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Workbook SIRXC EG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers
SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Table of Contents
Introduction............................................................................................................................................ 2 Element 01: Identify potentially disruptive customers ....................................................................... 3
[ Case Study 01] Respect retail workers ......................................................................................................................................................4
Criteria 1.1 - Tune into customer behaviours that might indicate a coming disruption ................................................................................5
Criteria 1.2 - Seek to understand the possible causes of disruptive behaviour ...........................................................................................9
Criteria 1.3 - Demonstrate your willingness to assist .................................................................................................................................12
Criteria 1.4 - Use policies, procedures and signage to explain processes to customer .............................................................................14
Element 2: Implement actions to defuse and de-escalate potential conflict. ................................. 15
Criteria 2.1 - Recognise emotional contagions and their impact. ...............................................................................................................16
Criteria 2.2 - Be calm, respectful and polite when interacting with customers ...........................................................................................18
Criteria 2.3 - Provide explanation, assistance or alternatives to address cause of customer issue. .........................................................20
Criteria 2.4 – Show empathy for your customer to defuse and de-escalate conflict ..................................................................................23
Element 3: Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers............................................. 24
Criteria 3.1 - Use appropriate strategies to respond to customers displaying disrespectful, aggressive or abusive behaviours ..............25
Criteria 3.2 - Take action to refuse service or eject customers in a professional manner .........................................................................27
Criteria 3.3 - Identify and act on situations that pose a threat to safety .....................................................................................................29
Criteria 3.4 - Terminate interactions if resolution seems unlikely ...............................................................................................................30
Criteria 3.5 - Refer situations beyond your role and responsibility to a supervisor ....................................................................................31
Element 4: Document and report incident......................................................................................... 32
Criteria 4.1 - Comprehensively document incidents according to policies and procedures .......................................................................33
Criteria 4.2 - Obtain witness statements and contact details .....................................................................................................................35
Criteria 4.3 - Report incidents to supervisors according to policies and procedures .................................................................................37
Criteria 4.4 - Use reporting to identify opportunities for improvement ........................................................................................................38
Element 5: Manage the personal impacts of disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customer behaviour. ............................................................................................................................................ 40
Criteria 5.1 - Use self- reflection to identify how you’ve been physically, mentally and emotionally impacted ...........................................41
Criteria 5.2 - De-brief with supervisor following an incident .......................................................................................................................44
Criteria 5.3 - Respond to physical, mental or emotional impacts of the incident........................................................................................45
Criteria 5.4 - Recognise signs that professional counselling could help and seek appropriate support ....................................................47
Criteria 5.5 - Identify personal response strategies to protect your own wellbeing ....................................................................................48
Summary .............................................................................................................................................. 49 Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................................... 50
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Introduction
The world of retail can be dynamic and compelling, providing challenge and inspiration to fuel an exciting career.
Although online retail has blossomed in recent years, bricks and mortar retail is where it all began, and for many brands it’s the primary avenue for their customers to experience and shop their products and services.
In store, customers can benefit from a facilitated shopping experience thanks to the retail teams that:
design and prepare visual merchandising displays
•
• provide information and guidance on products and services • process purchase transactions, and • do their best to assist customers that might wish to exchange, return or better understand how to use their purchases
Most of the time, interactions between retail team members and customers go off without a hitch. Sometimes, things become a little challenging.
That’s why this unit exists...
To help you build the confidence and capacity to effectively deal with those challenging customer situations in a way that minimises any negative impact on you, your colleagues, other shoppers and the customer themselves.
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Element 01: Identify potentially disruptive customers
Performance criteria
1. Monitor customer behaviour to identify signs of potential customer disruption 2. Use questioning and active listening to identify possible causes of disruptive customer behaviour 3. Indicate willingness to assist in resolution 4. Refer to organisational policies and procedures and signage where applicable to explain processes to customer
We’ve designed this workbook as a practical guide to help you build the confidence and capacity to effectively deal with c hallenging customer situations.
In this first section, we’ll lay the foundation by focusing upon how to identify potentially disruptive customers.
You might like to prepare by reflecting on your experiences with disruptive customers, the context, the signs and the behaviours you observed.
Let’s begin...
