How to Diffuse Tension & Address Angry Customers Effectively

Dealing with angry customers is just a day in the life of a customer support agent.

Late deliveries, incorrect orders, faulty items—there’s a long list of things that can go wrong. Sometimes it’s your company’s fault, and sometimes it isn’t. Either way, it’s you who is responsible for calming down the customer, diffusing tension, and leading the conversation towards a peaceful solution.

It’s not easy. But when you address angry customers effectively, you can produce positive results. In this guide, we’ll explore how to diffuse tension and win over angry customers.

Why It’s So Important To Address Angry Customers Effectively

Effectively dealing with angry customers is vital to creating a customer orientation strategy that puts customer satisfaction at the heart of your business. Because when you successfully manage conflict, you can realize the following benefits:

Increased Retention and Advocacy

An angry customer isn’t a lost customer.

According to a study by Huntswood, one in twenty complainants becomes a brand advocate after a complaint experience. They predict this could increase to one in four when maximum levels of satisfaction are reached.

In fact, it’s widely reported that customers who have positive complaint experiences are more likely to become loyal customers than those who’ve never had a negative experience.

Essentially, resolving conflict effectively can help you build stronger relationships with customers across your pipeline, from lead nurturing to post-purchase. It demonstrates that you listen to, value, and respect your customers, winning their trust and loyalty.
A positive reputation

Angry customers who have negative experiences will tell people all about it—online and offline.

A Positive Reputation

Angry customers who have negative experiences will tell people all about it—online and offline.

Needless to say, this isn’t good for your reputation. Nobody wants to be known as “that company that doesn’t care about its customers”.

But when you go the extra mile for customers—listening to their complaints, showing empathy, and working hard to find solutions—you earn their respect. And through word-of-mouth, you can maintain a customer-centric reputation.

Improved Business Decisions

Most customers don’t complain, so chances are your angry customer has an issue that’s affecting many silent customers.

By listening to complaints, you can discover hidden operational inefficiencies. For example, if a customer calls to complain that their favorite item is out-of-stock, they’re unlikely to be the only customer with this negative experience. To avoid this problem in the future, you might invest in a better inventory forecasting strategy.

How To Diffuse Tension And Deal With Angry Customers

So, let’s get into some practical skills and strategies you can implement to manage interactions with irate customers.

Listen to the Customer

Angry customers want to feel heard. Demonstrating active listening skills gives the customer the floor to vent their frustrations. And, it gives you the opportunity to gather all the details of the story. In other words, listen to your customer with the intent to understand their issue — not with the intent to reply. By truly absorbing what your customer is saying, you equip yourself with the knowledge needed to provide a solution. Once the customer feels heard and validated, they’ll be more willing to progress the conversation toward resolution.

Active listening involves:

• Exercising patience and empathy.
• Inserting verbal affirmations such as “I see” or “I understand”.
• Paraphrasing to demonstrate that you’ve understood what the customer is saying.
• Not interrupting the customer.
• Asking questions.

Maintain Your Composure

It’s natural to get defensive or frustrated when a customer takes their anger out on you—especially if you feel like they’re in the wrong. But it’s essential that you resist the urge to meet fire with fire. If you lose your cool, you risk making the situation worse.

Here are some tips for remaining calm while dealing with an angry customer:

• Take slow, deep breaths: Do you involuntarily hold your breath during high-stress situations? This natural response overstimulates your nervous system, heightening feelings of anxiety and stress. So, remember to take controlled breaths throughout the conversation and before you respond.
• Maintain a calm tone: Try to keep your tone low, composed, and friendly. This slows down the pace of the conversation, which can help to diffuse tension.
• Try not to take it personally: Remembering that the customer isn’t mad at you personally may ease feelings of anger or anxiety, enabling you to maintain composure.

Of course, encountering angry customers back-to-back can make maintaining composure harder. Consider integrating Conversational AI tools such as chatbots, sentiment analysis, and request prioritization to reduce the burden on your call center agents.

Apologize And Take Responsibility

An apology goes a long way. Huntswood discovered that retention rates climb by 17% when companies apologize for their mistakes.

