How to Handle an Angry Customer

In the hospitality business we are often confronted with angry customers. So I always tell my staff that most of the time the customers are not angry at you; it’s only because you are an employee of the hotel and you are the only one in front of them, so naturally you become the target. I tell them sometimes its even nothing to do with the hotel, maybe something happen on the way to the hotel. I even created a funny story to elaborate this issue.
It goes like this "The guest already have driven 3 hours through a winding road, another one kilometer to reach the hotel, there is traffic jam that's take them an hour or more to slowly reach their destination. On top of that, the air conditioner is not working and it rains therefore they cannot wind down the windscreen. To add to their bad luck, somebody lets go gas in the car. And to make matters worse, its the driver's mother in law who is the culprit. So when they reach the hotel, they will eventually blow up at the slightest mistake, even the sight of you smiling at them. So think about, the guest is not angry at you just what has happened to him on the way up. "

So how do you train your staff how to handle this situation. Lets start at the very beginning when the customer walks in.

1. Observe their and your own body language.
When a guest walks in, always observe their body language. Body language can always be used as signals on how angry the guest is. Are their arms crossed, shoulders hunched, restless, staring or acting rude? Even the way he walks can tell you how angry he is. Is it fast or relaxed? You need to always remember the person isn’t mad at you, so you must also observe your own body language. Introduce yourself, and be polite. Try not to have the "Oh shoot, an angry customer. Boy does he look mad." look. Ask the person his name and address him by name. Observe your tone of voice, what you say. Try not to make him wait; look up from your paper work immediately. When talking to him always maintain eye contact.

2. Listen to what he has to say
Let the customer start do not interrupt him, and listen until he has finished speaking. Always maintain eye contact even if he is yelling. Always keep in your mind that he is not angry at you. Most of the time its best to let him let of some steam. Show him that you are paying attention by repeating some of the important points brought up and assure him that you understand and intend to help. Note down the important points so as not to miss out anything. Show empathy, put yourself in his shoes how would you feel if the same thing happened to you.

3. Be very careful on the words you use.
Words like “I only work here,” “It’s against our store policy" ” I’m only following the rules.” will sure to make matters worse. The customer doesn't care if its against hotel policy, he just wants a solution. Assure him you will do your best to solve his problem. If the problem can not be solved immediately ,make sure you inform the customer you will do your best to get an answer and when you will get back to him. And make sure you follow through with a response. Don't forget to get the necessary information so as you can contact him. Many a times we forget to get a customer's contact info cause we want to get rid of him as fast as possible.

4. If you are not Able to help.
What if for any reason or other, you cannot solve the complaint, then it is acceptable to refer the customer to your superior. But make sure you explain this to the customer. Just explain to him that your supervisor will see to his complaint, give him their name and contact information. Again don't make it look like you want to get rid of him. Explain that your supervisor is a person who will be able to assist in his problem. Always let your supervisor know every detail before he/ she meets the customer. This is so he/ she can be prepared before seeing the customer. I never like handling complaints that I don't know head or tail what's going on.

5. Check back for Satisfaction
After you have solved his problem, check back with him if he is satisfied. If you go the extra mile to help solve his problems this will then ensure his loyalty to your company and also to you. I have noticed that most people prefer to go back to the person that have help solved their problems. The reason they have built a high trust level towards you.

Angry customers are always going to be around but if we handle the situation professionally we can turn the situation around and thus built repeat business for us. Keeping customers coming back is the best way to keep profit rolling in. One must remember most customers don't like complaining and there are a very small percentage who simply likes complaining.

Get to Know Your Regulars

Repeat business is very important in any business. I feel that its even more important than creating promotional activities. If you have very good repeat business, you don’t have to constantly crack your head to think of new promotional activities to bring in business. This I found to be true lately. I have always created beautiful flyers and also promotional activities. You can see some of it in my page Restaurant Promotional Ideas . It brought people in but you must always be on the look out for regulars. I now have highlight to my staff, that if they see any regulars or some people from the local community call me. I will then drop by and say hi. Most regulars feel very important when they see a manager dropping by to say hi. Well nowadays I see some results, business is getting better even in the current economic downturn. Well when the economy gets better, then this people spending power will be better. Get to know their names, spouses name, kids name. Ask about what they do for a living. Show the customer that you enjoy seeing them and make them feel at home. Play with their kids, give them some treats e.g a speciality drink or dessert. What I have now a small colouring books and crayons which I give to the kids to take back. This days kids tell the parents where to eat. Look at McDonalds and KFC.