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
[ Case Study 01] Respect retail workers
SDA NSW & ACT – Union News Covid 19 update
20 March 2020
Respect Retail Workers – customer abuse
The SDA understands this is a distressing time, especially for retail staff in supermarkets & pharmacies. The situation is ongoing and changes rapidly but regardless of low stock levels, changes to trading hours or long customer waiting times, there is no excuse for abuse and violence from customers.
Zero tolerance for abuse and violence from customers
Whilst we understand this is a distressing time for many people in our community, customers need to keep calm. There is never an excuse for customers to be abusive towards retail workers. It is not your fault if an item is out of stock or the checkout queue is too long. SDA members have been campaigning to eliminate abuse and violence through our No One Deserves A Serve campaign for several years. This is now more important than ever. Your employer must provide you with a safe work environment. To support you your employer should take a zero tolerance approach to abusive customer behaviour. Your employer must have a process in place so all employees know what to do when incidents occur including how to report incidents.
Please continue to report all incidents at your workplace so there is an official record of the abuse or violence.
A zero tolerance approach to abusive customer behaviour should include denying service to customers behaving inappropriately, the issuing of bans or prohibition notices to aggressive customers and the calling of police in any instance of customers being violent towards or assaulting workers.
What should I do if I experience customer abuse or violence or am threatened?
We recommend with any situation if you are feeling unsafe you should immediately seek assistance from management.
We recommend that you:
1. Do NOT chase, handle, touch or block the offender in any way. 2. Stay calm and behave in a non-confrontational manner. Do not respond aggressively or provoke the offender. Do not respond to insults. 3. Stay where other team members are present for safety or move to where there are other team members present. Keep a safe distance from the offender and do not invade the offender’s personal space – usually at least two arm lengths or two metres. 4. Whilst waiting for a manager, if engaged with an offender listen to them and step away from them to avoid physical attach if you can. Even in instances where a customer has left the store after abusing team members, the company has a process that should be used to prevent this in future. This includes reviewing CCTV footage and working with police to identify offenders who can be banned from the store. If these offenders breach bans and re-enter the store, they can be issued with trespass notices as well. If you experience abuse or violence from a customer and are unsure what to do, ask your manager or supervisor for help dealing with the situation.
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Criteria 1.1 - Tune into customer behaviours that might indicate a coming disruption
One of the biggest learning curves for new recruits into retail roles is effectively navigating customer interactions.
Members of the public visit retail stores for a variety of reasons.
Think for a moment about the reasons you do...
• Most visits are related to learning more about or purchasing products and services offered by the business • Sometimes it’s to return a product due to a change of mind or product flaw • And occasionally members of the public enter retail stores for more nefarious reasons
When customer interactions become challenging, or members of the public enter your store with an intention to be disruptive, it’s essential that you read the signs quickly and act appropriately to minimise both the magnitude of disruption and any risk to colleagues and other customers.
The Legislative Context
We’ll look closely at som e of the potential causes of disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customer behaviour later in this workbook, but for now it’s important to acknowledge that sometimes a retailer’s failure to adhere to legislation or lack of clarity around key information ab out the product, it’s price, intended use and availability can be the catalyst for undesirable customer behaviour.
Which legislation applies to customer service in Australia?
There are 3 primary pieces of legislation you should be aware of:
1. The Australian Consumer Law (ACL)
It applies nationally, and in all states and territories, and to all Australian businesses. It is administered by the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) and is enforced by all Australian courts.
The ACL includes:
• unfair contract terms law covering consumer and small business contracts • consumer rights guarantee when buying goods and services • product safety law and enforcement system • unsolicited consumer agreements covering door-to-door sales and telephone sales • rules for lay-by agreements • penalties, enforcement powers and consumer redress options
Retail manager and business owners should ideally be familiar with the legislation, sharing key details with their retail teams.
To learn more, download the Sales Practices report below:
Australian Consumer Law Sales Practices – a guide for businesses and legal practitioners Aug 2016 https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/sales-practices-a-guide-for-businesses-and-legal-practitioners
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
2. Public Health Acts
Each state and territory in Australia have a Public Health Act, legislation designed to protect the health (and wellbeing) of residents and visitors to that state or territory. Public Health legislation protects customers and retail employees and it’s important to note that this legislation addre sses the management of infectious diseases amongst other public health considerations.
