Dealing With Difficult Customers At P.T.Tunggal Jaya Utama, Bandung.

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1 Maranatha Christian University

ABSTRACT

Perusahaan sedapat mungkin membina hubungan yang baik dengan para pelanggannya melalui para staf customer service. Tujuan dari adanya hubungan baik tersebut adalah untuk mendapatkan kepercayaan dari pelanggan sehingga terjadi peningkatan permintaan. Di P.T. Tunggal Jaya Utama (TJU), usaha membina hubungan yang baik dengan

pelanggan tersebut dilakukan dengan semaksimal mungkin memenuhi permintaan pelanggan, menanggapi keluhan, dan memperbaiki kesalahan. Berdasarkan pengamatan, dalam usaha tersebut, staf mengalami

masalah yaitu adanya kesulitan dalam menghadapi pelanggan tertentu. Pelanggan yang sulit dihadapi ini biasanya adalah pelanggan yang marah, tidak mau paham dengan keadaan ketika timbul suatu masalah sehingga susah diajak bicara dan susah menemukan jalan keluar dari masalah yang timbul; juga pelanggan yang terus menerus menawar atau memaksakan anggarannya sesuai keinginannya.

Untuk mengetahui penyebab, efek, dan solusi dari masalah kesulitan dalam menghadapi pelanggan tertentu di P.T.TJU tersebut, dilakukan pengamatan terhadap staf customer service dan pelanggan yang bersangkutan. Pengamatan didasarkan pada data-data literatur yang didapat dari buku dan Internet. Ada tiga (3) penyebab dan tiga (3) efek yang terjadi akibat masalah tersebut. Penyebab-penyebabnya adalah adanya kesalahan yang telah dilakukan oleh pihak perusahaan, adanya perbedaan pandangan prioritas kepentingan antara pihak perusahaan dan pelanggan yang bersangkutan, serta adanya permintaan dari pihak

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FLOWCHART

` Chosen Solution:

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CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

Dealing with customers is a routine activity for the person who works in

a marketing department, including customer service staff. Dealing with

customers will not be easy if it deals with some difficult customers.

“Difficult customers come in several varieties, including angry, impatient,

intimidating, talkative, demanding, and indecisive customers” (Lipow 1).

The most difficult customer to handle is the customers who are angry

(Kahle 1). During my internship, I also experienced that the angry

customer is more difficult to handle than other customers because they did

not want to listen to the explanation and the solution given. This type of

customers has to be handled carefully; otherwise, they can be more

difficult. There is a possibility that difficult customer can become worse if

the staff cannot satisfy them with his / her explanation. The staff should

know the way to handle them professionally. The purpose of knowing the

way to handle them is to have a good relationship with the customers. By

having a good relationship, the customers will trust the company; thus,

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The problem of dealing with difficult customers also happens at P.T.

Tunggal Jaya Utama (P.T. TJU), Bandung. P.T. TJU, as a private

company based on property and contractor field, always has a direct

relationship with the customers in its activity; therefore, the company

always needs a good relationship with each customer. The company

should try to give all customers want. However, some problems

sometimes occur and those make some customers angry, impatient, and

difficult to handle. When dealing with this situation, not all staff knows how

to handle it. Furthermore, there is a probability that the customers will

leave the company.

The situation in which the customer service has to deal with the difficult

customers and to keep the good relationship with them becomes an

interesting and valuable case to be studied. This study aims at finding the

causes, the effects, and the solutions of dealing with the difficult customers

at P.T. TJU.

B. Identification of the Problem

1. Why do some customers become difficult or too difficult to handle?

2. What are the best ways to deal with difficult customers

professionally?

C. Objectives and Benefits of the Study

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1. It is to know the reason of customers becoming difficult or more

difficult to handle.

2. It is to know the way to handle the difficult customers professionally

and the benefit of it for the person who deal with them, and for the

company.

The benefits:

1. For P.T. TJU, this study would be useful for the customer service

staff to know how to handle difficult customers and to be better in

handling customers in the future.

2. For readers, this study provides a real case about the problem of

dealing with difficult customers, besides theories to be compared

with the case. Thus, the benefit from this study for the readers is

they would get more knowledge and experience about the topic.

