Benefits of Good Customer Service

Not only will your customers enjoy a better experience, but improving your customer
service can also benefit your bottom line. The people who have already spent money
with you are essentially the lifeblood of your organization. Did you know that repeat
customers continuously spend more money with you the longer you keep their
business? A Harvard Business School study showed that customers spent an
average of 40% more money on their sixth purchase than their first, and an average
of 80% more on their eighth. Keeping customers happy and coming back is crucial to
creating loyalists and staying profitable.

What Are Customer Service Scenarios?

A customer service scenario is a situation that could involve an upset customer. That
means looking at all of your processes and identifying some moments (maybe some
that have happened in the past) that could cause some hiccups. In this article, we will
not only give some examples of these customer service scenarios, plus solutions and
tips, but we will also give you some scenarios your team can practice dong role-play.

Difficult Customer Service Scenario Examples & Solutions

These are some of the most common situations that can happen, plus how to fix them.
Are you ready to become amazing at customer service?

Customer Service Scenario 1: Angry customer

An angry customer is something just about every seasoned business owner has
witnessed. Since most small businesses don’t typically have dedicated customer
service reps, the person needing to know these customer management skills should
also participate in the role-playing scenarios we’ll cover later.
So, you’ve got an angry customer—perhaps you’re communicating over the phone or
through your website live chat. In any case, the best thing to remember when you
have an angry customer negatively addressing you is one simple acronym: HEARD.
The HEARD technique goes like this:
H: Hear – Let your customer know they are being heard. Be patient, and don’t cut
them off.
E: Empathize – Having empathy in business pays off in all relationships—practice
understanding and compassion when listening to your customer’s grievances.
A: Apologize – Even if you were not at fault, after empathizing with the customer, you
should be able to sincerely apologize. Nobody likes being inconvenienced; you should
understand that. It’s like replying to a negative review IRL. (Pro tip: there
are reputation management tools to help with angry customers online.)
R: Resolve – Come to some sort of common ground with the customer. Ask how you
can help. Find a way to make things right—whether this means you give them a
discount on future purchases or a free product.
D: Diagnose. After the issue has been resolved and both parties are amicable, get to
the bottom of the issue. Who or what really caused this to happen? This way, both
you and the customer benefit from new information that can help it from happening
again.
Ensuring that everyone who deals with customers on a daily basis follows this
checklist can greatly improve your reputation. The last thing you’d want is an angry
customer taking to Twitter to rant about their horrible experience with your business—
resolve the problem before that can ever happen.

Customer Service Scenario 2: Unable to answer a customer’s question

This is never a good feeling, and it most often happens to new employees. If this
happens, even if you don’t know the answer, you should try to find it. You can usually
use problem-solving skills to answer the question. If you truly don’t know the answer,
inform the customer that this is the first time it’s come up, then proceed to ask for the
time needed to find the answer. Many times, a good default is to report the question
to a higher level of management or simply ask. Remind new employees of these
tactics during onboarding, and hopefully, you won’t run into this problem too often.

