Dealing with insults

PandaLitter · 2020-06-18T05:56:54+00:00

Pretend you're talking to customers as a third person so you don't take it as personally

agoodcrayon · 2020-06-18T06:37:38+00:00

Don’t take it personal. Part of my job requires customer service as well but over the phone which includes cursing amongst other derogatory words.

I’ll let them express their displeasure 2 times. After that, I start being assertive and change my tone. I’ll carefully craft my words to get the point across that I’m not a robot fulfilling their needs but not aggressively.

Do some research on communication and read some books. Good books below:

Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High

No More Mr. Nice Guy

When I Say No I Feel Guilty

Terdmuffin · 2020-06-18T07:05:41+00:00

Honestly if you don't want to deal with shitty customers then don't have a customer facing job. They don't care about you and will probbaly never think about you again so you just shouldn't care about them.

Revenge fantasies come from a position of weakness and generally speaking as someone working in customer service you always have the weakest position.

gediwer · 2020-06-18T06:24:04+00:00

Try taking a shower. Most comebacks come then.

ShabbyRanks · 2020-06-18T07:23:36+00:00

I used to work front desk/sales at a gym and used to get shat on all the time by 'Karens'. I learned to just smile and agree with them. Sort of like the "agree and amplify" of TRP. "Oh yeah, it's SO UNFAIR, I can't believe you have to deal with this, I will DEFINITELY give a word to the manager OMG it is SO UNFAIR" with a shit-eating grin on my face. It actually was amusing and I wish I could have taken that same attitude into other encounters in my daily life.

That was much easier than than my manager gave me shit, which actually got to me. These peoples opinions literally don't matter, fuck the customers. This is a cheap-ass gym, you get what you fuckin' pay for.

I personally think you'll get used to it very fast and that this will be a learning/growing experience for you. I was timid and reactive when I first started, but that goes away pretty quickly. Good luck with your new job. Ask your coworkers if they have any good tips for dealing with shitty people at your job, my coworkers were a real help to me.

Rexile · 2020-06-18T07:02:12+00:00

Keep a cool head, in customer service you have to be calm and nice 100% of the time. Getting mad will only get you in trouble.

Do not take it personally, think of what they say as just a meaningless sound in the giant void of space. Read about the stoic mindset.

thatbadrogue2 · 2020-06-18T07:38:42+00:00

Picture this, you have a dream car- a Nissan...Versa fuck it why not. You really want one, and your life changes immensely when you have one. You giddily go to the Nissan dealership because...well...that's where they sell Nissan cars, you're excited to finally fix your problem. You ask the sales guy to show you their current inventory of Versas...."oh I don't...actually know what those look like." Yikes. Manager??? can I get another sales guy please?

I mean honestly- it is your job to know where things are. I've worked Customer service before and know what it feels like to be helpless when someone asks you a question you don't know the answer to..but you have no one around to help you.

I had my boss' superior unknowingly mentor me, by sliding shade questions in about what things did- which tied into things that attached to the first item to make them work and where they were. Ultimately learning what the items did in conjunction led to understanding the system and EVERYTHING involved in the system and..obviously where to find them.

I'm using vague terms here so they're applicable to whatever the fuck it is, that you do.

The fact this random moron made you 'seethe' over a completely karen-esque comment is ridiculous; man up and make sure it doesn't happen again. It's not difficult- ask your superior for a location chart and invest into the job that's paying for your rent. Trust me, you're expendable and it's a rough truth to understand but if you don't become a wolf in a pack of sheep you're gonna get kicked to the side. Only thing that can happen from investing is promotion and pay raises.

MelonWhiskey · 2020-06-18T05:58:04+00:00

Meditate.

2020-06-18T09:18:54+00:00

[removed]

Gtrplyr3838 · 2020-06-18T12:37:13+00:00

Never hold onto someone else’s negative energy. Let it pass on by.

md54short · 2020-06-18T13:03:59+00:00

Learn to quietly insult them back. What you say b4 but doesn't matter e.g. "I've found your behavior to be rather obnoxious BUT I hope you have a great day!"

