Handling Difficult Visitors
Museums are a great place to visit and can support expanding the public’s knowledge on a variety topics as well as to be immersed in cultural experiences. All walks of life are welcome to engage with history, art, and science. However, amid the serene halls and exquisite exhibits, museum staff often encounter challenging situations presented by difficult visitors. These encounters, though demanding, provide opportunities to foster understanding, patience, and effective communication.
Understand Difficult Visitors
Difficult visitors come in various forms, from the curious but impatient to the crying toddler to the outright disruptive. Understanding the root causes of their behavior is crucial. Often, frustration, confusion, or personal issues fuel their actions. Even issues that seem trivial such as being hungry, dealing with restless kids, bad weather, and language barriers can spark a bad day for the visitor and the museum staffers who are on the receiving end of that frustration.
Recognizing underlying factors allows museum staff to approach each situation with patience and empathy, key ingredients in diffusing tension and finding constructive resolutions. A recent Impacts Experience study about visitor satisfaction in cultural organizations asked dissatisfied visitors, ‘What factors contributed to your less-than-satisfying experience when you last visited?’ Answers ranged from customer service issues to parking and access to maintenance and cleanliness to crowding. Finding a balance of meeting visitor needs and staff needs is an important step in mitigating difficult visitor issues before they begin.
Prepare Museum Staff
Effective preparation is essential for museum staff to navigate encounters with difficult visitors successfully. Through comprehensive training, staff members learn valuable communication techniques and conflict-resolution strategies. They discover the power of active listening and the importance of maintaining a calm and professional demeanor, even in the face of provocation.
If you host a seasonal staff training or monthly staff meeting consider adding a difficult visitor role-play activity to your agenda. You can proactively engage staff by asking them what types of difficult visitors they encounter most often and what has been successful in handling those situations. Use these real-life examples to present challenging visitor situations and to empower your staff to “handle” these situations with their colleagues and come up with collaborative ways to handle these situations moving forward.
Use WAVE to De-escalate Tensions
When tensions rise, de-escalation techniques become invaluable tools. Staff members are trained to remain composed and empathetic, acknowledging visitor concerns while gently guiding conversations toward resolution. By validating emotions and seeking common ground, staff can defuse volatile situations and restore harmony to the museum environment.
Important note: Never put yourself or staff in an unsafe situation. If an issue escalates, involved supportive staff members to help or call 911.
A few years back, I was in a challenging visitor training and the presenter used the WAVE method as a way to de-escalate a tense situation. WAVE stands for:
WAIT
ACKNOWLEDGE
VALUE
EXTRA
W: Wait
Listen to the visitor’s concerns and remain calm. Give the visitor time to vent – sometimes they just want to be heard. Receive the information and don’t feed into dramatic situations. Consider the value of non-verbal communication like eye contact and nodding.
A: Acknowledge
Acknowledge the issue or concern by paraphrasing it back to the visitor with a firm but hospitable tone. Build a rapport with an authentic response. Let the visitor know that you “hear” them.
V: Value
Add value to their experience by offering a solution to move forward. Work with them to remedy the situation.
E: Extra
What can you do to show that you listened? If the situation warrants it, how can you go above and beyond? It does not need to be a grand gesture.
Set Boundaries with Visitor Guidelines
Clear boundaries are essential for maintaining order and ensuring the safety of both staff and visitors. Museum visitor policies outlining acceptable behavior should be a museum document that is displayed on the site and your website. The policy should outline the most important rules and boundaries and ensure that consequences for not following visitor policies are clearly defined. Visitor guidelines support your staff in their on-the-spot decision-making and help to ensure a supportive and safe environment for everyone.
Here are some examples of visitor guidelines from a variety of organizations:
Leverage Technology
Technology plays a vital role in enhancing museum security and visitor engagement in the digital age. Security cameras and visitor tracking systems provide valuable insights into visitor behavior, enabling staff to proactively anticipate and address potential issues. Digital feedback platforms offer visitors a channel to voice concerns and provide valuable feedback, facilitating continuous improvement in visitor services.
Create a Positive Visitor Experience
Ultimately, the goal of every museum is to provide visitors with enriching and memorable experiences. By prioritizing visitor satisfaction, museum staff can turn negative encounters into opportunities for growth and learning. Through patience, effective communication, and a commitment to excellence, staff members strive to create a welcoming and inclusive environment where all visitors feel valued and respected.
Create a Positive Staff Experience
Dealing with difficult visitors can be incredibly taxing for your staff and volunteers. There are certainly instances where the visitor is right - a staff member has been rude, an experience has been subpar, or another visitor created a hostile environment. Ensure that your staff does not talk about challenging visitors or incidents in earshot of other visitors. You never know who might overhear a conversation and it could add to a challenging situation.
The adage, ‘the customer is always right,’ doesn’t hold water for anyone who works in customer service, especially in the post-pandemic era. Museum leadership needs to provide a supportive environment for staff to decompress and talk about incidents away from other visitors. This is crucial for morale, confidence, and supporting a professional environment. Support could look like offering an immediate break, actively listening to your staff, validating feelings, empowering future problem-solving, and providing training.
Dealing with difficult museum visitors requires a delicate balance of staff empowerment, training, and support while also being patient and empathetic to visitor situations. Taking time to learn about specific situations for your museum and preparing your staff with effective training and ongoing support can create an enviroment where your staff AND visitors feel welcomed, respected, and inspired.