First, stay calm. You can't make the situation better by getting bent out of shape, and you will see a lot of customers in a given day. Unless you, personally, screwed up big time--say, you dropped a bowl of hot soup on a baby--it's not worth it to let one person get you all worked up.
Second, listen carefully to what they're angry about. Figure out the exact problem and how much you, personally, can do about it. If the problem is minor, the client may just be having a bad day--or possibly a bad life--and has decided to vent it on you. You can't help that; just find your inner Zen.
Third, apologize. Even if it's not your fault, even it's ridiculous, slap on a smile and apologize as sincerely as you can. A good apology will calm people down surprisingly fast. Don't bother trying to excuse or explain what happened unless it's a fairly seriously problem, because that can quickly provoke an argument. Just apologize and offer some kind of compensation--refund, replacement, store credit, whatever will make it right.
Comments