From our books, we've put together answers to frequenlty asked questions about dealing with the worst customers, the angry, terrified, irate, and even threatening ones, while still maintaining some degree of quality customer service.

1. 1
Customer Service Zone About Us | Blog | Privacy | Store
By Bacal & Associates Developing Customer Service Skills For Over 20 Years
Home Seminars and Services Bacal's Customer Service Books Articles By Robert Bacal Article Libraries FAQ's Our Guarantee Contact WebStore
Dealing With Difficult Customers, Angry Customers and Just Plain Rude Customers Do You Know How To Deal With the
Customer Service Seminars and Hot, Frustrated, Irate Customers?
Services
Those in customer service positions in retail,
Defusing Hostile and Difficult Purchase and Download NOW!
Customers For Government hospitality (hotel and restaurants), call centers and ($19.95)
government have to deal with difficult customers,
Dealing With Difficult and Angry
Customers - For Profit and Non-Profits
angry customers, and just plain rude customers on
a daily basis. For customer service staff who are
Presenting/Speaking To Hostile and not accustomed to this, or lack the training and
Resistant Groups (For Government)
C
knowledge to deal with the difficult, angry and rude,
ou
Keynotes and Conference Speaking the experience can be stressful and make an
rte
Read About Our Flexible Pricing otherwise enjoyable job, unpleasant, and even
intolerable.
sy
Our Past Customers
of
We've put together a number of techniques, tips,
Site Areas hints, and advice you can apply to various difficult
th
customer situations. The majority of these have
e
Customer Service Skill Articles
been adapted from The Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook, available through us or
C
Buy and download
us
The Customer Service Interviews amazon.com.
to
Customer Service Q's & A's More info...
Or, if you don't need the exercises included in the workbook,
m
The Free Customer Service Library and you'd prefer non-government examples, you can save Or Get It On The Kindle
er
some money by buying our newest release - If It Wasn't For
Free Instructional Videos For Building
Se
Customer Service Skills The Customers I'd Really Like This Job: Stop Angry, Also Available at Amazon.com.
Hostile Customers COLD While Remaining Professional, Click here to go there now
rv
Unique Quotes About The World of
Stress Free, Efficient and Cool As A Cucumber.
ic
Customer Service Visit our store for more options
e
Guest Customer Service Articles General Questions About Difficult, Angry, and
Zo
Abusive Customers:
ne
Customer Service FAQ Categories
Is Angry and Hostile Customer Behavior A Result of Their
Main Page - General Customer Personalities
Service Q & A
Customer Service Techniques &
If angry hostile behavior is a result of personality, then how can a customer service rep hope
Skills For Difficult Customers to impact on it.
Improving Corporate Customer Why are some customers so darned difficult and rude?
Service and Creating A Customer It's a natural question to ask, but it may be that for those that deal with distraught customers,
Service Culture
the answers are too complex to be useful.
Customer Relationship Management
Concepts & Technology I Keep Trying To Find The Ultimate Put-Down For Rude Customers. Is There One?
Understanding Customers and All of us go through that. It's normal. But read on for more.
Customer Psychology
Why do angry customers pick on me, when I don't make the rules?
For Employees On The Customer
Service Firing Line The simple answer is that angry people aren't all that rational and logical, which I'm sure
you've noticed, but it's a bit more complex than that.
Social Media and Customer Service
Questions and Answers

2. What do angry customers really want from me?
Sometimes it seems like even the customers don't know what they want, and that nothing
will satisfy them when they are angry. The answer to this important question underlies
almost all techniques used to deal with irate customers.
What is the CARP system for defusing angry and difficult customers?
It's common for customer service representatives, in their desire to help, to mis-time their
use of defusing techniques. The CARP system is a simple model to remind about timing and
sequencing of defusing "moves".
Can you summarize the most important principles I should apply when dealing with angry or
abusive customers?
Although the more you know and understand your customers, the better, we can boil down
the customer defusing process into a set of relatively easy to remember principles. Here they
are.
Why is self-control so important when dealing with difficult customers?
It's a simple question, as is the one below on the consequences of losing self-control, but the
C
ou
answer for both is that if you lose your temper, YOU are the one that will pay, not the
customer.
rte
What are possible consequences if I lose my cool and lose self-control with an angry
sy
customer?
of
Since the rules of behavior are different for customers and those that serve customers, you'll
th
find that when you get angry, or more importantly, act in an angry way towards a customer,
e
you are the one likely to be punished. It's not fair, but it's the reality.
C
us
What techniques, hints, and advice can I use to maintain my cool and self-control when
to
dealing with an obnoxious customer?
m
If you have anger control issues in a number of situations at home and at work, you'd best
er
look for professional help. If you are normally very good at handling your anger and
Se
frustration, but still want to improve, there are some good "self-talk" strategies you can learn
rv
on your own drawn from cognitive behavior therapy.
ic
e
How can I continue to improve my ability to deal with difficult, aggressive, and insulting
Zo
customers?
ne
Here are some suggestions to involve your self in continuous improvement so your skills get
better and better over time. Reading a book or watching a training video is great, but it's what
you do after that is important.
Specific Techniques, Advice and Hints and Tips Applied To Difficult and
Abusive and Angry Customers
What Is "disengaging from angry customer", and what is it used for?
As with all the defusing techniques in our book, and there's over a hundred, the point is to
calm the customer down so you can work with him or her to address the concern. There's a
wee bit more to it of course. Read on.
I deal with angry customers on the phone. How can I get them to stop talking at me, and start
listening?
Ah, the secret sauce for dealing with customers on the phone that addresses one of the
largest problems of phone interaction -- getting the caller to listen so you can help.

3. How do I use the "We Technique" to send a message I'm working with the difficult customer?
As you will see, and as with all the techniques outlined in our books, the "We Technique" has
to be used properly to work. Used improperly it's likely to add fuel to the angry consumer's
"fire". Read for more.
What are "hot words" and "hot phrases", and why should I avoid them with customers?
Not only should you know about hot words an hot phrases as they relate to working with your
customers and callers, but they come into play at home too.
What is "removing the audience" and why is it important with angry or manipulative
customers?
Many customer service representatives work in public view or within earshot of other
customers. Or, sometimes a customer will bring his or her own "cheering crew" that can
affect how you defuse. This techniques addresses these situations.
Can you suggest a way to start off conversations with customers, difficult, angry or
otherwise?
C
Get off on the wrong foot and things often get worse, and very quickly. Here are some
ou
suggestions about how to start interactions well, not only with angry customers, but to
rte
prevent customers from becoming irate.
sy
How can I use surprise as a way to stop an angry or abusive customer from talking at me?
of
Believe it or not Psychological theory can tell us a lot about how to react and deal with real
th
world behavior, and much of what's on these pages has psychological underpinnings. This is
e
one of those things where theory informs practice. Some things simply are more likely to get
C
the attention of people, and surprise is one of them.
us
What Is "The Distraction Technique"?
to
m
Need a technique to turn customer anger around, and break the escalation cycle? This is
er
one technique from our books and seminars you might find useful.
Se
rv
ic
e
Zo
We have much more on this topic: Please Search!
ne
Search
Copyright © 2011 Robert Bacal 722 St. Isidore Rd. Casselman Ontario, Canada (613) 764-0241 Email: ceo@work911.com
About Us | Contact Us | Our Blog
Free Dreamweaver Templates | Web Hosting<