How to serve an aggressive customer who speaks a different language?

Use your softskills techniques to control your customer, by listening more and talk less however I believe one of the language you are ready speaking. So try to communicate clearly.

That is already out of your control. All you can do is let the customer vent until he/she is done. After all, you are no different from the customer as you also get calm when you are able to express your feelings and emotions. You can escalate her/his case to the relevant department for a callback and don't forget to take down notes.

Aggressive customers can be a nightmare. Don't confuse them with assertive customers who simply insist on their rights; this article is about the customers who issue threats, shout, ruin the experience for other customers, and make unreasonable demands. They may even grow physically aggressive by putting their hands on employees or causing damage to property. If you work in the service sector, it's smart to educate yourself on how to deal with aggressive customers.

Defusing the Situation:

1

Stay calm. The worst thing you can do in this situation is to raise your energy level to theirs, at it might turn a combustible situation into an all-out explosion. However, because you, as an employee, cannot simply walk away from the situation, you must stay engaged with the customer without letting your own temper get out of hand.

·         The most obvious thing to avoid is raising your voice.

·         Don’t be sarcastic with the customer.

·         Do your best to maintain a soothing voice and mask any frustration you might feel.

2

Control your own body language. It’s easy to read the nonverbal cues of aggression and anger in other people’s bodies, but be aware of the messages your own body is sending to the customer. It’s not enough to simply keep your voice down — you must soothe the customer’s mood with all the communicative devices in your toolbox. Some nonverbal cues to control and avoid include:

·         Pacing

·         Drumming your fingers or tapping your feet

·         Clenching your fists

·         Clenching your jaw

·         Rolling your eyes

·         Furrowing your eyebrows

·         Staring the customer down

·         Crossing your arms or putting your hands on your hips

3

Don’t enter the customer’s physical space. Even when everyone’s calm, violating someone’s personal space can be interpreted as a show of aggression or lack of care for someone’s level of comfort. When people get angry, they need a larger area of personal space, so give aggressive customers wide berth. Otherwise, they may think you’re trying to show aggression of your own, or that you’re not taking the situation seriously by failing to recognize how agitated they’ve grown.

·         For your own personal safety, try to stand behind a counter, table, or other barrier to reinforce the physical distance between you and the customer.

4

Listen to the customer’s grievance. Understand that no matter how unreasonable the customer is being in terms of the scale of their anger, there may very well be a kernel of truth to what they’re saying. By letting the customer air their grievance, you’re letting them vent off some of their frustration and hopefully stopping the situation from getting worse. Furthermore, you’re showing them that you, as an employee, care about the customer’s experience, gaining you good will.

·         Don’t ever interrupt the customer, even if you want to respond to something they’ve said.

·         Even if they’re being unreasonable, allow them to talk themselves out.

·         Use positive nonverbal communication cues to demonstrate that you’re actively listening and engaging with the customer. Examples include maintaining eye contact (but not staring), nodding along, and demonstrating concern on the customer’s behalf at the appropriate moments with facial expressions.

5

Ask questions to better understand the problem. In order to calm a customer down, you need to understand why they’re upset in the first place. If the customer is so worked up that they’re ranting instead of providing you with useful information that you could use to assess and resolve the situation, wait until there’s a gap in the conversation to ask guided questions that will help you understand what’s going on. Again, don’t cut the customer off — wait for an opportunity for you to speak. Some questions you might ask include:

·         "Is this the first time you've had this issue at our business? Can you tell me more about your previous frustrations, so I know specifically how to instruct our staff how to improve customer experience?"

·         "Tell me exactly what happened today, from the beginning. What was the exact employee behavior that triggered your bad experience?"

·         "Was there a single action that ruined your experience with us, or are you frustrated by the buildup of several small problems? Is there one large thing we need to change, or several small adjustments?"

·         "Which employee or employees are you upset with right now? Is there one person in particular, or does our whole staff need to be addressed about their attitudes and performance?"

·         If another employee is involved, use your discretion to determine whether or not it would calm the customer down to involve that employee in the conversation.

6

Try to find a solution to the problem. Ask the customer what you could do to make them feel better about the situation. If what they ask is reasonable and within your power, give them what they ask for. However, aggressive customers are sometimes irrational in their demands, or ask you to do something you are not authorized to do.

·         Try to strike a compromise. Explain to the customer that you would give them what they want if you were authorized to do so, but that you would be punished yourself if you did that. Instead, offer them whatever you’re authorized to give.

·         Call a manager. If the customer would like something that you’re not authorized to provide, call a manager or supervisor to see if it can be authorized.