"It's not what you say. It's how you say it."

You've probably heard this before. It's from the Mehrabian study, which says

• 7% of meaning in the words that are spoken.
• 38% of the meaning is through the person's vocal tone.
• 55% of meaning is in facial expression.

Well, I'm contradicting...

This image is from my LinkedIn Learning course, Creating Positive Conversations with Challenging Customers. 

Use partnership language with customers from Creating Positive Conversations with Challenging Customers by Myra Golden

Handling difficult customers is an inevitable part of the ...

The Problem

Telling a person to calm down never works. If your partner told you to calm down, would you? Exactly. That doesn't work with your customers, either.

To tell someone to calm down is to invite conflict. It's like you're pushing your customer into a corner or a seat. As humans, it is o...

Customer Support Professionals Who Rarely Escalate Calls to Their Supervisors Often Use 7 Phrases (without realizing it). 

When I prepare for my customized customer service and de-escalation workshops, I listen to a sample of phone calls. I specifically ask for calls from the best customer support ...

I'm in San Diego this week to facilitate a workshop on de-escalation for customer service for Liberty Military Housing at Your Service Call Center. My de-escalation training has evolved into an inspirational focus on building confidence and assertiveness to make your word the final answer.

Stories,...

Working in customer service, especially in a live chat environment, you will encounter angry customers. These interactions can be challenging and emotionally draining. However, it's essential to remember that customers' anger does not reflect your worth; instead, it's a signal that something in thei...

A Subscriber (actually a few subscribers) asked me, “What do you do when you can’t give the customer what they want?” This video is my first answer to that critical question. I’ll share more tactics for what to say when you can’t give the customer what they want, but this video is enough to get you ...

When a customer is unhappy, how you respond can distinguish between a minor hiccup and a full-blown escalation. Here are five things you should avoid when dealing with upset customers.

One. Refusing to Admit the Customer’s Perspective

Never tell a customer they are wrong. If you tell a customer th...

I sourced my subscribers for the most pressing de-escalation questions. 

See my answers!

For more help with de-escalation, check out my De-escalation Academy.

Redirecting. "Here's what we know. Here's what we've done. Here's what's next."

Validating. "I can see your point on that," or "We want to get to the bottom of this as much as you do."

Explaining why you can't do what they want. "The FDA doesn't allow optometrists to refill expired contact lens pr...

Customer Temper Tantrums Can Look Like This

• Over-talking you
• Demanding to talk to your supervisor
• Cursing you out
• Refusing to listen to you
• Threatening to slam your company on social media
• Name-calling
• Explosive reactions

Here's how you handle the customer who is having a tantrum: 4 Step...