The rise of the abusive customer (and how to defuse their anger)
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 30 seconds
Just a few short months ago, as the lockdown was ending, we were all looking forward to returning to restaurants, shopping, and travel. Almost overnight, we’re all hearing stories about customers behaving angrily over minor inconveniences — diners blowing up at waiters over slow service, shoppers furious about shortages, travelers refusing to obey flight attendant instructions, and bankers facing increasingly irate customers with complaints.
Data shows an upward trend in customer hostility
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had more than 3,400 allegations of disruptive passengers on file by the middle of 2021, which led to 555 investigations (compared to just 146 investigations in all of 2019). Additionally, a recent survey of restaurant employees revealed that 39% were leaving due to worries about customer antagonism or harassment, and 80% had either seen or personally experienced such conduct concerning COVID safety standards. The Institute of Customer Service (ICS) reports that 44% of retail front-line employees have faced customer hostility in the last six months.
“As leaders, we must act to help overworked frontline employees”
According to the ICS, tensions continue to rise, linked to declining consumer sentiment amid the cost-of-living crisis. One-fourth of workers surveyed blamed the cost-of-living crisis for increasing this customer stress. Abusive language and even violence towards retail workers and service staff are on the rise in Canada, the U.S, and the U.K. Aside from this additional burden for employees, these instances aggravate the difficulty faced by the service industry in swiftly returning to pre-pandemic capacity. What can we do as leaders, HR business partners, and learning experts to end this cycle and help?
Here’s what to do to support hard-pressed frontline employees
Train your team in de-escalation techniques:
Using positive language
Maintaining a calm presence
Thanking the customer for bringing the issue to your attention
Telling the customer what you’ll do to help them
Teach customer service best practices:
Letting frustrated customers vent
Empathize and apologize
Offering a discount or refund
Make psychological safety a top priority:
Teach your managers and leaders to listen and empathize with staff
Build leader’s skills at asking genuinely curious, open-ended questions
Train leaders to invite and welcome ideas and solutions
The issues that are driving abusive customer behavior are not ending immediately. The world will continue to find itself at the mercy of stock and staff shortages related to global and domestic issues. Price rises and inflation will be a factor for many months yet. But with a training emphasis on practice in a safe learning environment, your frontline employees can take back their power and learn how to deescalate irate and unreasonable clients.
Talk to us about what’s happening in your workplace. We’d love to hear about it. Free demonstrations of Defusing Customers’ Anger are available now.
