Angry Customer – Ways to Mollify

Anger makes a person unreasonable. He stops thinking rationally. To start with, you have to listen to an angry customer empathetically. If the customer wants to talk to your superior, you should ensure that he does so. The first job is to ensure that the customer cools down.

Handling an angry customer is a part and parcel of business. It is possible that the customer is still angry even after you solve his problem. One airline customer was furious that his late night flight was cancelled. He had to take the next morning flight. He vented his frustration on the booking staff. They arranged for his stay in a good hotel room. He was still angry. He said he would be having dinner at home, if the flight was according to the schedule. They gave him free food coupons. Some what mollified, he said he would have been with his wife but for the airline. The booking clerk told him “Sir, I think we have to draw a line somewhere.”

An important thing to remember is that the customer is not angry with you personally. But he is angry with the situation he is in. In the angry state, he might be feeling insecure. It is quite possible he is taking out the frustration with his wife or boss on you.

Don’t ever argue with an angry customer, for that matter with any customer. The customer will feel that you are rubbing salt into his wounds. You have to see that the customer vents all his feelings and cools down. The customer should know that you understand his problem. You should take the responsibility to solve the problem. It is possible that you may have to call in the experts and it might take time to resolve the issue. You should call the customer and inform him on the progress, if you cannot solve the problem immediately.

In case of any delay in the finding solution, the updates on what is being done will mollify an aggrieved customer. Ensure that the customer has your direct contact number.

Once the problem is resolved the customer will feel that the company really cares for its customers. Of course there are customers who can never be satisfied. But if listen to the customer carefully, take responsibility to solve the problem and ensure follow up till the problem is solved, you can ensure that the customer will not knock at your competitor’s door.