3. For me, the benefit is gaining more experience and knowledge

about the topic both in theories and a practice.

D. Description of the Institution

P.T. Tunggal Jaya Utama (P.T. TJU) is a private wooden house

industry company, including general contractor, property, general trading

and export – import. P.T. TJU is located at Jalan Ir.H.Juanda No. 250,

Bandung-Indonesia. Since founded by Rizky Masyani in 1999, P.T. TJU

has grown and made some valuable contributions to the property sector in

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in Indonesia. Its mission is to have a good relationship with the customers,

after sales service. Recently, P.T. TJU is expanding the joint venture with

some national and international companies.

E. Method of the Study

The data were collected from literatures and observation. The

literatures are theories about customers’ behavior, to handle customers,

especially about difficult customers, which were taken from books, and

Internet. The observation was done during my internship at P.T. TJU. The

data which were taken from observation are: general data about P.T. TJU,

such as company profile, data of activities of customer service in handling

the customers and handling the problems, and also documentation which

are pictures and journal.

F. Limitation of the Study

The study has some limitations. First, the study was done in P.T. TJU

office, in the marketing department, the customer service and follow up

subdivisions for two months (December 2008 – February 2009). Second,

the ones who were observed were only the customer service and follow up

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G. Organization of the Term Paper

The main content of this term paper consists of four chapters. The first

chapter is the Introduction. This chapter is an introduction and general

information about problem of the study, start from the background of the

study, identification of the problem, objectives and benefits of the study,

description of the institution, method of the study, limitation of the study,

and organization of the term paper. The second chapter is the problem

analysis. This chapter is an analysis to the problem of the study’s causes

and effects, based on the related theories. The third chapter is the

potential solution. This chapter is an analysis to the potential solutions to

the problem of the study, with positive and negative effects of each

solution, based on related theories. The last chapter is the conclusion.

This chapter is the answer to the problem of study’s questions in chapter

one, get by combining the analysis problem and solutions. The best

solution to the problem of study would be explained in this chapter, with

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CHAPTER IV

CONCLUSION

Dealing with the difficult customers becomes a customer service staff’s

problem in P.T. Tunggal Jaya Utama (TJU). In the previous chapters, it

has been discussed that there are causes and effects of the problem. The

causes of the problem are the staff of the company makes mistakes; there

is a different point of view between the customers and the staff; and the

customers have a difficult demand. The effects of the problem are the

company will have to spend more time and effort in handling the difficult

customers; will get less profit to solve the problem by giving some

compensations to them; and the staff stress level will increase.

In the previous chapter, there are some other discussions on potential

solutions of the problem, with the positive and negative effects of each

potential solution. The potential solutions are respecting the customers

even when they are angry; giving some compensations to the customers;

and stop working with the customers whose demands cannot be done by

the company.

This chapter presents the best solution to solve the problem that has

been discussed in the previous chapter. The best way to solve the

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solution is respecting the difficult customers. The second solution is giving

the customers some compensations. First, it is better to apply the first

solution; then, in the condition that the first solution does not work, go to

the second solution.

The best solution to deal with the difficult customers is to respect them.

By respecting the customers, they would assume that the company

respect and understand them; thus, expectedly, they would decide on

trusting the company again. The customers would keep in business

relation with the company, if the company solves their problem as soon as

possible (Foster 1). In addition, the company will still take control of the

difficult situation and would not lose the customers. Respect is a first step

of customers’ need when they are upset or angry, but when they do not

feel respected by the company or the company try jump to the solutions,

they may be more difficult (Fairweather 1). That is the reason why respect

is taken first before giving compensation. If the staff gives compensation to

the customer at the first time they complain, it may not let the customers

vent their feeling, and they may become more difficult. However, if the

customers have vented their feeling but they are still being difficult, the

company could give them bonus, in order to calm them down.

In conclusion, the customers need to vent their feeling when they are

angry or complain. Thus, the best solution to deal with this problem is first,

respect the customers in that situation, and finally, if the respecting

solution fails, give the customers some compensations in order to fix the

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Maranatha Christian University

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