Customer Service Scenario 3: Crisis Mode

A crisis can strike any company at any time. You often don’t see them coming; that’s
why crises can be so damaging. However, if you and your staff are equipped to handle
a crisis when it comes your way, you will be much better off. What kind of crises are
we talking about? Well, one example in today’s digital age is security breaches.
Scammers are becoming trickier with their techniques, making it very hard to even
know you’re giving away sensitive information to a thief.
Thus, it’s best to train everyone on proper crisis management, especially when it
comes to speaking with customers. The people who have invested in you will be
upset. You want to keep their business, so, you…
• Apologize. Even if a crisis is not directly your fault, apologize. Whatever did
happen caused harm to your customers, and you should want to genuinely
apologize for that.
• Communicate. Keep everyone updated. Whether that means issuing press
releases, posting on Facebook, or sending emails to your list, keep your
customers in the loop on the steps you’re making to amend the crisis and ensure
it never happens again. It is important to keep the communication open if you
want to win back your customers’ trust.
Crises are never simple, cut-and-dry experiences, but they can be handled well if you
stay honest and stick to these tips.
Customer Service Role Play Scenarios
If you really want to excel at customer service, we recommend role-playing a few common
customer service scenarios with your team. Basic role-play means one person will act as the
customer and the other will act as the employee handling the situation. It can be fun if you’ve
got some creative staff members!
Below are some examples of customer service role-play scenarios, just fill them in with
scenarios that can or have happened at your business to make them relevant to your team.
• A customer has come to speak to a member of staff to make a complaint. They
are threatening to get you to shut down. Your objective is to resolve the issue
with minimum reputation and financial damage to the company. What do you
do? (Inspired by this example)
• Someone slipped and hurt his or her self in your place of business. What is the
wrong thing to do in this situation? The right thing?
• A begrudged former employee is bad-mouthing your company online with all
kinds of negative fake reviews and untrue stories. How do you get him or her to
stop without elevating the issue further?
• Your employee accidentally deleted your entire database, including personal
customer information. Customers are not happy and refuse to give you their
information again. What’s your first move?
• Someone wants a refund but it’s unwarranted. They’re trying to bully you into
giving them their money back for no real cause. What do you say to him/her?
• A thief broke into your office last night and stole most of the electronics. What’s
the first thing you do? The second?
• Two employees are having a disagreement. There are customers all around and
curse words are being said. As the manager, how do you resolve the issue
without scaring off customers?
• A customer is trying to use an expired offer or coupon. It’s for a very large
purchase. They insist that they should be allowed to use it. Do you let them use
the expired coupon?
Customer Service Tips to Keep in Mind
Lastly, when in doubt, remember the golden rules of good customer service. Here are some
customer service tips to keep in your back pocket when you’re having a hard time with a
customer.
• Be patient and a good listener
• Practice empathy
• Be adaptable; sometimes situations can change
• Stay knowledgeable of your product or service
• Have a can-do attitude
• Develop a thick skin
Conclusion
As you can imagine, dealing with customers is not always easy. But understanding how
important customer service and training employees on correct customer service procedures
can greatly help your reputation in the community. At the end of the day, think about what it’s
like when you’re the upset customer. You don’t enjoy it either, do you? With patience,
empathy, and a problem-solving mindset, your customer service can go from average to stellar.
Now, just wait until you see the results of happier customers.

Customer Service Role-Plays

You will work in groups of three to stage a role-‐play of a hypothetical customer service situation. One
student will be the customer, one will be the employee, and the third will be an observer. The
observer will have the responsibility to fill out a form and offer feedback to the employee.
Your teacher will assign you one of the scenarios below and after you have decided who will play which
role, take five minutes to prepare. If you are playing the “customer”, try assuming a personality
different from your own. Portraying an imaginary character adds more creativity and the freedom to have fun.
If you are playing an “employee,” do your best to handle the situation as if it were real. If the
customer asks to “speak to the manager,” say that the manager is not available.
Remember that the employee should practice active listening skills and the observer should
think empathy as he/she gives feedback during the debriefing of the role play.

SCENARIO #1
Employee: You work at local radio station KDOG. Your job is to take calls from
listeners about what they like and don’t like and suggestions for programming.
KDOG needs to maintain a good image to stay on the air.

Customer: You (and your dog) are strict vegetarians. You have heard an ad on
radio station KDOG about tasty dog food (“MMMMM, with so much meat!”) that
is offensive to you. You are calling to say you are not going to listen to the station
any more if they don’t take the advertisement off the air.

SCENARIO #2
Employee: You work at City Auditorium. Your job is to serve customers who walk
up to the ticket window, take ticket orders over the phone, and answer questions
about concert schedules. Tonight’s concert is Dillary Huff and the Heartbreakers.
Tickets start at $60.

Customer: You have two tickets to tonight’s concert at City Auditorium for Dillary
Huff and the Heartbreakers. But your date has suddenly come down with the flu
and can’t attend. Although the tickets say “nonrefundable,” you have spent a lot
of money and you want to exchange the tickets for a concert in another town
next week. You call the ticket office to try to exchange the tickets.
SCENARIO #3
Employee: You work as a hostess in a very nice hotel restaurant. Your job is to
greet customers, ask if they have a reservation, take their coats, seat them, offer
menus and tell them that their waitperson will be right there.

Customer: This restaurant is one of your favorites so you’re bringing your

grandparents for a special treat. When you made the reservation, you requested
a table by the window, but you were just seated at an inside table with no view.
Additionally there is a very loud large group seated near you. You tell your wait
person that you want to speak with the hostess about moving to another table,
but the waitperson says the hostess is busy and the restaurant is full, anyway.

