Customer Service Skills Knowledge Base and Frequently Asked Questions
How can I use surprise as a way to stop an angry or abusive customer from talking at me?
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One of the biggest challenges in customer service involves dealing with a customer who simply won't stop talking at you, and won't listen. It's impossible to help a customer who won't pay any attention to you. Enter the "surprise technique". When used properly it results in a customer who is befuddled enough to become speechless.
If you want to confuse the verbal attacker long enough to use other techniques, and get the attacker to start responding to you use, unexpected, surprising and novel statements and questions. When you do this, it causes the attacker to stop and think......they stop talking or ranting long enough for you to gain control.
As an example the customer suggested the employee could "take his forms and stick them where the sun don't shine". The employee responded with "I would love to oblige you on that, but unfortunately, I have five file folders, six other forms and a large filing cabinet up there, and quite honestly, I dont' think that there is room for much more". The customer was surprised, paused, and then begain laughing. The employee was able to regain control.......in this real life example, this humor/surprise tactic worked effectively. However, it could have easily escalated the situation if it hadn't been said in an appropriate tone of voice.
Want more help? This article is based on Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook.
Robert Bacal is the author of two books on customer service: Perfect Phrases for Customer Service: Hundreds of Tools, Techniques, and Scripts for Handling Any Situation, and Defusing Hostile Customers Workbook. Most of the questions and answers in the Customer Service Knowledgebase (which you are reading now) is based on the material in these books.