ILLUSTRATION PROVIDED BY ADOBE STOCK

TO MANAGE ANGRY CUSTOMERS HERE ARE FIVE RULES IN A HELPFUL PROTOCOL .

BY ERIC HARNE

If you have worked in a contact center for any length of time , you have been the recipient of a lexical tongue lashing . I always found it amazing how people who may be mild-mannered in other aspects of their lives suddenly turn into fire-breathing , overbearing , and threatening miscreants of mayhem when communicating by telephone .

Perhaps it is the disembodied / anonymous nature of those interactions that fuels their passions . But whatever the reason , being on the receiving end of such vitriol can be uncomfortable … if you allow it .

32 CONTACT CENTER PIPELINE

And therein lies the crux of the problem : a problem for which I offer a solution : the Angry Customer Protocol ( ACP ).

I have spent the last 26 years answering thousands of phone calls in a 911 center . They ranged from the hilarious to the horrific . And during that period , I encountered many unhappy , hysterical , raging , angry , and threatening people .

Initially , I did not manage these calls well . I took offense and felt insulted . Worst of all , I internalized those feelings and allowed them to affect my attitude towards work .

Callers who resort to insults can be particularly troublesome when you are dealing with life-or-death situations . It was a bad combination that eventually required me to reassess my reactions to

IF YOU HAVE WORKED IN A CONTACT CENTER ... YOU HAVE BEEN THE RECIPIENT OF A LEXICAL TONGUE LASHING .

challenging callers and change my approach .

Over time , after a great deal of research and trial and error , I developed the ACP and its five simple rules .

Picture the ACP as a pyramid where each rule builds up the other , providing a solid base for better customer interaction and problem resolution . ( SEE FIGURE 1 )