SCENARIO #4
Employee: You work in a neighborhood pharmacy, WeCare, answering
customers’ calls and ringing up sales. Even though you know that the pharmacy’s
motto is “We take care of you, no matter what.” you have been given strict
instructions by the pharmacist not to give medical advice or recommend
particular medications.

Customer: You have a terrible sore throat and high fever but you don’t want to
go to the doctor. You walk into the nearest WeCare Pharmacy and ask what
might be wrong with you, and which over-‐the-‐counter medications you might
take to alleviate the symptoms. As you walk in, you notice that the pharmacy’s
motto is “We take care of you, no matter what.”

SCENARIO #5
Employee: You work in the financial department of the Leagle Beagle law firm.
It’s your job to get meeting and phone records from each attorney and bill the
customers monthly. The attorneys charge anywhere from $250 to $600 per hour
for anything they do related to a case.

Customer: You got the bill from your attorney and you simply can’t believe it!!
The bill is for $750 and all you had this month was one half hour phone call. You
know that your attorney charges $300 per hour, so you call the Leagle Beagle
financial department to complain.
 Observer Checklist for Customer Service Scenarios
As an observer of the Customer Service role-‐plays, your job is to identify what
works well and what doesn’t. Focus on empathy and listening skills.

Background information for the observer

Active listening is a structured form of listening and responding that focuses the attention
on the speaker. It is not simply understanding what the other person is
saying, but letting the person know you heard what he or she said by asking
questions, showing genuine interest, being empathic and being fully engaged.

Active listening has several benefits

1. It forces people to listen attentively to others.
2. It lessens the chance of misunderstandings.
3. It encourages the speaker to open up and talk freely.

As you observe your role-play scenario, evaluate whether the employee used active listening
techniques.

Techniques Employee did it Employee didn’t do it

Made good eye contact

Restated what the other person said
Asked questions for clarification
Looked sincere and positive
Focused only on the other person
Showed pleasant facial expressions
1. Customer service scenario for feature requests
EAGER CUSTOMER: Hi! I really like what you’re doing with [your product]. However, I feel like it lacks a [very
specific feature that will require significant effort on your part to implement]. Do you think you’ll be adding it in the
next update?
*If you can add the feature:*
OPERATOR: Hello! Thanks for letting us know. We always encourage feature requests as they help us grow and
improve. Actually, you’ll be pleased to know that the feature you need is already on our roadmap for the next
quarter. Our devs are hard at work building it, and they will be eager to hear what you might be looking for to
prioritize their resources. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s ready.
*If you can’t add the feature: *
OPERATOR: Hello! Thank you for sharing your thoughts. It’s not the first time somebody is asking for that
feature, and although we don’t have specific plans to implement it in the near future (our resources are limited!),
I’ll be adding your vote to our task backlog. When the right time comes, I’ll let you know!
In the meantime, did you try [a more or less similar feature or alternative solution]? Let me know if you need help
with it.

2. Product exchange customer service scenario

Tip: The best you can do in a situation when a customer wants to return or exchange the product they’ve already
purchased is to answer as fast as possible Their frustration and anxiety will only grow as they wait, which may
quickly result in negative reviews all over the web. Answer something – anything to let them know you’re working
on the issue.
UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER: Hi! I received [item 1] 2 days ago, but it turned out it doesn’t fit my needs. May I
return it or exchange to something similar?
OPERATOR: Hi! No problem, you can exchange [item 1] right away. Could you please tell us more about what
you need and we’ll pick something for you. Maybe you’ll find [item 2] or [item 3] more suitable?
UNSATISFIED CUSTOMER: [Item 2] actually looks nice. What do I do next?
OPERATOR: Great! Please send us your [item 1] and we’ll send [item 2] to you. Let me know if there’s anything
else I can help you with.

3. ‘Failed delivery’ customer service scenario

DISAPPOINTED CUSTOMER: Hi, I ordered [a specific item] from you 2 weeks ago, but my parcel never arrived. I
want my money back?
OPERATOR: Hi! I’m sorry you didn’t receive your delivery. We can either send you another sample – that like the
one you ordered or you can initiate a refund. Either way, we’ll be happy to assist. Please note that it usually takes
3 to 5 business days for a refund to go through.

