Customers Frustrating You? How to Feel Content in Restraint | #custserv

Customers Frustrating You? Stay Professional in Unfair Moments!


Are Customers Frustrating You? Image is Speak No Evil Hand Over Mouth

Are Customers Frustrating You Onto the Ledge?

Image by Tim Samoff via Flickr Creative Commons License.


In my previous post, 5 Powerful Beliefs to Win Over Rude Angry Customers. I explained 5 ways to stay objective and caring with rude or angry customers.


One customer service representative left the following comment where she showed her frustration and posed a heartfelt question. I felt her emotion and promised to write this post to answer her question.


Her Struggle

I’m having a very very difficult customer service day, and am trying to talk myself off the ledge. Specific to my current customer service issues, I am convinced that it doesn’t matter how nice you are, how much you let them vent, how much you empathize with them, how much you don’t interrupt, how much you try to help, there are just some people who you cannot make happy no matter what, and that’s what I’m dealing with right now. Frustration is a good way to describe this.

My question is: When is enough enough? When should respect be commanded? ~Wendy Y.



Are Customers Frustrating You?

Have you ever felt frustrated with customers just as Wendy did? I think most of us would say yes…

  • When customers claim we didn’t tell them something when we did

  • When customers don’t communicate their expectations until they see the solution isn’t working

  • When customers change requirements at the last minute

  • When customers get impatient with us


Feeling frustrated is human. Wanting to finally show it is also human and YET very foolhardy because …

  1. It won’t change the customer’s behavior.

  2. It won’t command or earn you respect. It will cost you respect.

  3. It won’t feel as good as you think because you will pay for this moment of revenge in future interactions or in lost business.




Instead, Picture Customers Frustrating You

Picture yourself feeling frustrated with customers. What are they doing? What do you want them to do — change their behavior? Lashing out at them or giving them sarcastic slams won’t accomplish that.

If you are, as Wendy said, on the ledge and ready to lose it, think of all the possible reasons the customers might be acting this way. The list will be long. Clearly, you can’t fix their behavior right now. It could take months! There is only one way to work through this right now — with a patient positive can-do attitude.

Take the simple approach. Focus on what needs to be done for the customer and do it. Deliver knowledge with care. It keeps you and the customers moving toward a solution not detouring to the land of emotional squabbles, sarcastic remarks, vengeful dings, hurtful one-upmanship.





Picture customers frustrating you and remember that customer service is not friendship. It’s not equality. It’s a professional pursuit of objective caring that allows us to be proud and happy when we show patience and restraint in frustrating unfair moments.





Customers frustrating you? Don’t make it a battle of who’s right or wrong. Use your emotional intelligence to show customers how patient, perceptive, and professional you are.





I look forward to helping you and your teams reach this level of happy professionalism!



From my professional experience to your success,
Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™

Related Posts:
Customer Service Superstars: 11 Things They Give That Make Them Great!
Simple Integrity: Best Single Step We Can Take
Potent Communication: 9 People Skills Tips That Make It Easy

©2014-2018 Kate Nasser, CAS, Inc. Somerville, NJ. I appreciate your sharing the link to this post on your social streams. However, if you want to re-post or republish the content of this post, please email info@katenasser.com for permission and guidelines. Thank you for respecting intellectual capital.


Kate Nasser, The People Skills Coach™, delivers coaching, consulting, training, and keynotes on leadership, morale, employee engagement, teamwork, and delivering the ultimate customer service. She turns interaction obstacles into interpersonal success. See this site for workshop outlines, keynote footage, and customer results.


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