Working with difficult customers is something that you will have to do no matter where you work.
They have a habit of appearing when you’re not expecting it and making a lot of noise.
We understand that getting yelled at or having to deal with a demanding customer can be tiring.
The high-stress customers are not going to disappear.
Angry customers are inevitable, but you don’t have to dread them. Now is the time to take action and learn how to deal with difficult customers once and for all.
1. Remain Calm
It’s important to repeat this because it’s easy to get wrong.
It can be difficult not to take an angry email or shouting phone call from a customer personally.
You will likely instinctively respond with indignation and defensiveness when you hear this criticism, thinking about how wrong the customer is and how hard you work. You will probably start to feel angry before you know it.
Instead of reacting immediately, take a second to breathe and think about what your customer is actually saying.
The customer is angry because they are struggling with your product or service. They feel like they have to take it out on somebody.
Everyone experiences moments of weakness and everyone gets angry sometimes, so don’t take it personally or hold it against the person.
You don’t have to put up with rudeness, abuse, or aggressive behavior from a customer.
If you need help from your manager during a customer conversation, just let them know.
2. Practice Active Listening
You should listen to the customer’s words carefully, rather than focusing on the fact that they are angry.
You can defuse a situation with a customer by actively listening to them to try and understand the problem, rather than just trying to make them feel better.
By LISTENING to what the angry person is saying, you will be able to more quickly solve their problem and make them satisfied.
3. Repeat Back What Your Customers Say
A key part of active listening is making sure that you and the customer are both clear about what is being discussed.
Once you’ve determined the root cause of the anger, repeat back to the customer what you’re hearing and make sure you understand each other. This will let the customer know that their concerns have been heard and will be responded to.
4. Thank Them For Bringing The Issue To Your Attention
When a customer expresses anger or negativity about a situation, thanking them for bringing it to your attention can help to build rapport with them.
Thanking them for their time and patience will make them feel better and help you solve the issue.
5. Explain The Steps You’ll Take To Solve The Problem
In order to address the customer’s concern, it is important to make it clear what you will do to get started.
Make sure to let the customer know what the next steps are so they feel informed and comfortable.
6. Set A Time To Follow Up With Them, If Needed
If a problem can’t be solved in one phone call, you might need to talk to your manager or file an internal request with the product team.
If you cannot solve the customer’s issue on the phone, let them know why and give them a timeline of when they can expect to hear from you next.
The extra perk of this is that it’ll give the customer a chance to calm down, and it’ll give you time to get help and advice from your boss about what to do next.
7. Be Sincere
It’s important to remain calm and sincere when dealing with an angry customer.
Choose your words and tone carefully so as not to come across as condescending or angry.
If a customer comes in angry or upset, try to diffuse the situation by remaining calm and showing that you take their concerns seriously.
8. Highlight The Case’s Priority
Customers often feel that their support case is not important to the business, especially for businesses with large or international teams supporting the customer base.
When your company is dealing with thousands of inquiries each day, some customers feel like their case is not a priority and that your team can afford to provide an occasional poor experience.
You need to reassure your customer that their case is important to you, your support team, and your business.
Make sure to keep key stakeholders in the loop about what you’re doing to resolve the issue, and how this communication will help to resolve the issue more quickly. Even if only one customer service representative is working on their case, the customer should feel like your entire support team is aware of their issue.
9. Practice Empathy By Putting Yourself In Your Customers’ Shoes
One way to deal with a difficult customer is to understand their perspective.
Nobody wants to go on a service call, because they don’t know what is going on in the other person’s life that could be upsetting them.
If you’ve ever been frustrated with a company and then got stuck on a seemingly hopeless call yourself, you know it’s not fun.
It’s important to let your customer know right away that you’re going to listen to them and help them out. Showing empathy quickly will let them know that you’re not just going to dismiss them, and that’s important.
Reassuring customers is a great way to turn them into satisfied ones. The reason empathy is one of the top customer service skills for agents to master is that it helps them understand and share the feelings of their customers.
Here are some examples of empathetic statements that can help reassure customers and make them feel heard:
- “You’re definitely right to get in touch. Let’s see what we can do…”
- “I understand where you’re coming from and I can definitely help…”
- “Let me make sure I’m understanding you so we can get to the bottom of this…”
10. Offer To Walk Them Through The Problem Yourself
Building a good rapport with your difficult customers can help to avoid frustrating conversations that don’t seem to go anywhere.
If they are angry and want to quit, they will be pleased to let you assume control.
Screen sharing software provides a super-customized level of support by walking customers through their technical issues step-by-step.
This speeds up the problem-solving process and shows that you’re really willing to go the extra mile on their behalf:
11. When In Doubt, Let Them Vent
Patience is a virtue in customer service.
It is often best to allow someone to vent their frustrations, as this can help them to see how unreasonable they are being.
