Dealing With Angry Customers
5 Magical Keys for Dealing with Angry Customers
Whether you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or work in the service industry in a store or restaurant, you’ve undoubtedly been challenged when dealing with angry customers. The following tips, derived from workplace coaching, are guaranteed to help.
1. Consider what made them angry and if it could have been prevented. Most cases where anger occurs involve the person feeling as if they are being ignored. If you do not acknowledge someone when they first arrive, for instance you continue cleaning the espresso machine for over a minute, you’ve got an angry customer before you’ve done one single thing. Or if you are slow to return calls or emails, the person is likely to feel that you don’t consider them worthy of a response.
2. Assuming you respond promptly to a customer who is front of you or sends you a message, that leaves the other cases—people who are perpetually angry at the world. In these cases, one thing that helps is asking questions about their dissatisfaction—such as, “How can we assist you?” “Do I have this right, your concern is that no one called you about the shipment delay and now you are late with your production process?” Find out why they are upset, rather then trying to tell them anything. Listen, listen, listen. The underlying cause of anger, any time, is feeling unloved. That may seem overly touchy-feely, but believing it will help you to have the compassionate attitude needed to deescalate an angry individual. If you think the person is a no good jerk, it’s hard to have much compassion or patience with them.
3. Think about the consequences if you don’t deescalate—dealing with angry customers incorrectly can result in some scary stuff. Just recently in Kansas City Missouri, a woman reportedly had a “Mac Attack” at McDonalds when they messed up her order. She hurled insults, and a then a bucket of mop water and a register, at an employee, and caused over $3,000 in damages. I ask you, is it worth proving you’re right when it can lead to such an outcome? It is most likely the Mickey D’s staff did not respond in a calm or understanding fashion to the woman's complaint. Just getting the order wrong does not bring a woman to violence, even if they are mad at the whole world.
4. One old saying might help you: The one with the most options wins. For every reason the customer is angry, find a reason for making them happy, or a reason why they needn’t be mad. For example:
Customer: “This order is completely wrong”
You: “OK, I am here to correct it”.
Customer: “I don’t think you can correct it.”
You: “I will try, and if I can’t my co-worker (manager) can”.
Customer: “Forget it, I’ll go somewhere else.”
You: “That’s ok, it will be no trouble at all to fix this. We’ll have it in an hour.”
You can think of more scenarios, no doubt, that pertain to your particular line of work.
5. If this advice leaves you cold and dealing with angry customers seems insurmountable, have you considered a career where you seldom interact with the public—perhaps computer nerd, researcher, or novelist?