Dealing with Difficult Customers

Published: Tue, 08/05/25

Updated: Tue, 08/05/25

Dealing with Difficult Customers

Dealing with a difficult customer – someone who is angry or upset – can be one of the most challenging and rewarding encounters for most companies. If your people handle the situation well, you will often gain a long-term customer. Mishandle it, and you’ll watch the situation dissolve into lost business and upset people.

What guidelines can you provide your employees to help them cope with angry or difficult customers? Here are two:

1. Respect For a Difficult Customer

It can be difficult to respect a person who may be yelling, swearing, or behaving like a two-year-old. I’m not suggesting you respect the behavior, only that you respect the person. Keep in mind that 99 times out of 100 you are not the object of the customer’s anger. You are like a small tree in the path of a swirling tornado. But unlike the small tree, you have the power to withstand the wind.

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What is the source of your power? Unlike the customer, you are not angry, you are in control, and your only problem at the moment is helping him with his problem. If you step out of this positioning and start reacting to the customer in an emotional way, you’ll lose control, you’ll lose your power, and the situation will be likely to escalate into a lose-lose for everyone. So, begin with a mindset that says, “No matter what, I will respect the customer.”

2. Listen to a Difficult Customer

You don’t try and cut him off, you don’t urge him to calm down. Not just yet. You listen and you listen carefully. And as you listen, you begin to piece together his story. If... READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

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