Most important people in your company "The Staff"

Good Customer Service is all about the people in your organization not much the standards you set up. You can have a great Vision and Mission but if the downline don't understand it, they can't put it to work. One way which I have used is, I print out our Vision and Mission on a card the size of a business card. Laminated it and give it to every staff in my department. In our daily pre operation briefing I make everyone repeat our Vision and Mission together in one voice. Then I catch three of them what they understand about what they have read in their own words. Later I will ask them to give an example each. After doing this we received a lot of positive comments. Don't forget to praise the staff that receives the positive comments. This will lift up their spirits but don't always praise the same staff cause this will make them a diva or primadona. He will think he is unreplaceable.

Product knowledge

Make sure everyone in your establishment has the proper product knowledge. They should know what you are selling, the promotional activities and even how to get to your establishment. Don't you hate being pass around when you enquire on something. What will piss your customer more is if the thing they are asking is advertised and your staff don't know anything about it. What I normally do is, every month I will list out all the promotional activities in my place, print it and pass it to staff to keep with them. In it I will put all necessary information like duration of promo, time, price and even the menu. Everyday during our daily pre operations briefing we will catch 3 person, make them read and ask them if they understand.


As for directions, to prevent guest from getting wrong directions thus missing your restaurant, you can prepare some index cards and place them next to your phone. Write out each possible route to your restaurant that you can think off. Use individual cards for individual routes and you can add some more as you go along. This will make it easier for the staff to explain how to get to your place. By having something to relate to the staff will be more confidence to converse online. What we are doing now is creating a FAQ booklet of questions that is frequently asked by the guest. This booklet will not only cover things from our restaurant but also the surroundings. We will give it out to every new staff.

Know your customers

The other day I saw something on the Asian Food Channel that reminded me that we should never assume what our customers think of us. The documentary was Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmare. It was about the famous Chef Gordon Ramsey. He goes around helping owners of restaurant improve their restaurant and in turn their profit. This week it was a restaurant in Spain, the restaurant had a small kitchen but a menu of 75 items. The owner wanted to try something different. He even had a dish of Deep-fried Prawns served with Chocolate Sauce. He only assumes that the customer will like it. This reminded me of the time when I was working in Phuket, Thailand. We added to our new menu Spaghetti Carbonara. The chef cooked it using the traditional method, lots of cheese and cream and thick. We noticed that the dish came back half eaten. So we went around asking people why this is so. Then we found out it was too thick and too creamy. So the chef did some modification to the dish, he added some chicken stock and made it with a little gravy. This was a winner. Nowadays in my present restaurant I have a book where the senior wait staff write out comments that they get from the guest, no matter if its good or bad. The book is read by me and my chef. I have found some interesting information on how to improve my food and service. The wait staff has to go and meet a minimum of 2 people each daily. Don't depend on the guest questionnaire in the middle of your table. Most people don't like to waste time filling it up unless its really a serious complaint. One on one interaction is really important. Try it and you will see for yourself. I always remind my staff if you don’t know ask, don’t assume. Assume is making an ASS of U and ME.

Be afraid, be very afraid- Off the social media

Nowdays most marketing gurus recommend the use of the social media like facebook, twitter to promote your product. While this is very true, the social media can also hurt us back. As anyone can put up something on the World Wide Web, we should be very vigilant in locating what people are saying about our product. One fine example just happen about a month ago. A hotel in Melaka, Malaysia had a few unfavorable comments about cleanlines in a tripadvisor website. Another person used that comments and put up a blog of the top 10 dirtiest hotels in the world. He put that hotel in the the list of the top 10 dirtiest hotel in Asia. I received that blog in my mail, already five times to date. I have stayed there on one occasion and found the cleanlines to be acceptable. Imagine what would happen if you would search the net for this hotel and find this blog, I'm sure you wouldn't think of staying there. Formerly we are always told to be careful of the word of mouth. Now the word of mouth is even bigger with the social media. My suggestion is to have a few staff dedicated to surfing the social sites looking for comments both good and bad. Improve on the bad and highlight the good. Replying the comments will show peple that you care about their feedback,never hit back or discredit the person. By doing this you will build lasting business.

The buck stops with the CEO

There was a great article in today’s Sunday Star about the dismal standard of service in Singapore. And how this can be solved by the leaders joining in to improve service standards. I find this to be very true. This is leading by example. Most companies have great vision and mission. And even greater slogans but if the leader don't show any effort in making the slogans work, then the staff won't follow. It will be another decoration on the wall.
To read the full article, click here The buck stops with the CEO