What are some ways to remain calm and professional during a conflict with a customer?

Here are key steps to stay calm during the conflict. 1- Listen actively and let the customer complete first. Remember, not to interrupt. 2- Show empathy towards the customer. 3- Acknowledge the conflict and hold your emotions. 4- Make the customer feel that you are really involved in listening to customer and providing your support. 5- Identify the root cause 6- Communicate the way forward to customer and assign a timeline. 7- Take a follow up and resolve the issue 8- Get back to customer with the resolution/response.

There are always a reason behind a conflict. For you might be something, for your client might be something completely different. That’s why I believe that all partnerships are based on trust and you must understand what are the key things for your partner. By listening, you can understand better and design an action plan to address the challenge and move forward. We are currently facing a challenge with a key member of a team that just left the company and we have been super partners to review the whole process and keep improving.

1- Listening to the customer's issue 2- Then investigating the causes of the dispute 3- Collecting documents and evidence 4- Re-negotiating with the customer 5- Whether the customer is right or not, I consider a service compensation for the customer with an agreement

I my experience it is way better to avoid conflict: preventing rather than curing. One needs to carefully evaluate every single aspect of proposals and contracts to de-risk the potential conflicts. Sometimes specifying each term used, defining the glossary, is big value booster.

Viver o problema do outro como se fosse seu (porque na verdade sempre é!). Esse foi o meu posicionamento constante ao longo da minha carreira, e que normalmente leva a transformar conflitos em experiências de fortalecimento da relação de confiança. Enfrentamento e disputas são eventualmente necessários, mas raramente são a solução.

It is imperative to allow consumers to experience their emotions and recognize when it’s appropriate for you to engage. As both you and the consumer navigate a potentially emotionally charged situation, take a moment to determine if you are in the correct venue to continue; if not, seek out options to move the conversation. When speaking with the consumer and they express frustration or anger, know that it’s not necessarily about you personally. Keep a neutral tone. Exhibiting genuine empathy will aid in the consumer distinguishing you as aiming to help and understand versus holding to a company line. After all is said and done, circle back where time allows to ensure your efforts were impactful and further cementing your consumer rapport.

While acknowledging a customer's emotions during conflict, I do my best to avoid assigning emotions to that customer specifically. I've found that saying "I understand this is frustrating" rather than "I understand this is frustrating for you" removes any sense of arrogance in the statement. Acknowledging the customers emotions without them becoming defensive, is the goal in this step.

We emote when we care. Acknowledging emotions is the first step to uncovering what someone really cares about. Move from "I see you're upset" to something like "I see you're upset about ____ and would like ____." For example, let's say a customer says, "Finally! I've been on hold for AGES! This company has horrible service!" You may respond with "it's frustrating that you had to wait so long to connect with someone who can assist, and you'd like a quick resolution to what led you to call today." In acknowledging the emotion and going even deeper, you're positioning yourself well to have a conversation with the customer about how they can get the resolution they're looking for or why they cannot.

No matter whatever be the tone, remember that the person is not annoyed / targeting you. Being calm at the said hour could be more beneficial than you could even know.

Empathy is really important. I had a first-hand view of this when I worked in the airline business. People fly for any number of reasons: for vacation and business, for weddings and other life-cycle events, but also for funerals of family members and to visit people who may be very ill. The emotions of passengers on one single flight vary immensely and each will react differently to pressure (and add a fear of flying to the mix in some cases). It's really important in cases like that to try and find out what the back story is. Find out why the customer is reacting in the manner they are and consider whether that makes any difference to the way that you approach resolving their problem. Showing some understanding goes a long way!

The use of language can either strengthen or damage our relationship with customers. It's essential to consistently use positive phrases such as 'How can we assist you?' and 'We are here to provide you with the best possible help.' The choice of language can significantly influence the course of a conversation and play a crucial role in calming down customers.

Indeed since it helps reassuring the Client that you are ready to take up the responsibility of getting it done thereby winning another chance to set things right in case there's been a flaw the 1st time

Many of us have negative beliefs about ourselves and fear of making mistakes. When the mind is focused on negative outcomes, it can prevent growth and learning. We never know, unless we know a person well, what thoughts they are carrying with them and if they ever had anyone teach them positivity. We may be the first person to introduce a growth-focused mindset. If our words can reflect: "What can we learn?" "How can we grow?" "Thank you for bringing this to my attention, let's see how we can take care of it." "This is a perfect opportunity for..." we can shift the focus to more positive outcomes.

On many occasions, I have seen how IT companies try to impose their ideas, solutions or products on their clients, without thinking that the final objective is to deliver a service that is valuable to the client. Sometimes we lose perspective of the real reason why the client has hired us, which prevents us from adopting an approach to seek a solution and resolve the conflict from empathy.

