Workplace: Tips for Defusing a Customer Dispute

1. Chances are one person in a dispute is going to get angry or angry first. Try not to react to the anger. Stay focused on the problem and the solution.

2. If someone’s anger is impeding your ability to do your job, transfer them to a manager or someone trained to work with angry people.

3. If you can’t help a customer, give them options. The worst thing a customer can feel is victimized.

4. Accept that you may not have all the answers. Even if you think you know what the rules or parameters are, ask a higher up if you may do something differently for a customer.

5. Anger affects other people, so if you feel yourself getting affected by another person’s anger, take a few deep breaths or stretch your body to get a little more oxygen going in order to try and gird yourself up against the anger.

6. If you are a customer, and you are not getting what you want, go to the next step — a manager, a supervisor, etc. Often times, going over a stubborn employee’s head (or their manager’s head, too), will solve the problem. You may encounter someone very pleasant in an executive suite or office of the store.