One of the first steps when dealing with a challenging customer is to protect yourself
with the proper mindset and attitude. Just because your customer is agitated or angry
does not mean you need to absorb it or respond in kind. Studies show that just a few
minutes of a strong negative emotion such as anger can demolish your body’s immune
system for many hours afterward. Remember you cannot always control how a
customer reacts to a given problem, but you can control how you respond. Rather than
escalate an unpleasant situation, you can try some tactics to defuse it. You can do this
by remaining focused, alert, understanding, caring, unemotional, and—most of all—
patient.