How To Deal With Angry Customers

If you are working as a call center agent you must have faced angry customers at some of the time. In fact, it must have become a part of your daily work life and you have to deal with them on a regular basis. But the crucial part is how you handle such situations because it can either result in a happy ending with a satisfied customer or might result in losing the customer forever.

So it is important that the people working in the call centers are trained properly to solve any dispute quickly and are provided with all the required tools and techniques to handle any angry customer easily without any further escalation of the situation. Ultimately the customer will be happy and satisfied when they get good customer service and thus today we will try to understand and know in detail about the best techniques to deal with angry customers.

Listening Is Important:

You can easily determine whether a customer or caller is angry or not by listening to him or her in the first few seconds of the call. This will help you understand the present mental state of the customer and approach him in the best possible way. It is extremely important that you listen patiently to an angry customer and give him the chance to express his feelings. It is highly possible that the angry customer wants to express his frustrations. In such situations always let him do so before you try to defuse the situation.

In most cases, if the customer is given the proper chance to express his negative feeling or anger he or she will apologize to you at the later part of the call and cooperate with you in solving the problem. While interacting with the customers it is always advisable to jot down the main points of the problem so that you can keep the focus on them. Angry customers generally get diverted from the main issue and keeping the main points noted will help you in finding a solution to the problem easily.

Always remember that customer support is a mind game and you need to be extremely wise to find out where the problem is and solve it as quickly as possible.

Do Not Place The Call On Hold:

Generally, the call center agents do the mistake of keeping an angry customer on hold thinking that it will give them some time to cool down and become calm. But the reality is just the opposite and the customer becomes angrier and frustrated if kept on hold for a long time and it escalates the situation further. Many customers believe that they have been put on hold by the call center agent in order to avoid them so that they do not have to deal with the situation and it becomes far more difficult to handle the customer after the call is resumed from a hold.

The customer might imagine several negative reasons in his mind for being kept hold irrespective of whatever the real situation might be. Thus instead of placing the call on hold continue interacting with him and let the customer know that you have understood the problem and working on it to find out a suitable solution. The customer should feel that you genuinely care about the problem and willing to guide him or her getting out of the problematic situation.

Try To Make The Customer Happy:

Every angry customer is dissatisfied or frustrated with certain things which have not worked in the way it should have been. So try to understand the problem as soon as possible and provide with a suitable solution. If you give the customers appropriate options to resolve the issue it will make him feel more in command of the situation. Always explain the customer about all his options and how much time it will take to implement them.

If a customer feels a lack of control it can make him feel frustrated and increase the anger. If at some point in time you feel that the situation might go out of control offer a refund or a gift voucher to the angry customer as per the company policy. This will definitely reduce the anger of the customer and give him the feeling that you have done something wrong, you are admitting it and you are really sorry for it.

Before disconnecting the call always ask the customer whether you can help with anything else and going this extra mile will always have a positive impact on the angry customer. Last but not least compliment the angry customer and make him feel valuable and special. Nothing can be better than bringing a sweet smile on the face of a customer who had called the contact center with an angry mood.

Always Remain Calm:

It is extremely important that you remain calm while interacting with an angry customer so that the situation does not escalate further and the problem can be addressed quickly. While speaking always use an even tone and keep your words under control. Using any kind of agitated tone will make the customer angrier and worsen the situation.

Be empathetic with the customer’s situation and try to put yourself in their shoes. This will give you a better idea about the mental state of the customer and you will be able to understand the reason behind his anger.

Avoid Taking It Personally:

As a call support agent whenever you are talking to any customer over the phone always try to keep your feeling separate and concentrate on the facts told by the customer. Even if the customer becomes personal and expresses his frustration on you try to avoid it and divert him back to the main issue so that the problem can be addressed quickly.

Conclusion:

We all understand that handling an angry customer can be a difficult task but you need to remember that as a call center agent it is a part and parcel of your life. So try to act professionally and keep the above points in mind in order to have a smooth experience dealing with angry customers.