Given the legislation is state or territory specific it’s important that you take the time to understand the what applies to you.
Activity 1.1:
Follow the link below for your state or territory and search for the relevant Public Health Act.
Victoria - Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008 / regulations 2019 : searchable via https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/
NSW - Public Health Act 2010 / regulations 2012 / amendment 2017 : searchable via https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/
SA - Public Health Act 2011 : searchable via https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/
WA - Public Health Act 2016 : searchable via https://ww2.health.wa.gov.au/
QLD - Public Health Act 2005 : searchable via https://www.health.qld.gov.au
TAS - Public Health Act 1997 : searchable via https://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/
NT - Public and Environmental Health Act 2011 / regulations 2014 : searchable via https://legislation.nt.gov.au/
ACT - Public Health Act 1997 : searchable via https://health.act.gov.au/
Review the legislation for your state or territory and list 3 key public health considerations it’s designed to address:
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
3. Privacy Act 1988
The final piece of legislation to be aware of that’s related to customer service in Australia is the Privacy Act.
It was introduced to promote and protect the privacy of individuals and to regulate how Australian Government agencies and private sector organisations operating within Australia handle personal information.
The Privacy Act includes 13 APPs (or Australian Privacy Principles) that according to the OAIC website, govern the standards, rights and obligations of businesses including those in the retail sector around:
• the collection, use and disclosure of personal information • an o rganisation or agency’s governance and accountability • integrity and correction of personal information • the rights of individuals to access their personal information
To learn more visit:
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/the-privacy-act
https://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/australian-privacy-principles/
Did You Know
Retail businesses are required to integrate relevant legislation into their operational policies and procedures, so you may already be adhering to the rules without knowing it. I f you’re unsure, it can be helpful t o discuss your role with a senior leader or manager so you’re confident in doing the right thing.
As we said earlier, when customer interactions become challenging, or members of the public enter your store with an intention to be disruptive, it’s essential that you read the signs quickly and act appropriately to minimise b oth the magnitude of disruption and any risk to colleagues and other customers.
Tuning into Customer Behaviours
Human beings are designed to read each other’s behaviours. We’re especially attuned to perceiving possible threats in each other’s behaviour .
We can’t do this however, if we’re not paying attention. The biggest stumbling block to noticing the signs of potentially disruptive customer behaviour is competing priorities. If we prioritise (or we’re required to prioritise) administrative or operational tasks for example rather than the customer , we’re unlikely to notice potentially disruptive customer behaviours early enough to prevent escalation.
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Step one is attention, achieved by putting the customer experience first. It ’s impossible to underestimate how important that step is in minimising the likelihood of disruption.
Step two is knowing what to look for, the kinds of customer behaviours that require immediate intervention. Behaviours such as:
- - - - - - -
Refusal to follow directives
Customers who are unable to be pacified Abusive or inappropriate language
Verbal threats and aggression
Racial abuse
Physically aggressive or threatening behaviour Threatening group behaviour (swarming)
These behaviours may be part of an employee / customer interaction, or a customer / customer interaction.
Best practice for monitoring customer behaviour
Fortunately, the strategies suggested below are also those that demonstrate a customer-centric approach to retail:
maximise your time on the shop floor
•
• proactively connect with customers, make eye contact, provide assistance • observe behaviour and interactions, paying attention to visual and verbal signs
If your intention is to provide exceptional service appropriate to your store, and your attention is on the customer, you’re doing everything possible to pre-empt potentially disruptive customer behaviour.
Did You Know
Consumer racial or ethnic profiling is the act of suspecting or targeting a person on the basis of assumed characteristics or behaviour of a racial or ethnic group, religion or national origin rather than on individual suspicion.
Not only is ethnic profiling in a retail context deeply inappropriate, it is also discrimination.
In Australia the Racial Discrimination Act of 1975 makes it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of his or her race, colour, descent, national origin or ethnic origin, or immigrant status.
To learn more visit:
https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/employers/racial-discrimination
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Criteria 1.2 - Seek to understand the possible causes of disruptive behaviour
When you notice potentially disruptive behaviour in a customer, it can be tempting to jump to conclusions based upon your past experiences. This is particularly true if you’ve previously experienced challenging customer behaviour that left you feeling attacked or fearful.
