to your customer, what would they say? You empower yourself by considering how you respond to bad news, what you anticipate from your customer, and what a confident person would do. You've got this.