4. Angry customer scenario

FURIOUS CUSTOMER: I’m trying to [do something important to them] which I need for tomorrow’s presentation
and it doesn’t work!! It’s not the first time and I’ll be in real trouble if the feature doesn’t start working SOON.
Please assist????
*If the fault is yours:*
OPERATOR: Hi, I’m already investigating the issue. It seems to me that the [reason] is the reason. I’ve already
notified the dev team, and you can be sure it’s going to be fixed in [estimated period, preferably hours, if not
minutes]. I’m super sorry for all the trouble —please accept this discount to make up for it.
*If the fault is on the customer’s end:*
OPERATOR: Hi, sorry to hear that. The thing is, I’ve looked into the issue and it seems to me that the problem is
on your end. Have you tried [a possible solution]? Let me know how it goes!

5. ‘Asking for refund’-scenarios

UNCERTAIN CUSTOMER: Hey! I bought [your product] a couple of days ago. But now I realize it isn’t what I’m
actually looking for. Please refund as soon as possible.
OPERATOR: Hi! We’re sorry to hear that. Don’t worry, I’ve already made the request, so expect to see your
money back by [date]. Don’t hesitate to write me back if anything goes wrong or if you have more questions.
BTW, I’d really appreciate if you tell us what went wrong — we’re always looking for an opportunity to improve.
6. ‘Why are you so expensive?’ scenario
COST-CONSCIOUS CUSTOMER: Greetings! I’m really in love with your product, but I think it’s too expensive.
Are there any plans to make it cheaper? Or maybe you can offer me a discount? I’ll be happy to subscribe if not
for the price.
OPERATOR: Hello! I know it can be a bit steep, but that money goes to covering the costs of our servers, paying
our team, and adding new features. But did you know that we’re offering a special discount [yearly subscription
discounts / wholesale purchases / upcoming holiday discounts / discounts for nonprofits, etc]? Is it what you’re
looking for?

7. ‘How are you different from competitors?’ scenario

Tip: It’s useful to make a couple of comparison pages where you explain how you’re different from the competition
feature by feature. Requests like these come in often enough that it’s easier to send the customers a link to a
table than try to explain it anew every time — you’re bound to forget something anyway. Take a look at
HelpCrunch’s own comparison page vs Intercom or vs Zendesk to get inspired.
PICKY CUSTOMER: Hi, I’m looking for [specific product] alternative, can you explain how you’re different from
[specific product]?
OPERATOR: Hello! While [specific product] is a great solution, we actually beat them by [feature 1, feature 2,
price]. Take a look at our comparison page if you want to learn more: [link]
If you still have doubts after that, I’ll be happy to schedule a demo with you and showcase the difference between
our two products in action.

8. ‘Is your service down?’ scenario

UNPLEASED CUSTOMER: Hi, I keep getting a 500 error when trying to access my profile, is your service down?
OPERATOR: Hey there. Unfortunately we’re indeed facing some troubles with our server provider. Our team is
hard at work fixing the problem and we should be up in [estimated period]. We’re really sorry for the
inconvenience!

9. Customer service scenarios related to bug reports

METICULOUS CUSTOMER: Hello. I’m trying to [do a specific action] but it seems that you have a bug that
prevents me from doing it. Please confirm it’s not something on my end.
OPERATOR: Hello! I’ve investigated the issue myself and it seems that the bug is indeed happening on our side.
I’ve already reported it to our dev team, so expect it to be fixed in [estimated period]. In the meantime, could [an
alternative solution] help you do what you were trying to?

10. Trash talking scenarios

Tip: Sometimes people just want to watch the world burn. Not every customer is going to be polite, pleasant and
understanding. Expect to encounter situations where nothing is clear – except that the person on the other end is
very, very angry. Haters gonna hate.
ANNOYING CUSTOMER: You suck and your product sucks!!!! Go to hell!
OPERATOR: Hi, I’m sorry to hear your frustration! If there’s anything I can actually do to make you feel better,
please let me know. [*optionally* sad cat gif]

11. Customer service scenarios for approaching foreign customers

Tip: Sometimes people don’t know the language of your service, so they try to communicate with you in their
native language. You can always ask them to switch to English (if that’s an option), but a better choice would be
to use Google Translate and try to communicate with the customer that way. Just make sure to mention it to them
beforehand.
FOREIGN CUSTOMER: Привет! Когда будет интеграция с Яндекс.Метрикой? Заждались уж!
OPERATOR: [Hi, unfortunately I don’t speak Russian but I’ll try to use Google Translate — hope we’ll understand
each other! Sorry for the mistakes. If I understood you correctly, you want us to build an integration with
Yandex.Metrika, an analytics service. Sadly this service isn’t popular among our core userbase, but we’ll
remember it in case we’ll be localizing our product for your market. Is that a top request for you?]
Google Translate: Привет, к сожалению, ….
Go-To Scripts for Handling 10 Tricky
Customer Service Scenarios

Gregory Ciotti

Illustration by Meredith Miotke

Customer service should be a conversation rather than a cold, lifeless script. Given the
variable nature of interacting with customers, however, it’s easy to see how support
center champs can benefit from some forward-thinking in dealing with tough customer
service scenarios.