Whilst it’s never appropriate for a customer to resort to disrespectful, aggressive or abusive behaviour, they may do so when it appears to them that that kind of behaviour will get them what they want.
➢ It’s not uncommon for customers to have a series of disappointing retail experiences in their life that has led them to belie ve that they need to escalate to get what they want ➢ They might have a personal pattern of dominance, bullying or manipulation to get what they want
In situations where a greater degree of aggression or violence is demonstrated by customers there might be something else going on. The Western Australia Police force in conjunction with the Cit y of Subiaco created a ‘ Business Beat – dealing with violent or aggressive customers’ factsheet which shares possible causes of violence and aggression . It states that violence can occur when:
Staff confront people caught stealing
•
• Troublemakers create con flict because they’re bored, showing off, or diverting attention while someone else is stealing • Customers have disputes or complaints about products and services including requests for refunds, anger over long waits in queues etc • Staff try to deal with those who are mentally ill or affected by alcohol or drugs
You ’re not a psychologist and it’s difficult to ascertain exactly what prompts disruptive behaviour. We’re not here to judge customers and ultimately that’s not where we can make an impact. Where we can, is through the clarity of our intention to find out what the customer wants. In many cases, when we demonstrate that we are just as keen as they are to reach a mutually satisfactory conclusion, customers will calm down, become more reasonable and work with you to find a solution. In some cases, they won’t and we’ll explore what to do in those situations later in this workbook.
Your Role
It’s not uncommon to feel powerless in challenging customer situations but that’s not the reality.
Your role is clear:
1. seek to understand so you can find a mutually workable outcome for your customer 2. manage your emotions as you do so
Questioning Techniques
Seeking to understand starts with effective questioning.
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Fortunately, you can leverage your sales skills here. The questioning techniques you probably use with your customers to help them find and decide upon the products and services that will meet their needs, are exactly the same as those you’d u se to understand possible causes of disruptive behaviour.
A combination of open and closed questions helps to gather the necessary information and move toward a resolution.
Open questions
• Examples include... - Can you tell me your perspective on what happened? Why do you think Jade was rude? • Open questions work best when we want to learn more, to understand and gather information
Closed questions
• Examples include... – Do you have your receipt? Did you purchase it here? Are you comfortable with that outcome? • Closed questions get you a yes or no answer, they help with clarity and agreement
Remember not to fire numerous questions at once and to ensure the tone, pitch and volume of your voice demonstrates patience, understanding, compassion and a commitment to a positive outcome.
Active Listening
We’ve just said not to fire too many questions at once which leads us to Active Listening.
It’s a term frequently used but not always embraced as well as it could be.
You can’t pretend to actively listen, and sometimes when we talk about active listening it’s shared as a list of techniques t hat show the other person that you’re listening without really addressing whether you are actually listening or not.
Let’s do both ...
Show that you’re listening:
• Create a safe environment - you might move closer for privacy, or come out from behind the counter, find somewhere to sit together • Clear away distractions – put down your mobile phone, paperwork, turn away from your computer or register • Focus attention on the other person making appropriate eye contact • Seek to understand by asking questions, paraphrasing and summarising
Everything you’ve done to show you’re listening actually makes it possible to be a better listener.
It lets you:
• Observe non-verbal cues like facial expressions, gestures, posture, respiration rate • Hear the tone, inflection, speed and language used • Get a greater sense of the emotions and feelings behind what your customer is saying
When you’re actively listening, you’re less likely to interrupt because your focus is on them and not you, but it’s important to realise your role is not a passive one.
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
A good listener is often described as a sponge, but let’s put a progressive spin on that and think of a g reat listener as a trampoline.
The attention you’re paying while listening helps you build a connection and gather information to jump off from as you work toward a solution together, hence the trampoline.
In situations where customers are exhibiting disruptive behaviour, the effort you put in to seek to understand rather than rush to judgement is an investment in a swift resolution. Think about the amount of conflict situations large and small, personally and professionally you’ve been in that could have been avoided if you’d just listened to each other early on.
