Tips on how to control your temper?

[Officialusername]

I work in a job where I deal with abusive customers. I used to think I was a patient person, until now. I like my job, I just dislike the abusive people I so frequently come across. I need so self help tips on how to keep my cool when I'm faced with such idiots.

[B00]

The trick is, use massive amounts of sarcasm, but with a smile, so they're never 100% sure whether you're joking or not. As it happens, you're not joking, you think they're twonks, but they can't be certain whether you've really insulted them or not.

It's an art form I tell you!

[sunny-dave]

< imagine B00 smiling nicely across the scanning machine >

< checks flies are done up >

< panics >

[boxtops]

If you are working in a customer service setting, your employer ought to provide you with conflict resolution training - this gives you hints and tools to use to stop situations escalating when your customers are nasty. Ask your boss.

You can send for this free booklet here, have a go http://www.dalecarnegie.co.uk/conflict_resolution/?keycode=google06uk.conflict&gclid=CISuvJyR_7MCFWbKtAodExAAZw

[237SJ]

Chuck, I am supervisory and the buck stops here and I take responsibility but it`s still not my fault. In this game, there are an awful lot of problems that are outside of our control and most customers seem to understand that to be fair to them. Maybe that's why I and my team don't get too much crap at work. 99% of customers have the intelligence to recognise when something is out of our control and they complain via the correct channels (if I haven't got there before them )

[karenmac60]

I always find it useful to imagine them as some sort of cartoon chicken and I have a big elmer fudd style shotgun. I'm sure you can guess the rest but the accompanying chicken noise and burst of feathers in my head is quite amusing ;-)

[boxtops]

Classic one:

Man comes into the GP surgery, kicking off "do you know who I am?"
Receptionist: "I'll have to call the practice manager - manager, this gentlemen's suffering memory loss, he's forgotten who he is, what do I do?"

[plowter]

Three Rs - reason, regret, remedy.

Here's what's gone wrong.
I'm sorry you've suffered yada yada.
This is what I will do about it.

Once you can fake the sincerity - you've got it made.

[ChuckFickens]

OK, to be fair, 23.. probably different circumstances, the last customer facing job I had there wasn't really any external problems that could be blamed, if there was a problem it was down to us. If the problem got as far as me I'd accept the full blame for it to the customer... it might not have been me that caused the problem but it could be argued it was lack of training which caused it, which was my problem.

Like I said, accepting the blame was mainly a defusing tactic though, and it did work :)

[237SJ]

Chuck, most of the time there aren't any problems that are down to us. They might be down to the company but usually it's something outside of our control. I remember doing "grumpy customer" training when I joined many years ago. We were videoed while some of us played grumpy customers and others of us played the staff member. Later, the video would be played back on front of the class while we would analyse it. It was cringeworthy and I hated it.

[Maydup]

I still want to know what makes these people abusive so frequently.

[jno]

the robot tactic? That just makes you look like Michael Howard facing Paxman.