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 ...

No matter how much we wish we could, we can only sometimes resolve every customer's problem. We might not have the answers. Sometimes, we have trouble understanding what the customer wants. Communication can be a barrier. The great news is that we can significantly impact how our customers perceive ...

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...

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...

One of the most challenging aspects of customer service is dealing with angry and upset customers. Often, these situations can escalate quickly, leading to negative consequences for both the customer and the company. This article will explore customer service de-escalation techniques to help you sou...

A lot of the time, when a customer uses profanity or yells, they're baiting you. They have the upper hand if they can throw you off, ge...

As a seasoned professional in any industry, you've likely encountered your fair share of difficult customers. These challenging interactions can overwhelm you, frustrated, and sometimes downright exhausted. However, handling a difficult customer is a crucial skill for success in any customer-facing ...

It can be emotionally draining to deal with challenging customer interactions. I cannot overstate the importance of debriefing and decompressing after a difficult interaction. Here are my suggestions for leaders and frontline employees on how to process and learn from these experiences:

For lead...