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Handle Difficult Customers on Support Calls With Ease

Posted On: November 4, 2015

Welcome Irate or Emotional Customer Care Calls With These Tips 

Do you provide tech support or solve customer problems over the phone? It’s quite likely at some point you will need to handle difficult customers on support calls. Below are a few tips that can help you provide excellent customer service to callers who are emotional, while still leaving them with a good memory of you. 

During the Conversation:

• Let the customer vent his or her problem. This makes them feel listened to. As a problem solver, you will also be able to pick out information and learn more about their problem. 
• Don’t interrupt them, or find polite ways to do so
• Asking the customer a lot of questions before giving directions
• Always keep a pleasant, collaborative tone 
• Use a lot of pleasantries like please, thank you, and sorry 
• Request using questions, not statements

During the Bug Fixing or Problem Solving Stage:

• Be careful of dead air when fixing problems. There should be no more than 45 seconds of dead air. What can be done:
• If the person is on hold: make small talk with them in between
• If not on hold (or even if they are on hold), talk the customer through the process, what you are doing to fix the problem 

Throughout The Call Don’t Forget:

• You can’t say “thank you” too many times
• To respond to thank you
• To apologize where necessary or use empathy 
• Anticipate your customer’s needs (based on common situations)
• Remain calm
• Be honest, sound natural and authentic
• More tips and phrases to use found here

Don’t Understand Their Accent?
Many we work with at Authentic Journeys handle US customers and clients from offshore. It’s possible that it may be a challenge to understand American accents or the different words or terms that US citizens use. My suggestion is to relax, and completely listen. Give yourself credit. You would not be in this job if those who hired you did not think you were conversant or fluent in English. If you are wondering how we help people like you to gain confidence and reduce misunderstandings and instances to ask for the other to repeat, see this coaching interaction. 

After the Call is Over: 
Take a 30 second break. Or a one minute break. Clear your head. Going into the next call with that weight on you will be heard in your voice by the next customer. Every business is a bit different, however. If you have a quota of so many calls an hour to solve, talk to your manager about this before doing. What I have noticed in coaching professionals in various Business Process Offshoring (BPO) operations is that this break actually helps them solve the next calls quicker because they are clearing their head of the stress from the previous calls. Try it out and share your feedback below! 


Jennifer Kumar, author of this article provides one to one and small group consultation to teams providing customer service to Americans and Westerners. For more information, get in touch with us today. 

Related Posts: 
How to Impress American Customers 
Stop Talking to Listen Better 
How to respond to “thank you” 
Mistakes Made by Enthusiastic Indians