Did You Know
Listening is a key element of emotional intelligence, and a skill that will benefit you more and more as your career progresses.
Here are a couple of articles on listening to help you learn more:
‘ How to be a good listener’ article and animation from The School of Life
https://www.theschooloflife.com/thebookoflife/how-to-be-a-good-listener/
‘ What great listeners actually do’ by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman
https://hbr.org/2016/07/what-great-listeners-actually-do
Accredited © ARA Retail Institute - RTO Code 4049
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Criteria 1.3 - Demonstrate your willingness to assist
We’ve mentioned the value in making it clear to your customer early on that your priority is reaching a mutually satisfactory conclusion and delivering them a positive customer experience.
This should ideally be your intention with each and every customer.
In situations where customer behaviour is becoming disruptive it’s even more important but remember in these situations your customer is emotionally heightened and that can make it difficult for them to listen to you.
We’ve all had experiences ourselves when we’ve been emotionally heightened.
Something h appened that we didn’t expect or desire, and our response has been anger, frustration, blame, desperation or any number of emotions. Those emotions take hold, dominating our internal dialogue and taking over our ability to be reasonable, calm or considered. We get puffed up with feelings of righteousness, maybe betrayal or victimhood, and those feelings run the show.
Activity 1.3
Think of a time (maybe at work, or as a customer) when you’ve been emotionally heightened and someone else has helped you gai n perspective. What did they say or do that worked?
Remember your customer is a human being just like you. And it’s essential that you treat them with understanding and compassion.
Show you’re willing
When our emotions are running the show, we don’t listen very well to others, because we’re listening to the dialogue in our mind that’s telling us what’s happen ing is a catastrophe.
This means you’ll need to be patient, clear and convincing in your willingness to help when dealing with disruptive customers .
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
How?
As a foundation, you need to know the scope of your role and the relevant organisational policies and procedures, so you’re confident in what you can suggest to your customer to help reach a resolution.
Then let’s consider all the ways we communicate:
1.
Start with body language •
Maintain an appropriate distance, respecting personal space • Face your body toward theirs with an open stance • Avoid touching • Gentle eye contact (not staring) demonstrating they have your full attention
2.
How you speak •
Be clear and concise
• Maintain a calm and considered tone, with a relaxed volume and speed of speech • Ensure your language shows respect and courtesy
3.
Seek to understand •
Ask questions to better understand the situation Allow your customer to speak without interruption
•
Demonstrate active listening
•
It’s your consistency that will impact your customer, helping them to see that you’re on their side.
Remember, it’s impossible to pretend you’re willing to assist just as it’s impossible to pretend you’re listening. You can try, but it’s likely to result in further escalation.
Humans are gifted at reading each other’s words, body language and behaviour for signs of congruence. That means, on some lev el we can usually tell if someone if telling the truth or not.
Your willingness to assist does not mean you’ve agreed to give them what they might be demanding, it simply means you promise to work with them to find a mutually workable solution.
It’s Not Personal
Although it may feel personal, customers that resort to disrespectful, aggressive or abusive behaviours are usually caught up in their own private drama and it’s not about you.
What they say and how they behave might feel personal, but it is all about them and how disempowered they’re feeling.
When you know this deep down, you can commit to your role in partnering for a solution. That solution might ultimately be that the customer is asked to leave the store, but your ability to take that action effectively will largely depend upon your ability to:
Respond without seeming defensive
•
Avoid power struggles, threats and ultimatums Ensure solutions are actionable and achievable
•
•
We’ll share strategies for assertive behaviour, negotiation and perspective taking, along with defusing and de -escalation techniques later in this workbook but for now the most important thing is to know that to the customer, you represent the business not yourself.
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Criteria 1.4 - Use policies, procedures and signage to explain processes to customer
One of the most helpful tools in your ‘dealing with disruptive customers’ repertoire is knowledge of your workplace’s policies and procedures.
They are the unarguable facts in the situation that you may need to lean on when discussing options for resolution with your customer.
