The 4-Step Formula for Handling Irate Customers

Mr. Slater shoulda had a SODA.

By now you’ve probably heard about Steven Slater, the JetBlue flight attendant who after arguing with a passenger behaving badly, announced on the loud speaker system that he’d had it, grabbed a couple of beers, opened a door and slid down the emergency chute.

If you work in customer service you know the feeling. You’ve had those days when if there was a window to open and a chute available you’d be tempted to do the same thing. The fact is if you deal with customers every day, a certain percentage of them will behave badly.

A lose-lose situation.
Actually, getting angry at customers is a choice we make. If you find yourself reacting in any of the following ways, you have fallen into the trap of taking customers’ anger personally.

> Backatcha. Getting angry at angry customers results in disaster.
> Oh, ya! I’ll show you whose right! Nobody wins the blame game.
> Throw gasoline on the fire. Knowingly making a remark to make an angry customer even angrier is downright sick.
> Crumble. Internalize the anger, suffer and get so stressed you get ill — or quit.
> Hang up. The equivalent of exiting out the window.

A win-win situation.
There is a healthier way to handle irate customers. That is to have a SODA (Stop.Observe.Decide.Act) This is an ancient four-step formula for dealing with emotionally-charged situations skillfully.
> Stop. It’s only natural to have the fight or flight response when you feel you are being attacked. The key to maintaining emotional control is to stop yourself from reacting automatically. It’s a nanosecond that makes all the difference.
> Observe. Once you make the choice to retain control, you see the situation for what it is: the customer is angry about their situation. It’s really not about you!
> Decide. Instead of expending energy getting angry and getting nowhere, you focus on deciding which solutions to offer the customer.
> Act. This last step is the pay off. The customer gets their problem solved, you feel empowered and confident knowing you did the best you could. It is clearly a win-win situation.

Mr. Slater would have been better off trading those two beers and a slide for a SODA.

Be happy. Enjoy your week.

2010 © Barbara Burke. All Rights Reserved. www.barbaraburke.com

I hope you enjoy this week’s Monday Aha! and that you pass it on to your friends and colleagues. Better yet, encourage them to subscribe (at right) to receive it every Monday in their inbox.
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The SODA concept and this Aha! are from my customer service fable about a CSR in a call center, The Napkin,The Melon & The Monkey.
> Synopsis of the book.
> Listen to Chapter One.
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