Being faced with an angry customer or client is no fun. 

From time to time, however, there may be an irate person on the other end of the telephone or at your white reception desk who wants to air their grievances and find a solution to a problem. This is a normal situation which happens occasionally and it’s important to know how to deal with it effectively in order to stop the situation from spiralling out of control and causing damage your business links. 

If you encounter an angry customer or client, here are five steps to follow to deal with the problem in a positive way. 

Step 1 - Stay Calm

It’s important that you stay calm and you don’t allow yourself to become rattled or annoyed. By remaining calm, you’re the one in control and it may very well be that your customer or client will start to mirror your demeanour and calm down themselves. 

However, you should not have to put up with verbal abuse or otherwise, and you should make that clear if you do feel threatened in any way.

If the customer or client has arrived at your reception desk, take them away from the main reception seating area, so as not to disturb other customers. Sit them down somewhere quiet and calm, perhaps one of your booths, and offer them refreshments. By doing this, you’re showing them that you’re taking the situation seriously and professionally.  

Step 2 - Ascertain The Facts

When someone is upset or annoyed, it’s very easy for them to go off on a tangent when trying to tell you what the issue is. It’s your job to sort out all the details and arrive at a firm conclusion of what the problem is. You need to stick to the facts, but you also need to take into account how the situation has made the customer or client feel. 

Ask them to calmly guide you through the problem and let them know that you will be making notes as they do so. 

Step 3 - Make Sure They Know You’re Listening

In this situation, there is nothing worse than the customer or client feeling like you’re not listening or taking them seriously. Listen to what they’re telling you, nod and make agreeing ‘uh-huh’ or ‘I see’ noises. Maintain eye contact and make sure that your body language isn’t betraying you. 

You need the customer or client to know that you’re taking their complaint very seriously and that you’re trying to listen and work out the facts, in order to do something about the complaint. 

Step 4 - Be Understanding

Whether you’re sat around the boardroom furniture or elsewhere in the building, you need your customer or client to know that you understand them. This means understanding what they’re telling you and also understanding how they feel. 

Once they’ve told you what the issue is, repeat it back in your own language, to ascertain understanding. This also helps them feel like you’ve really listened. In addition, make sure that you add in elements of acknowledgement of their feelings. For instance “I understand this situation has made you feel confused”. 

Step 5 - Assure Them That You Will Investigate

The next step is to assure them that you are going to investigate the matter thoroughly and you will keep them up to date throughout the process. Of course, this means you need to do exactly as you are telling them, otherwise they will become irate once more. This can drastically damage your business and customer relationship, so do not promise anything that you can’t do. 

By following these 5 steps you will be able to successfully calm down an irate customer or client and get to the bottom the issue. After that, investigate and ensure that you keep the customer up to date with any decisions and the entire process.

It goes without saying that if you’re going to take a customer into any part of your office, it should be clean, tidy, and impressive. Make sure your boardroom table is clean and tidy, and that there are refreshments on offer. Small things such as this can make a huge difference in terms of the outcome of a situation such as this.