The goal is to not give the customer an outright "No" for an answer. Look for alternatives, and suggest how they might be used to meet the customer's needs.

When possible, I like to provide 3 options and a recommendation. You should also remember that doing nothing can also be an option. By limiting options and providing a recommendation, you can help your overwhelmed customer focus and ease the decision making process. To help aid in reaching a decision or resolution, you should be prepared to discuss how each option addresses the concerns, as well as point out any ways that it doesn't fully address the concerns. This shows that you have thought carefully about the options and the potential impact that they might have.

At that current point alternative could be right way of dealing with the situation, and easing the escalation getting really out of hand which in turn could be the game changer

In order to find the best and most acceptable solutions, remaining curious and using additional insights about the customer is always helpful. By allowing the customer to be part of solution creation, the solution becomes more personal and, in my experience, personalized solutions always have a higher chance of customer satisfaction.

Getting an acknowledgement from everyone is very important, and most importantly drafting it as a MOM & seeking consent could be even more beneficial since people tend to think of alternates than what was agreed sometimes which gets inked on an email thereby helping even more

Perfect. I normally talk to my team and partners, imagine yourselves playing soccer, when you pass a ball and your partner is not looking, will pass and the opponent will get it. It is the same thing with clients, providers and partners, when you have an issue and the other side gets it, will be addressed and solved, when it is not “taken”, won´t move forward and will be in the parking lot, what is one of the worst solutions ever… it is better to have a positive discussion to solve something, than not addressing it.

Agreed! Confirm: Making sure everyone is on the same page after conflict is so important. We all perceive conversations and the emotions of others differently. Sometimes, what we think was said or what we think is happening next may be inaccurate. Follow through: Do what you said you would. Keep the customer updated so they don’t start to doubt you. It’s not a waste, it’s reputation. And, when following up with the customer confirming, “does this still feel like a good solution to you?” and “is there anything else that would help?”. This type of service will be what the customer tells others about—in a good way.

As we "seek to understand" the customer's perspective, approaching the situation with empathy and committing to a solution-focused mindset will play pivotal roles in understanding and resolving the customer's concerns. Ultimately though, our willingness to listen and learn from feedback, both good and bad, will determine how successful we are at resolving the conflict and providing a working solution.

I maintain an open-door policy and welcome ALL forms of feedback... even venting from my team. I listen and evaluate for opportunities for both parties to grow. If what the person is sharing is something they carry and can grow from, I gently offer feedback. I also ask what the person believes "the company" can do better. This allowed me to create a safe environment at work where people were willing to be vulnerable enough to share their struggles and know they would grow. It also allowed me to improve the onboarding process to a more efficient and helpful process. All struggles and conflict offer the opportunity for the relationship (whatever the relationship happens to be) to grow stronger. =0)

Never forget that the customer is not upset with you personally. It's the company or the product. While you represent that company and product, it's not your fault. So, there is no reason to be defensive. Your goal is to turn a Moment of Misery into a Moment of Magic. Ask yourself this question: Is what I'm doing right now going to get the customer to come back the next time they need what we sell? Whatever you're doing to resolve the complaint, keep the "next time" in mind!

Remember that people do things for their reasons, nit yours. Yes, the attack is on you personally, but whether you decide to take it on - especially if completely untrue - remains your choice. And don't forget to lean on your team. They are the "family" that will help you through this.

Stay calm. Customers may become angry or irate, and while this may make you upset, the key to a positive resolution is to find a pathway To calm. This starts with you being able to manage your own emotions and remain focused on addressing the customer’s core source of being upset. If a customer is to the point of anger, consider what the deeper challenge may be that they are experiencing, and listen, seek to understand why they are so upset, and find a way to be valuable to them in an effort to resolve their issue. Remember that, however you handle this specific interaction is a reflection of not only you but your entire organization. It can be positive or negative reputationally. Choose positive!

When it does get personal then it’s worth taking a break, which could only be 10 minutes or so, in order for both parties to cool off and start the thought process towards a resolution. I’ve had to do this only a couple of times in my career and it’s worked. I’ve also had customer meetings where customer teams have started arguing amongst themselves so have withdrawn for a few minutes to enable them to resolve their differences. If all else fails don’t be afraid to politely leave

Well put @Aki. We all have natural ego reactions that are aroused when people say or do things that we judge as unacceptable in some way. The ability to control our response to not give in to our egos is a self-management skill that significantly improves our relationships beyond those with customers. Indeed, I would say that this life skill is a key contributor to one's happiness.