TheRedApprentice · 2020-06-18T13:40:56+00:00

I just started my new job at a department store last week. I work in the fulfillment department, at which I first thought, "great! no customers!" Then I realized that I often have to be on the sales floor to pick up the items required for all the orders before I can hide in the basement to prep them for shipping. I spend more time doing that than anything else. I haven't had any bad customer experiences, yet, but it's only a matter of time.

You know how AWALT works, right? No exceptions? Yeah? Think ECIAA in your situation. Every Customer Is An Asshole. This can be applied to pretty much any job that serves the general public, but think restaurants, retail, and customer service. Having this understanding will make unpleasant customer encounters like the one you just had significantly lighter on your psyche.

alfred311 · 2020-06-18T14:46:48+00:00

Enroll/train in a gun seminar, buy and carry a gun, and no of amounts of insult will ever gets to you, you will be calm and dangerous. Back then im so hot headed on the road, people that insults me and everything but the moment i learn and carry a gun i dont fucking care anymore, you can take the last parking slot, you can cut me on the road but never ever get near me or threaten me or im ready to defend my life with my tools

svenfromaccounting · 2020-06-18T15:05:42+00:00

Depends on the "insult". That was legitimately a good piece of advice though could have been said in a condescending, overbearing or sarcastic manner.

I would say "thank you sir, I will do that as soon as I free up to do so" and that's that.

It's nothing personal, if he or she goes around being negative to everyone then that's on them. But another often overlooked possibility is they worked in a similar capacity for years and know the difference between a good and bad service worker.

CryptoViceroy · 2020-06-18T15:57:13+00:00

Honestly you just have to be total IDGAF mode.

As a general rule there is nothing good that can come from reacting. Is losing your job or getting a disciplinary really worth getting one over on some random customer? Probably not.

When I did customer service, we were trained in how to deal with these situations. In 99.99% of cases, not reacting will defuse the situation.

Some people will be out specifically looking for a fight. They want a reaction either to argue with you, or to report you and get you in trouble. Best way to deal with these people is not to take the bait. 9 times out of 10 they get annoyed you're not reacting and they storm off to find someone else to pick on.

Don't react to them. Maintain neutral body language and a neutral facial expression. Speak in a calm tone and just repeat the same thing over and over until they get bored.

Now, some people will overstep the mark. Either they are particularly abusive, or may even become violent.

In these situations you have to put your foot down and make it clear that you won't be spoken to or treated like that, then just walk off and get a manager or security guard and get them escorted out of the store.

I've only been in three situations like this.

One was a woman who became extremely abusive towards me while at a checkout. I simply told her I won't tolerate her abuse and I won't be serving her. Called for a manager and ignored her while I served another customer. She became even more angry as I ignored her. Eventually she was escorted out.

One was a man who became violent towards an elderly female colleague. He spat at her and then attempted to come round the till to confront her. In this case it was necessary to physically intervene and restrain the guy until security and eventually the police arrived.

Another was when a man that I caught shoplifting became violent and attempted to attack me. I pushed him as he attempted to throw a punch and he hit his head against the concrete floor. He was then restrained until the police arrived.

_4ce · 2020-06-18T07:11:19+00:00

Just be honest and confrontational, a lot of these other advice I read is straight up stupid. Just say you’re new and trying to figure things out and say my bad if you wasted their time .If he’s a dick after you explained yourself he’s just being an emotional fuck that you shouldn’t be dealing with irregardless of what your job is. You don’t need to be fake the whole time and act like you’re viewing life in 3rd person, that’s called disassociation and is unhealthy. Work on your work related skills so you can be more useful. You keep disassociating and letting people be rude to you you’re not gonna get anywhere in life. You’re just gonna be someone else’s bitch.

Title	Dealing with insults
Author	schmood_criminal
Upvotes	12
Comments	24
Date	June 18, 2020 5:46 AM UTC (6 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/hb8njf/dealing_with_insults/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/dealing-with-insults.696781 https://theredarchive.com/post/696781

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