It may be hard to convince yourself that a disgruntled customer is an under-served one, but that could be true. You, your staff, or your inventory failed to meet that customer’s expectations and now they’re upset.

While there are many suggestions for ameliorating difficult situations, the most important three things to learn and apply are: Communicate, Communicate, Communicate.

Three other things are critical: Listen, Listen, Listen.

When employees or customers say new services or products are needed, or something is not working, address the concerns immediately. Here are some other ideas to ward off or deal with difficult customers:

AN OUNCE OF PREVENTION

BE PREPARED

• Top of the list is to inform both employees and customers of your policies from pricing to returns, as well as shop hours and added courtesies like free samples or tastings, gift cards, loyalty cards, memberships, and/or specials.

• It is particularly important to communicate about returns for food or beverage as the demands of health, safety, and guidelines by your state or local agencies must be honored. It is your responsibility to inform staff and consumers what those demands are.

• Need to change hours, charges for delivery, policies on warranties for appliances, or accepting credit cards only vs cash? Make these announcements obviously and continuously: verbally at POS; signage on the front door and among shelved items, and at the cash registers; in email, flyers with purchases, on your web site, in snail mail or on social media platforms.

• Set up training sessions with your staff to role play, offer possible scenarios, and devise scripts as necessary, so they become comfortable with the possible solutions you want to apply for these concerns.

• Ask employees to let you know if there are on-going issues that have impacted possible sales, and address those immediately.

• Lots of shopkeepers ask customers if they’ve found everything they need. Ask this sincerely. When customers say no, ask for details, and follow through!

NEATNESS COUNTS

• Keep your shop orderly and hazard free to avoid mishaps like breakage or messy displays or, worse, causing someone to fall. Walk all the aisles every day to re-establish an orderly environment. Task employees to re-order displays throughout the day.

• Make sure all items on all shelves are easily accessible or place “Ask for assistance” signs.

• When a customer enters your shop with a large handbag or several bags of purchased items, offer to store them so they can browse unencumbered, and safely, for them and your inventory.

• If you live in a city where it rains a lot, invest in plastic umbrella baggies or umbrella caddies and place them away from product displays.

• Keep floors clear of clutter and never hang displays lower than 6.5 feet so that shoppers can avoid stumbling over or into displays.

• If you offer shopping baskets, sturdy fabric ones versus those made of hard plastic which can “bump” into fragile items.

TECHNOLOGY REDUCES CONFLICT

• Up-to-date equipment for inventory, sales tracking, and ease of transactions. That is a critical task to be done on a regular basis.

• Go further, and empower sales staff with computer tablets or smartphones programmed to make sales quicker, switch up paper receipts for email ones, and sustain the sales and inventory tracking as efficiently as possible.

• This also provides a virtual “paper trail” to confirm sales amounts, when they were made, and any other specifics you program into your equipment to substantiate your (or your customer’s) claims.

LISTEN, THEN ACT

You’ve prepared your staff, established communications with staff and consumers, designed your shop to be orderly and sales equipment to be user friendly but something has happened to distress a consumer. What to do?

LISTEN

• Whether they complain in person or via email or on the phone, hear them out. Pay attention to their complaint. Often, it is easy to solve (wrong size, wrong price, wrong product, etc.)

• Sometimes, it’s really not you or your inventory. The customer might be angry at something personal such as learning of a health situation, chokehold traffic, or the front page news. Try to be as sympathetic as possible with comments like, “It’s frustrating when things don’t go well, isn’t it? What can I do to for you?” No matter what the reply, remain sympathetic and offer kindness.

• If your solutions fail, ask what can be done to resolve a situation.

IF IT’S BROKEN, FIX IT

• When it comes to mechanical or electronic items, sometimes they break because of a manufacturing anomaly. If so, accept the return, offer a replacement, and absolutely inform the supplier of the problem.

• If the fault is clearly misuse or customer error, use the experience to gently educate the customer with a micro show-and-tell experience. Have them do the task themselves, so they can see why the item broke (without blaming them.) Ask them what the best solution to the problem is and if it’s possible, follow through.

THE IRRATIONAL CUSTOMER

• Some customers may be verbally rude, an action you cannot let pass. You must show both the customer and staff that all are valuable but there are lines not to cross. If an employee is at fault, even for a minor error, apologize to the customer, tell them that the issue will be dealt with, and make any necessary adjustments as quickly as possible.

• If the customer conducts a tirade, unmoved by information or refunds or corrections, in a calm voice, simply say, “I’m sorry. I’ve done all that can be done.” Slowly move to their side and guide them, as possible, to the door. Maintain eye contact.

• Should the situation escalate, say, again in a calm voice, “I’m sorry, I’ve done all that can be done. It’s time for you to leave.” As a last resort, call for a security guard, if you have one, or call the police. Do not leave the customer until they walk out the door or security arrives.

Remember, preparation is key to establishing good relationships with your customer base. Be polite, listen attentively, and deal with complaints promptly and fairly. Protect staff and customers with a clean, neatly arranged shopping experience and always communicate your costs and policies clearly, consistently, and continuously. Ask how you can help and follow through.