This is where flexible responses — in lieu of pure scripts — can be quite useful. They
allow reps to have examples of what to say to customers in a tough situation but also
give them the flexibility to adapt and add their own personality.

If you’re looking to train new team members, engage in role-playing as a group, or just
improve your own ability to handle tricky customers and situations like a pro, consider
these flexible scripts for the 10 most challenging customer support scenarios:

1. You don’t know the answer

2. An item isn’t available
3. You need to transfer the customer
4. You have to tell the customer no
5. The customer wants you to bend the rules
6. The customer asks you to override security policies
7. The customer received a defective product
8. The customer is extremely angry
 9. You’re in the wrong
10. The customer asks to speak to a manager

1. You don’t know the answer

You shouldn’t beat yourself up for not knowing an answer. After all, a support rep’s
responsibility is to have the tenacity to make things right, not to be perfect (especially if
you’re new).

The mistake many support reps make, however, is in using the knee-jerk “I don’t know”
response, which doesn’t help the customer. Customers may be sympathetic that you
don’t know, but they’re not interested in hearing about it.

Instead, try the following:

“Does the ‘Premium’ package come with __?” “Great question, let me find that out for
you right now!”
Placing the emphasis on the customer’s needs over your own situation (“I don’t know,”
“I’m new here,” etc.) lets them know that it doesn’t matter that you don’t know the
answer because you’re going to do whatever it takes to find out for them.

2. An item isn’t available

No ecommerce store owner or support champion likes to tell a customer that an item
isn’t currently available. Fortunately, there is a much better way to go about it.

One of the most important skills in interacting with customers is the use of positive
language to help avoid accidental knee-jerk reactions.

Here’s an example: Let’s say a customer contacts you with interest in a particular
product, but that product happens to be back-ordered until next month.

• Without positive language: “I can’t get you that product until next month; it is
back-ordered and unavailable at this time.”
• With positive language: “That product will actually be available next month. I can
place the order for you right now and make sure that it is sent to you as soon as
it reaches our warehouse!”
Positive language replaces negative phrases (“I can’t…”) and instead places emphasis
on the solution, which is what the customer actually cares about.

Try finding places in your response where a lot of negative language is present (“We
don’t do that”) and see where positive language can be substituted.

3. You need to transfer the customer

There isn’t a single consumer out there who likes hearing, “Please hold while we
transfer you. Your call is very important to us.”

The problem is that sometimes you do need to transfer customers in order to better
help them. But many businesses don’t seek to help customers understand why they are
being transferred.

Here’s a typical unappealing response some reps use to transfer people:

“My apologies, but I’m going to have to transfer your call to Department XYZ.”
As a customer, my gut reaction to this response is to believe that the wheel of
misfortune has begun, and I’m going to get passed around and treated like another
hassle.

Imagine using this language instead:

“Let’s get this problem resolved for you. I’m going to transfer you to our _____
specialist who is the best-suited person to answer your question.”
Hearing that I’m being sent to the resident expert — and knowing that the rep who is
sending me has my problem in mind — is much more reassuring than the vague “sorry,
you’re getting transferred” response that most companies use.

Few customers will jump for joy because of a transferred call no matter how you handle
it, but it’s better to assure them that the action was taken in their favor in order to solve
their current problem.

4. You have to tell the customer no

Customers can often have some valuable insights on how your product is used and
how it could be improved, but your product’s vision is your responsibility. Thus, the final
call is up to you.
If it’s very obvious that a feature a customer requested won’t make the cut, you have to
be able to tell them so. Saying, “We’ll take a look!” gives false hope that can end up
with a customer checking in weeks later only to be disappointed again.

The truth is, you don’t need to be worried about a mass exodus of customers just
because you regularly say “no” to many product features.

