Goodness me! How's everyone coped this week?

I have to say yesterday I was melting. To be specific, it felt like my brain was melting out of my ears. I was finding it very difficult to concentrate - and I was just sat at a desk, typing into a computer (with no air conditioning mind you!).

However, I'm sure conditions in some of your workshops and buildings must have been way more taxing. I heard from one dealer this week who told me that temperatures had peaked, under an outdoor canopy area at their dealership, at 51 degrees! I can't even begin to imagine what that must feel like?! Luckily, this dealer said, the counters, workshop and showroom all benefited from AC so they were able to duck in to cool down. But he expressed much sympathy for anyone who had to plow on through conditions like that.

One consequence, beside the obvious, I'm sure that this hot weather brings is that people's tempers can become a little frayed. This can affect both your work colleagues and, most likely, your customers.

Dealing with customers who may have a legitimate concern or gripe always runs the risk of going south if they are of a, shall we say, difficult persuasion. However this can potentially prove even more problematic when you add into the mix that they're hot and bothered too!

The dealer I was talking to this week told me that when dealing with customers like this, one has to develop a great deal of patience and diplomacy. This diplomacy often has to stem from customers simply not wanting to admit that their own mishaps have led to the problem which you are trying to sort for them.

U.S dealership guru, Bob Clements, who of course will be speaking and running seminar sessions at this November's Service Dealer Conference, says that when dealing with a difficult customer like this, a key point to remember is "you can't out-logic them". Which when you think about it, makes perfect sense. There is going to be no amount of rational logic you can use to convince someone who is emotionally all over the place, that they are wrong.

Bob says in these fraught situations, "It is important to not become emotional along with the customer. You must stay calm and assertive and lead them away from the emotion they are experiencing."

"If you get angry," Bob says, "you lose. You will lose credibility, you will lose influence and you will probably lose the customer."

Bob has a few key tips for attempting to defuse an inflammatory situation. He says dealers should try to:

• Help them understand you are on their side. You want to get to the bottom of the problem and you can only do that if they help you understand the issue. Use phrases like, “I hear what you are saying”, Or “I appreciate your situation”
• Move to a neutral location. Moving physically can deescalate the situation in a way that helps the customer move to a more calm and logical state.
• Get a pad of paper and take some notes. Write down some of the key points of what they are telling you. This shows the customer that you are listening and slows the situation down.

The essence of Bob's theory is that your goal is to try to guide the customer from an emotional state to a logical one, and, for that to happen, you must remain calm and in control. Of course, on occasion, this is going to be easier said than done, but it's certainly something worth trying to bear in mind.

Especially in this heat!