But this doesn’t mean you can just say “I’m sorry” and leave it at that. Your apology must be sincere and solution-oriented for it to make an impact.

For example, instead of just saying, “I’m sorry for the inconvenience”, you might say:

“I’m so sorry to hear that you haven’t received your order. I understand how frustrating this must be for you, especially because it’s delayed your plans.”

You might also give a brief explanation of what caused the problem. For example:

“We’re experiencing a high volume of orders during the holiday season, which has caused some delays”.

Taking responsibility validates the customer’s issue, increasing the sincerity of your apology. That said, try not to make excuses. Keep it brief and move on to the resolution phase by offering a solution.

Show Empathy To The Customer

Empathy allows you to connect with customers on a more personal, emotional level. It demonstrates that you’ve taken the time to step into your customers’ shoes and see things from their perspective.

A late order might not feel like a big deal to you. But for a customer with an important event coming up, this inconvenience might completely ruin long-awaited plans.

Empathetic statements like “I understand how important it is to resolve this issue quickly” and “I’m going to do everything I can to help” build trust and diffuse conflict, reassuring the customer that they’re being listened to. You also encourage customers to engage in productive, solution-focused discussions rather than unproductive venting.

Personalize The Conversation

Treat your customers like numbers or dollar signs, and 66% admit that they’ll probably switch brands. If your customers are already angry, failing to meet their needs as individuals only adds fuel to the fire.

So, don’t just send out generic, copy-and-paste apologies or try to offer refunds for every problem. Take the time to understand the customer’s root issue and identify a solution that best fits their needs.

Outbound call centres, email, and social media support services have an advantage in providing personalized experiences. Agents can easily view and internalize a customer’s data before they initiate contact, allowing them to formulate responses and solutions in advance.

However, inbound call centers can also personalize experiences. You can sync the two systems by integrating your call center software with your CRM. This way, CRM data can be automatically displayed on an agent’s screen while the customer is still in the queue, giving the agent time to view previous interactions, order statuses, and service tickets.

Use Positive Language And Avoid Negative Language

There are certain words that you should avoid as a customer service agent, especially if you’re dealing with an angry customer. The obvious one is “no”, but even phrases like “It’s not possible” or “I can’t” only make customers feel like you’re just writing off their problem.

Of course, this doesn’t mean you should say yes to every request. But focusing on what you can offer the customer (rather than what you can’t) leads to a more productive conversation and faster resolution.

For example, let’s say a customer wants a refund on an item that’s ineligible for compensation. Rather than saying, “It’s not possible,” try saying, “Here’s what we can do instead”.

When angry customers see that you’re trying your best to find a solution, they’ll be more likely to calm down and work with you to resolve the issue.

Other negative phrases like “that’s not my problem”, “let me be clear”, and “I’m sorry you feel that way” should be avoided at all costs. They’re condescending and aggressive, which only makes customers angrier.

So, what positive language should you use? Here are some positive power words and phrases to diffuse heated situations:

• “Absolutely”
• “Certainly”
• “Definitely”
• “Thank you”
• “I appreciate that”
• “I’m happy to”

Offer a Solution

Reaching a solution that satisfies your customer is the ultimate goal and is vital to your customer orientation strategy. So, the first step is to establish what an ideal solution looks like for your customer and, if possible, offer that solution.

But what happens when you can’t immediately fix your angry customers’ problems?

• Try to find workarounds: Use problem-solving skills to find alternative solutions. For example, if you can’t offer a refund, could you offer credits or vouchers? How about a complementary service or upgrade? Providing customers with different options puts them in control and personalize the experience, reducing negative sentiments.
• Don’t overpromise: The last thing you want to do is fail to meet your customer’s expectations for a second time. So, be upfront if you’re unsure whether you can resolve the issue. Let them know that you’re looking into it and communicate when you’ll next be in touch.

Key Takeaways About Diffusing Tension With Angry Customers

Using the tips above, train your customer service teams to deliver professional, empathetic, personalized service to frustrated customers. And don’t forget to empower teams using AI and communication platforms.

Dealing with angry customers can be challenging. But by patiently listening to their problems, apologizing with sincerity, and working with them to provide a solution, you can turn angry customers into satisfied, loyal advocates.