Here is some sample language we might use at Help Scout to tell customers a feature
just isn’t the right fit:

“I really appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts with us. As of this time,
however, [Feature X] isn’t a perfect fit, and we have no immediate plans to implement
it. We do have some other exciting new features planned, and should anything change
about your request, we’ll make sure you are the first to know.”
If you’re using a simple feedback system like Trello to keep track of past requests,
adding an email is easy, so if your stance on a certain feature does change in the
future, it becomes a simple process to notify customers via email.

Related: 7 Tips on How to Say No to Customers

5. The customer wants you to bend the rules

Most requests from customers are reasonable, and every effort should be made to
make them happy.

Bob Farrell describes this as “giving them the pickle,” a phrase which refers to a letter
he received from an unhappy customer who wasn’t able to get an extra pickle for his
hamburger. Fulfilling a small request can often leave a positive impact on a customer,
which is why it’s almost always worth it to just “give them the pickle.”

But what about requests that you truly cannot say yes to?

I can give you a very candid story of when this really mattered to me: I was checking in
to a hotel with a few of my friends, one of whom had a severe allergy to cats. I vividly
remember watching a couple plead with the front desk employee to let their cat stay
(the policy was “No Pets”).

If the front desk employee had given in to their request, he would have (unknowingly)
made our group upset, trading one potentially unhappy customer for an even bigger
problem.
I remember being impressed with how he handled the situation, and I’ll paraphrase his
response below:

“As much as I like fulfilling our customers’ requests, I’m afraid that the ‘No Pets’ policy
we have in place is too important because it impacts the safety and comfort of other
customers. Can I perhaps call around for locations where your cat might be able to
stay?”
It was a stellar response to a pretty wacky request; after all, pet owners should know to
check a hotel’s pet policy before booking a room.

Remember that a customer’s perception of your service quality is greatly affected by

how attentive, thoughtful, and sincere you are. In an awkward scenario where you
simply have to refuse a request, showcasing your empathy and willingness to find an
alternative is one of the best ways to lessen the sting of saying no.

6. The customer asks you to override security

policies
Support professionals’ natural inclinations to help can leave team members open to
social engineering if they aren’t careful. For example, if your product has different
permissions that deal with security or payment responsibilities, you may have
customers who ask you to switch their roles or transfer account ownership.

You’ll want to assist right away. You might even hear, “Please, we need this right now!”
Hold steady. You’ll need approval from the current account owner.

Email the account owner (separately so the reply can’t be spoofed), let the person
making the request know you’ve done so, and explain that it’s all about keeping their
account safe. When the owner responds, check to make sure the original message you
sent is included in the reply.

You may still run into something like, “But the account owner is on vacation/has been
fired/is very busy and important!”

For these situations, it helps to have a policy you can point to on your website. That
way, they know you’re not being obstinate; rather, you’re serious about security and
unable to make exceptions. That isn’t always easy for people to stomach, but you still
have to do the right thing.
7. The customer received a defective product
Having a purchase come up short is disheartening from the customer’s perspective. I’m
sure we’ve all run into this scenario: After finally convincing ourselves to pull the trigger
on a purchase, we wait with excitement until it’s delivered … only to have it arrive
broken.

We all internally recognize that even great companies can’t build and ship everything
perfectly, but it’s so frustrating to be the person on the receiving end of a dud.

Showing empathy for the customer’s situation becomes important, followed by an

immediate explanation of how you’re going to fix the situation. Consider the following
example:

“I’m so sorry about that; that’s very disappointing! There might have been a slight
mistake in the manufacturing process, or perhaps it was damaged while being shipped.
Can I send a new one out to you right away?”
This script completes three important objectives: It empathizes with the customer’s
frustrating experience, it explains what the problem might be (instead of having a
customer assume you make bad products), and it offers a clear and immediate
solution.

Depending on what you sell and how you conduct business, you might also add, “or
should I send you a full refund?” Either way, know that in this situation, it’s the ability to
relate with a customer that counts.

8. The customer is extremely angry

Support champions are often required to act as lightning rods, to take the brunt of an
emotional, angry customer despite the fact that it is not their fault.

Sometimes, this anger from customers is unjustified; other times, they have a cause for
their actions. Either way, it’s often quite hard to win back an extremely angry customer.

