Certain industries have consistently customer-facing roles and this means that there is a chance that customers can get angry or aggressive. Threatening behaviour towards your staff is not acceptable and it’s your obligation as an employer to keep your staff safe from all hazards as much as you possibly can.
In this blog post, we will look at ways of ensuring your staff are kept safe mentally and physically from threatening behaviour and how to manage these situations.
What Are Threatening Situations With Customers?
Staff can feel frightened or concerned when customers start to behave erratically or aggressively. It can be sudden or slow to start, the threatening customer behaviour may include:
- Pointing at your staff
- Raising their voice
- Swearing
- Shouting or screaming
- Saying they will do certain things that make your staff feel unsafe
- Breaking of things, pushing over, or physically moving of items that feels scary
- Pushing or hitting staff
Types of industries
Industries that frequently deal with customers and are high-contact can end up in escalating situations or tense circumstances. Some of these industries and situations include:
- Retail- Dealing with customers during busy periods, handling refunds, returns, complaints, or inventory issues can lead to angry and upset customers
- Hospitality- Hospitality staff constantly deals with personal preferences and during busy periods it can get tricky to provide quick service. Other situations include dealing with complaints about food quality, reservations, and the ambience
- Banking- Banking customer service professionals handle technical issues, concerns about accounts and transactions and it can lead to tense situations and irritated customers
- Customer service- Customer service professionals in all industries are often at the receiving end for verbal aggression. Long wait queues on the phone, technical issues, and delays in service can add to this tense situation.
- Healthcare- People visiting healthcare facilities are already uncomfortable or in pain. Long wait times or delays in treatment can make them angry and aggressive leading to altercations with healthcare professionals.
How to Manage Threatening Behaviour
If you have a small business, it is likely you already have a risk assessment.
If so, how will your staff handle this, especially if some staff members are not confrontational types. Consider the personalities in your team and if possible, move people around to more public-facing roles in the short term.
- Risk Assessment – Consider what could happen, potential risks, and what could be done to prevent them
- Write a Policy – Write a policy that mentions ways to handle aggression, the command chain, steps to follow, and other instructions
- Implement the Policy – Utilise clearly established ways of handling incidents
- Train Staff – Try to train staff on how to deal with particular situations, what to do if it doesn't go as anticipated
- Be Flexible – Move more confident staff around if required
- Be Alert – Talk to your staff to be alert and wary during busy periods
Things to consider
- Set expectations with customers on the conditions of entry – this may include placing a notice on their entry point that aggressive behaviour will not be tolerated
- Prepare a Safe Operating Procedure, so that staff are aware of how to handle aggression.
- Arrange a customer complaint policy for handling customer issues.
It would be helpful to organise staff have access to support services such as an EAP or counselling should they suffer any harm because of customer aggression.
Handling angry customers
Consider how staff will handle verbally angry behaviour. For instance, empathising with a customer can really help de-escalate a customer’s anger before it becomes threatening. When talking to an unhappy customer, consider these points:
- Respond – Apologise for any inconvenience to make the customer feel valued.
- Empathise – Sincerely express that you understand the situation is frustrating.
- Reassure – Let the customer know that if there was anything you could do, you would.
- Paraphrase – Show you’re really listening, by using something they say back, for example: “I understand you have been waiting a long time but we are trying our best to get through the orders so we can provide you with the best product/experience."
Customers who are beginning to get angry will escalate quickly if they feel dismissed, not listened to, or not valued. “I am so sorry for this inconvenience, this situation is so frustrating, if there was anything I could do, I absolutely would.” It’s crucial to make sure a customer feel sincerely heard as you express your position, even if you do not agree with them.
Support your business with Peninsula
Peninsula works with Aussie businesses across various industries and we understand the challenges they face. Our clients access 24/7 services and resources that help them deal with any employment relations issue or workplace health and safety matter. Talk to our team today to learn how we can help you.