You are going to have to deal with an angry customer no matter how responsive you are in sales or how well you anticipate customer problems. Sure, it would be nice to be able to prevent angry customers, but that is not realistic. Communication is hard and misunderstandings happen. That’s when emotions run hot. You can still work with an angry customer and keep your business.
Stay calm.
This is the most important piece of not making the situation worse. Two people screaming at each other is far worse than one person yelling. It’s also more difficult to fix. Tell yourself, “Stay calm” when you hear the other person raising his voice. This mental instruction needs to be repeated to yourself so you actually do stay calm. Taking a breath often helps you stay calm as well.
Why do you have to keep from yelling? Because the person yelling will often lower the volume when they hear someone speaking in a calm, softer voice.
Apologize if you can.
Often a sincere apology will deescalate an emotional conversation. Just be sure you offer a real apology. A sincere apology is not what the politicians often deliver. Their insincere apology is, “I’m so sorry that you misunderstood me.” Blaming the customer for their anger will inflame the situation, not deescalate it.
A sincere apology is, “I’m so sorry that the order was wrong and I will work very hard to fix things.” It would be better if you could say, ““I’m so sorry that we messed up the order and I will work very hard to fix things.” You are taking responsibility for the mistake and not blaming your customer. Acknowledge the difficulty the customer is in now if you can. You could say, “I know this delays your production.”
Then wait until your customer responds. What you’re listening for is a de-escalation of your customer’s emotions. He will become a better listener when he’s not yelling at you.
Try to understand what they want.
Ideally, he will then say what you need to do to remedy the situation. If not, you can say, “Can we talk about how to fix this situation?” It would be wonderful for you if the fix is something you can do. Pay attention to what he’s asking for if what he is proposing includes something you are unable to do.
Try to offer part of what your customer wants if his request is beyond your capability. Explain what you can do before you state what you can’t do. The reason is you want to show your customer that you are trying to fix the situation and give him something he wants. After you say, “John, again I apologize. I can do (Your proposed solution.) I would need more time to get approval for more than that. What do you think?” Wait for his response. You are gauging his reaction to see how much more you need to do to rectify the situation.
Yes, prevention is always better than having to deal with an angry customer. Just don’t make things worse and you often can keep your customer.