However, the smart folks at Telephone Doctor have a great system called “ASAP” for
dealing with the most difficult of customers:

• Apologize sincerely: “I’m sorry” is a mandatory response in these situations, even

if it isn’t your fault. Consider your “I’m truly sorry about that” as a personal
 apology to the customer that the experience wasn’t up to their expectations —
not that you are to blame.
• Sympathize: Many times, angry customers are just as interested (if not more
interested) in hearing that someone empathizes with their situation over getting
the actual problem fixed. Even if you cannot understand why a customer is so
angry, you can imagine how you’d like to be treated if you happened to be that
upset. Even small phrases like “I understand how upsetting that must have been”
can have an impact on getting the customer to realize that you’re on their team in
this pursuit to make things right.
• Accept responsibility: As the ambassador of your company, you accept
responsibility for the customer’s unhappiness. Again, this doesn’t make you at
fault — and it doesn’t give the customer leeway to demand whatever they want
— but it does give them someone to talk to instead of being angry at a faceless
company.
• Prepare to help: With angry customers, the actual “fix” tends to take up a small
portion of the entire support process. Placing a replacement order likely takes
you very little time, but that fix doesn’t address the underlying problem of the
customer’s frustration and unhappiness. These emotional fixes are often the
most important element: refunding someone may take you 15 seconds, but did
you make sure enough time was spent trying to help them calm down and leave
happy?
It’s hard to come up with a perfect solution for a customer in this state, and know that
even if you handle things perfectly, some people simply cannot be appeased. But don’t
let that stop you from making your best effort.

9. You’re in the wrong

Whoops! Say a bug deletes some of a user’s settings or your site is under a DDoS
attack. Excessive technical details won’t placate many customers or make the inability
to use your product or access your site any less annoying. Instead:

• apologize outright
• explain the game plan
• let them know how you’ll be in touch
• follow up when it’s fixed
A few years ago, Help Scout faced some uncharacteristic downtime. It was a terrible
feeling, but we knew we couldn’t just stick our heads in the sand and hope people
wouldn’t notice. We sent our customers the following email:

Hello friend,

Help Scout had two notable status events this week, resulting in roughly 51 minutes of
downtime. Considering our track record and only 61 minutes of downtime in the last
year, this week's performance was disappointing for our whole team.

I'm writing you this note to apologize for such a poor experience. We understand how
critical it is for Help Scout to be up and running at all times and we take that
responsibility very seriously.

We learned a lot from the challenges this week and feel very confident in our ability to
prevent them from repeating. We'll get to work on improvements right away. In the
meantime I hope you have a great weekend!

Nick Francis

Co-founder at Help Scout

We were touched by how understanding people were. Nearly all the replies we
received were along the lines of “That’s okay, folks; we know how it goes sometimes!
Keep up the great work!”

When you own up to your mistakes, follow up promptly, and take steps to ensure it
doesn’t happen again. You’ll find your customers can be a forgiving bunch.

Related: How to Apologize: 5 Elements of a Successful “I’m Sorry”

10. The customer asks to speak to a manager

If you messed up, pass the conversation on with context to the team lead, and you’ll
both figure it out from there. Mistakes happen.

The buck should stop with you, however, if a customer requests “the manager” just to
get around an accurate, honest response. When you’re acting with certainty, speak with
kind authority: “I’m afraid my supervisor would have to tell you the same thing. I’m really
sorry we don’t have a better answer for you!”
If they don’t drop it, well, that’s what team leads are for. I’ve also seen it work where
one team member hands off the conversation to another who reiterates the message in
different words: “I’m afraid June is right — we currently don’t have a feasible
workaround. I’m so sorry about that!”

Often, a second opinion is enough to convince the customer there’s nothing more to be
done.

Closing conversations with challenging customers

One of my favorite tips for dealing with customers is to make sure that you always
“close” a conversation. This has everything to do with making sure the conversation
with a customer is complete.

This is relevant here because the average business only hears from 4% of its
dissatisfied customers. Don’t add to that harrowing statistic by leaving people you’ve
helped with an unsolved dilemma.

Your willingness to ensure a customer is leaving perfectly happy shows them three
important things:

1. You care about getting it right.

2. You’re willing to keep going until you get it right.
3. The customer is the one who determines what “right” is.
Try ending your conversation with a phrase like the following:

“Excellent! I’m glad we were able to get that sorted out for you. Before you go, was
there anything else I could assist you with today? I’m happy to help.”
Believe it or not, there are some people who might walk away with another problem if
they aren’t asked about it. Adding “I’m happy to help” is a very small gesture you can
make that has a big impact. It shows the customer that asking for another favor isn’t
being a burden; in fact, you’d be happy to do it.

And in some cases, this gesture is even what prompts the customer to leave a positive
review.