Policies and procedures worth familiarising yourself with include those on:
Returns, refunds and exchanges
•
• Laybys and use of payment options like AfterPay, Zip and Humm • Gift cards • Bag inspections • Privacy of personal information • Customer behaviours that will and will not be tolerated in store
In addition to you knowing the details of your policies and procedures, it’s extremely helpful to refer to sources of information your customer can access. Many retailers make their policies and procedures accessible via their website, and key policies may be available in store as signage.
As always, the way you direct your customers toward information must be respectful and considerate. Pointing to a sign with an attitude that shows frustration with your customer will backfire, and rightly so. Just because you are familiar with the policies and procedures in yo ur workplace doesn’t mean your customers are , and it’s very possible they have simply misunderstood.
Customers with English as a second language are particularly vulnerable to misunderstanding detailed information. Signage and documents in plain English are helpful tools to make life easier for you both.
What’s plain English?
Short, clear sentences
• • •
Everyday words
No jargon
When directing customers to written information on pamphlets, posters and signage it can be helpful to verbally explain the information as well. This way, you’re still assisting rather than leaving them to learn on their own, and the written information is leveraged as a backup.
Particularly when it comes to clarifying misunderstandings, signage can be a great way to help your customer realise you’re n ot being difficult.
Useful links:
Writing in plain English https://www.singledigitalpresence.vic.gov.au/writing-plain-english
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Element 2: Implement actions to defuse and de-escalate potential conflict.
Performance Criteria 1.
Recognise emotional contagions and their impact.
2. Maintain a calm, respectful and polite manner when interacting with customers. 3. Provide explanation, assistance or alternatives to address cause of customer issue. 4. Display and maintain empathy for customer to demonstrate understanding of situation and impact on the customer in order to defuse and de-escalate potential conflict.
In this section we build upon the foundation we’ve created to deliver practical steps to help you build the confidence and capacity to effectively deal with challenging customer situations.
We’ll look closely at ways to defuse and de -escalate potential conflict and guide you in maintaining empathy throughout.
You might like to prepare for this section by reflecting on your observations around conflict in a retail context, particularly how emotions seem to be infectious.
Let’s begin...
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SIRXCEG008 Manage disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers Workbook
Criteria 2.1 - Recognise emotional contagions and their impact.
You may have heard of the term emotional contagion before.
If not, here’s a definition from the Harvard Business Review:
‘ the mechanism by which people’s emotions (positive or negative) ‘go viral’ within groups, influencing our thoughts and action s .’
Research has shown that most humans have little awareness of this phenomenon, and the power it has to influence our behaviour. We might acknowledge that other people are easily influenced by powerful emotions, but never us.
But did you know we’re designed to mimic one another?
As babies, we’re hardwired to mimic the facial expressions of those close to use and as we grow, we begin to reflect body lan guage and tone of voice as well.
Interestingly we don’t just mimic emotions, we feel them as well and when we feel emotions our behaviour reflects them. Think about how contagious yawning can be for example, or laughter when one person in a group starts giggling others usually joins in.
This kind of mimicry is an essential part of our ability to connect with each other, to relate and empathise.
It becomes potentially problematic however, when emotions being mimicked are negative AND we are not aware of what’s happenin g.
Emotional contagions in retail
How does this occur in a retail context?
The two biggest catalysts for emotions going viral are the susceptibility of the individual and catalysts in the store context.
A good example is how quickly panic can flow through a group when an alarm goes off, or the sense of urgency that makes customers push and shove on the first morning of Boxing Day sales.
Some people are rarely influenced by the behaviour of others, others are emotional sponges, picking up on the slightest elevation. You might find when one customer becomes angry or frustrated, their friends or even empathising strangers begin to mimic their facial expressions and body language.
Activity 2.1
Think of a time where you’ve noticed emotions going viral. What was the catalyst? What was the emotion? What was the impact?
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Of biggest concern in a retail context are emotional contagions that are negative in nature, because they have the potential to turn a low key customer disruption into a significant event.
When people are emotionally heightened, whether they realise where the emotion s are coming from (themselves or another’s emotions gone viral) what they’re feeling feels real to them.
That means they’ll believe that they’re frustrated, angry, disappointed etc too and they will behave in accordance with how they feel.
Very quickly you can have a situation where a single person issue has become a group issue, and this is something we want to avoid.