The perspective matters. If you can listen to someone for 30 seconds and it helps you get the business done faster and keeps the customer in the long run, it is probably worth it. Isn’t that right?
12. Use Customer Names And “You” To Create A Connection
Dale Carnegie’s book How to Win Friends and Influence People discusses the importance of a person’s name. He states that a person’s name is the sweetest and most important sound to them.
If you have a difficult customer, you should mention their name and use the word “you” a lot to make them feel like you’re trying to solve their problem.
This strategy is a subtle way to show someone you’re paying attention to them on a personal level. Here are some examples:
- “Alright [customer name], let me take care of this for you.”
- “Thanks for your patience [customer name], I’m looking at your account right now”
- “You’re absolutely right, [customer name]. I’d be glad to make that change for you.”
13. Never Argue Back
debates are not good for customer support agents
We’re not trying to say that the customer is always right, but it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to change an angry customer’s mind by arguing with them.
The key to dealing with angry customers is to remain calm and try to see the situation from their perspective. Reframing the conversation to make the customer feel valued is also important. Telling the customer they are wrong is not helpful.
14. Don’t Be Afraid To Say “No” (But Do So Without Actually Saying “No”)
Although it can be difficult, sometimes you have to tell customers “no.” Some agents may believe that they cannot do this, but it is important to be able to say it when necessary.
There are ways to veto someone’s idea without making them feel bad. For example:
- “Let me tell you what: here’s what we can do…”
- “We don’t offer that at this time, but there are a few alternative options I can recommend…”
- “I appreciate your question and totally understand, but here’s why we don’t…”
15. Approach All Of Your Calls With A Positive Attitude (Even The Bad Ones)
If you approach customers with a positive attitude, it can transform the way you deal with them.
That said, I believe it’s high time for the whole industry to invest in developing a culture in which customers feel cared for and respected.
Politeness is important to customers when they receive service, and I believe that the customer service industry should develop a culture in which customers feel cared for and respected.
Do not start a call by thinking it will be a disaster. Think that you have the ability to help and will be able to resolve their issue by the end of the call.
Fear and doubt are the worst enemies of an agent. A positive mindset will make your calls go more smoothly.
16. Develop A Thick Skin
To handle difficult customers, you need to be mentally prepared.
The silver lining to this problem is that it gets easier over time. If it makes you feel any better, think of every frustrated customer as a type of learning experience for how you can do better during your next call.
Try not to take it personally when you get negative feedback from customers. Just because they’re angry doesn’t mean they’re angry with you.
Is it Worth it to Deal with Angry Customers?
It is beneficial for companies to have customers who are angry, demanding, or hard to please because they provide opportunities to improve the business.
Angry customers provide your team with opportunities to practice their conflict resolution skills. Many customers just want to be heard, and for their problems to be acknowledged.
Listening to your customers’ concerns can help you see how your business can improve its products or services, and improve your business’s structure.
Every company has customers that are difficult to deal with, but if you allow them to be heard and really understand their position, it can increase brand loyalty, product or services, and conflict resolution training skills.
How would You Handle an Angry Customer?
Although it’s natural to feel anger, you can manage difficult or angry customers in any situation by listening actively, being sincere, staying calm, following up with them, and making their case a priority.
If you anger your customer, they may be more likely to do business with you in the future.
Dealing with unhappy customers is never easy, but it is good for business. You just need to know how to relate to them and solve their specific needs.
Strategies for Reducing the Likelihood of Encountering Difficult Customers in the Future
1. Avoid Keeping Customers On Hold
When was the last time you had fun listening to a company’s hold music?
Three-quarters of customers are highly annoyed when they can’t reach an agent in a reasonable time.
If you answer your customer’s calls quickly, they will be less likely to be unhappy with your service.
A platform like RingCentral can have a big impact by helping you track things like how long customers are on hold, and how well your agents are doing. This kind of information can help you make sure customers stay engaged.
Also, our routing features let you immediately transfer customers to available agents.
2. Make Sure You’re Communicating On Your Customers’ Terms
Well, the same goes for communicating with them about changes in your product. It’s important to keep in mind that customers have different preferences in terms of how they communicate. This also applies when you need to communicate changes to your product to them.
You should be able to resolve your customers’ concerns on multiple channels to make it more convenient for them, not just for you. This would make you more accessible and would give your customers a sense of control and comfort when they come to you with their concerns.
Omnichannel support means that customers can reach out to your business through multiple channels, and RingCentral makes it easy to manage those channels in one place.
Imagine: all your Twitter DMs, Facebook messages, and Instagram messages in one place, ready for you to respond without toggling between different windows:
3. Keep In Touch With Your Customers Beyond Support Queries
If you only communicate with customers when there is a problem, they will begin to think negatively about your business.
To improve relationships with customers, you need to do more than just handle support calls. Surveys, texts, and follow-up calls are all important to customer satisfaction.
The goal is not to annoy people with emails, but to encourage them to address any issues early, before they become unmanageable.
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