How to handle an angry customer

There are many reasons why a customer will be angry with you. Generally though, a customer will usually be angry at you because of some mistake he believes you have made that has caused him some inconvenience. And normally what he just wants is a solution to the problem that he believes you have caused real or perceived.

The first thing therefore to do especially when you know as the service provider you are at fault is to apologise. It’s amazing what effect that can sometimes have. Avoid taking the customer back and forth, transferring him from one person to another or even telling him the person who dealt with him is not around so 'can you please call later or tomorrow'. That will just make the customer angrier. Instead of trying to find excuses or worse still distance yourself from the problem or try and blame it on one of your colleagues it is better to find a way of solving the customer's problem. Blaming it on your colleague gives a bad picture of the company. It shows a lack of unity at work which might create a bad impression on the customer (pointing fingers at each other in front of the customer is anyway unprofessional). So try and find a way of solving the customer's problem immediately after apologising to the customer.

Avoid getting into an argument with the customer.The saying that the customer is King should always apply. Arguing with the customer can result in a shouting match which is not helpful to the company image especially when other customers are watching.

Also not only should you fix the problem as soon as you can but try and go the extra mile. Maybe if it is poor service at a hotel offer a free night at the hotel's expense. If you can quickly solve the customer's problem most likely when he is telling his friends about you, it will not be in a negative way. Most likely he will tell his friends how he got into this problem and how you were able to get him out of the problem quickly and he might even recommend your company to his or her friends.
It is important to note that the company in training its staff on customer service should include training on how to handle an angry customer or how to handle complaints from a customer. Sometimes why angry customers are not given the attention they feel they deserve is because of poor training on the part of the staff by their employers. So the staff have no clue of how to handle a situation involving an angry customer. This unfortunately might mean a loss to that company because if the angry customer decides not to deal with your company it is most likely that he will go and tell his friends about you which might mean a further loss of customers for you.