Common causes of disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customer behaviour
It can be helpful to understand common causes of disruptive customer behaviour so we can be proactive in dealing with situations that have the potential to escalate.
The table below lists some common causes and we’ve allocated them to columns based o n the source. Of course, not every customer becomes disruptive in response to incorrect prices or stock for example, but we can look at the ‘context’ column as a list of factors we have some control over.
Customer
Context
Personal attributes – mood, temperament
Incorrect prices or stock
Mental illness or intoxication
Lack of availability of stock
Communication barriers
Delays in receiving product or service
Refused entry or ejected from premises
Problem with product or service
Situations with no readily identifiable cause
Unmet expectations
For example, retailers can do their best to ensure correct prices, stock availability, quality, timeliness of deliveries etc, thereby minimising ‘ context ’ being a factor in disruptive customer behaviour.
The ‘ customer ’ column is more out of our control, however knowing that these factors might be a catalyst is helpful, allowing us to take greater care in our interactions.
It’s important to realise that no matter how much we try, we cannot prevent every potent ial situation. In many cases it will fall to retail team members themselves (like you) to deal with disruptive customer behaviour.
So let’s help you with that...
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Criteria 2.2 - Be calm, respectful and polite when interacting with customers
In your retail career, most customers interactions will be positive, but you’re also you’re likely to experience a wide variety of behaviours exhibited by disrespectful, aggressive or abusive customers. You might already have a long list including customers who:
refuse to follow directives are unable to be pacified
•
•
• direct abusive or inappropriate language toward you or your colleagues • use verbal threats and aggression • engage in racial abuse • are physically aggressive or behave in a threatening manner • engage in threatening group behaviour (often called swarming)
Let’s be honest, this can be challenging to manage, especially since you can be just as susceptible to emotional contagions as your customers.
Manage your own emotional state
We’ve focused so far upon heightened emotions in customers, but what about you?
Consciously focusing on managing your own emotional state is the best way to avoid catching emotional contagions.
Your ability to stay calm will make it easier to remain respectful and polite when things get heated, and that will positively impact your customer and the outcome of your interaction.
A few reminders to help you stay calm:
1. Remember your intention
• Your intention is not to win, to teach your customer a lesson, or prove a point • Your intention is to help • It’s to understand the situation as best as possible so you can find a mutually beneficial solution, while minimising any risk to yourself, your colleagues, other customers and the customer themselves
2. Remember your customer’s intention
• No matter how inappropriate their method, your customer is just trying to get what they want • They might want to be heard, to be compensated, to find a solution, to get something for nothing, or to gain attention – and they’re trying to achieve it through antisocial means
3. Know yourself
• Reflect on customer behaviours you find most challenging • Discuss these with your manager or leader and practice ways to remain calm in the face of those behaviours • Role plays and observation of more confident colleagues might help here
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4. Respond rather than react
• In moments when you feel heightened emotions begin to rise in you, take a breath • That breath will be enough for you to consciously decide which action to take
5. Use non-verbal communication skills
Adopt an open, relaxed posture
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Drop your shoulders if you’re feeling tense
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Gentle eye contact
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Warm smile if appropriate
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There may be times when your customer crosses the line of behaviour and action to needs to be taken such as removing them from the premises, and we’ll explore these situations later in the workbook.
Our next step however, is to leverage your skills in remaining calm in the face of disruptive customer behaviour to address the issue at hand.
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Criteria 2.3 - Provide explanation, assistance or alternatives to address cause of customer issue.
Being calm allows you the opportunity to consider how best to respond to challenging situations, it helps you stay above viral emotions and focus on resolution.
Once you have some understanding of the customer issue, generally via the quality of questions you’ve asked and how well you’ve listened, it’s time to look at next steps.
This might mean providing explanations, assistance or alternatives to address your customer’s issue.
Your verbal communication skills will come in handy once again here as managing your voice, tone, pitch and volume will continue to demonstrate your commitment to helping and your lack of judgement.
Your ability to paraphrase and summarise what your customer has shared about their situation will help them understand that y ou’re on the same page, a big contributing factor to how well they’ll listen to what you then have to say.
Being solution focused
Let’s look at some strategies to help you explain, assist or explore alternatives with your disruptive customer.
