That old lady who screamed at me for 20 minutes over a coupon changed my whole approach

Last month I had this customer at the grocery store in Tulsa lose it because her store brand coupon expired yesterday. She was shaking the paper in my face saying I ruined her budget. I almost snapped back but instead I just nodded and processed the coupon anyway. My manager later said I handled it right by not arguing. Now I just let people vent and fix the problem if it's small. Has anyone else found that not fighting back actually makes customers calm down faster?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray618d agoMost Upvoted

Learned that lesson the hard way myself a few years back. Once I stopped trying to explain or defend myself and just let them get it out of their system, the whole vibe changed. Most of the time they just want someone to hear them out, not a debate about store policy. I've had people go from red faced screaming to apologizing and thanking me in under five minutes just because I kept my mouth shut and hit the override button. It sucks to take the heat sometimes but it makes the whole shift a lot smoother when you're not carrying that stress around.

jessicac2818d ago

Read a study once that said most upset people just need to feel heard, not fixed.

valh3218h ago

Exactly, @gray6 really hits it - everywhere I look, people just want validation, not solutions to their problems.