Working in customer service you come across many different types of people. There's the overly friendly customers, the weird customers, and the just plain rude customers. If you’ve ever worked in retail you know exactly what I’m talking about and you probably also agree that you would prefer any type of customer over the rude ones. So why are these customers so rude anyways? I have had customers yelling in my face and threatening to call my boss over small matters such as not having the dog food they want in stock. I mean I get it, your dog is out of food and it’s an inconvenience to now have to drive to another location, but why is yelling the immediate response. That’s because to some people once you are behind the counter you are no longer an individual with feelings; you are just part of the service intended to get them what they want. What these customers don't realize is that staying calm and being polite is 100x more likely to make it so the employee wants to help. For example; If a customer starts to demand you give them an extra towel for the dog wash and accuses you of being incompetent, are you going to sympathize? No, you are going to explain your policy is to only supply one towel and then walk away. On the other hand, if a customer politely asks if they could possibly use an extra towel since they’re dog is afraid of the blow dryer, you will gladly go grab them one with a smile on your face. Now chances are you haven’t had a dog wash at your place of employment but you get the point, kindness is returned with kindness. Unfortunately not all customers are like the latter example, so how should you react to the less than polite customers? Personally, I try to remind myself that they’re only human too and who knows, maybe they aren’t normally like this. Bad days happen and everybody has a different way of dealing with them so try not to take their anger personally. By giving them the benefit of the doubt it’s easier to kill them with kindness rather than reacting by giving them a taste of their own medicine which might be your first reaction. If you’re reading this and realize you might be one of these dreaded customers, try to keep in mind that the employees behind the counter have bad days too and they’re just doing the best they can. Besides, 9 times out of 10 whatever your yelling at them for is something completely out of their control. source |
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