1. Being assertive
➢ We’ve talked about remaining calm, it’s twin is being assertive ➢ Assertiveness is being able to stand up for your rights or perspective in a calm and positive way ➢ It’s the line between aggression and passive acceptance ➢ The best tool you have when being assertive is The FACTS which allow you to avoid emotions – what happened, the policies and procedures governing the situation and those that define the outcome
2. Negotiation
➢ Negotiation is the process of discussing to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement ➢ It involves give and take, offer and counter offer and is something most people do in some form every day ➢ To negotiate effectively with a customer we must know the scope of what we can offer (usually defined by policies and procedures or the terms that would be approved by a manager) and we must have a sense of what the customer wants so we can reach a conclusion that works for everyone ➢ Fairness, mutual benefit and a commitment to the relationship are the foundation if both parties are to be happy with the result
3. Defusing and de-escalating
➢ Defusing is the process of making a situation less tense or dangerous, and de-escalation is the process of reducing the intensity or preventing escalation of conflict ➢ With these strategies we’re not trying to reason with the person, we’re trying to reduce their level of anger or upset so discussion becomes possible ➢ The first step is to manage our own level of anger and upset so we appear calm even if we aren’t feeling that way
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Ambulance Tasmania has created a helpful guide to de-escalation which you can review via the link below (and the 10 things lists on this page). http://ambulance.tas.gov.au/community_information/handsoff/de-escalation_techniques As you look through the lists, it might be surprising how relevant these guidelines are for a retail context. After all people are people, and de-escalation is about trying to transfer your sense of calm by taking a genuine interest in what the person is trying to tell you, whatever the situation.
10 things you can do:
1.
Appear calm, centred and self-assured
2. Remember all you’re doing is trying to calm the person down 3. Use a modulated, low and monotonous tone of voice 4. Treat the person with dignity, ignoring insults and avoiding judgement 5. Allow extra physical space if appropriate so you don’t appear threatening 6. Empathise with feelings but not with behaviour (‘I understand you’re upset, but it’s not ok for you to speak to me that way.’) 7. Ask questions like ‘help me understand what you’re upset about...’ rather than ‘how are you feeling?’ 8. Suggest simple alternatives 9. Give choices in which both alternatives and positive, safe and solution focused 10. Stay safe and know you have the ability to ask for help at any time
10 things to avoid:
1. Don’t rush in, take a few moments to assess the situation, look at the person’s body language, listen to their tone of voice and make a plan (including how to get away if things get out of hand) 2. Don’t get loud or try to yell over a screaming person 3. Don’t ask how a person is feeling or try to interpret their feelings 4. Don’t respond to abusive questions – just ignore them 5. Don’t smile broadly as it could be interpreted as mockery 6. Do not touch, even though touching may seem appropriate and usual in your peer group, agitated people may misinterpret physical contact as hostile or threatening 7. Don’t argue or try to convince – give choices not explanations 8. Keep your hands out of your pockets, up and available to protect yourself 9. Don’t point or shake your finger 10. Avoid constant eye contact, allow the person to break their gaze and look away
If your efforts to de- escalate the situation aren’t working – it’s ti me to ask for help.
4. Perspective taking
➢ Perspective taking is the ability to look beyond your point of view so you can consider the point of view of another ➢ It involves listening, observing and asking questions to clarify your understanding of the othe r’s thoughts, feelings and motivations around the situation ➢ It makes your customer feel heard, important and part of the solution
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Activity 2.3
Think of your own experiences in store with challenging customers issues. Consider the actions in the left column and describe an example from your experience of each in the right column. - Describe the situation, your response and the outcome - Which of the strategies we’ve shared in this section might help you in future?
Explain policies or procedures
Provide assistance
Offer alternatives
Disappointing someone respectfully
There are times when the response you need to give is not aligned to the hopes or expectations your customer might have.
This might be because your customer has misunderstood their rights, their expectations are unreasonable, or your store’s poli cies and procedures are quite strict.
Either way, this needs to be a direct yet compassionate conversation. It’s not unlike giving a team member potentially challe nging feedback, or letting a candidate know they weren’t successful in a job application.
You might like to discuss with your manager or leader how they deliver potentially disappointing information, while providing the clarity and compassion required.
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