How to Handle Irate Customers: Things to Do

We’ve heard a lot of horror stories from people who work in the call center industry especially from people who were placed in the customer service area. It’s true, being in a customer service field is probably one of the most challenging jobs there is. Customer service simply means providing a satisfying customer experience and making sure that all of your customer’s queries are addressed accordingly. We definitely want them to keep coming back and talk about our business to other potential customers.

The only thing that seems to be a difficult task in customer service or customer relationship is dealing with an irate customer. When dealing with a difficult customer, make sure you do the following:

1. Stay calm, polite, and listen actively;

2. Take note of what the concern is all about and make sure you acknowledge the customer’s frustration through a verbal nod;

3. When the customer has finished explaining himself, go through with your notes again to recap everything he discussed or what you might have missed;

4. After going through with your notes, explain how your internal process goes in a step by step and straightforward manner or how your company deals with complaints. For example, you can tell your customer that this matter will be escalated to the appropriate department for further investigation and resolution will be provided within 24 hours;

5. Make sure that you log or make necessary notes about the customer’s case so that the next representative will have enough information on how to deal with it;

6. Take ownership. Make sure you follow up on the issue with whomever you passed it on before the 24 hour-deadline expires and make sure that a resolution will be provided to the customer or if it needs to be escalated to a much higher level like the manager;

7. Make a return call. One of the best practices in customer service is that once you have resolved your customer’s concern, call him back to make sure that you’ve got everything covered and most importantly, give an assurance that this will not happen again.

When dealing with difficult customers, the only thing that matters is letting them vent and explain their side of the story. You really can’t prevent a frustrated customer from screaming but you can prevent issues like this from happening again. You have to remember that it is quite frustrating for a customer not to get a first level resolution; let alone wait in the phone queue to actually speak to a live person. Sometimes, customers aren’t really mad at you, they’re just mad about the whole situation and all they want to hear is that you will do your best to resolve their issues.