Have you ever seized up when confronted by an angry customer?

Here’s what’s happening. You perceive the angry person as threatening so your brain and body collude to turn on the fight or flight response.

In pre-historic days, if you had been confronted with a significant threat, survival dictated that you would run away or fight your way out of the situation.

Unfortunately your evolutionary instincts and professional etiqutette for dealing with customers in modern times are in conflict.

Techniques to help you assist an angry customer

If you want to recover more quickly from the adrenalin hit, try these techniques:

• relax your shoulders
• exhale - you are probably holding your breath·
• start talking - use simple encouragers such as “a-ha, hmmm, right, oh dear’.

How using simple 'encouragers' can help you

Encouragers such as “a-ha, hmmm, right, oh dear’ have a dual effect.

They bypass your angry customers' rant by sending their brain the message that you are paying attention and you do care (which helps them to calm down faster).

They also force your brain to redirect oxygen and blood back to your critical speech and thinking centres so that you can deal with the problem more effectively.

Interested in a workshop on customer service for your team?