Customer Abuse

Name: Customer Abuse
Author: KnowledgeCity

Learn how to identify customer abuse and correctly respond to it.

Preview the first lesson free — get full access to all 4 lessons.

Course: On-Demand

Let's discuss what kinds of customer behavior can be defined as abusive. In these lessons, we'll look into how you can identify and recognize customer abuse, and tips for what should be done should you experience an abusive customer. If you're working in a job where you deal with customers, your day-to-day experience can vary, based on the people you interact with, ranging from positive to negative. You may have had a customer compliment you on how well you made their sandwich, then have another complaint that you've made theirs incorrectly. You never know who or what you'll have to deal with during an average day on the job, and that's why it's important to prepare for challenging customer interactions. Customer abuse is when a customer's behavior goes beyond being rude or angry, and becomes a form of bullying. More specifically, it's when a customer becomes physical with you, or their language toward you becomes personal, offensive, or can be defined as harassment. There are three common characteristics of abusive customer behavior. It becomes physical. If a customer touches you, spits at you, throws objects, or engages in any kind of physical violence toward you, including but not limited to, hitting, slapping, or kicking, this is considered abusive. It qualifies as harassment. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines harassment as unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy, national origin, older age, beginning at age 40, disability, or genetic information, including family medical history. Sexual harassment also falls under this category. If a customer is mistreating you based on one or more of these categories, their behavior may qualify as harassment. The customer makes unrelated personal comments. A customer calling you slow for not bringing out their order on time is rude, but it's not necessarily abuse. Personal comments or remarks that are irrelevant to your job performance and service criticisms are considered abusive. Customer behavior is a spectrum. It's important to know the difference between a customer who is showing anger or being difficult, and one whose behavior has crossed the line into abuse. Rude or upset customers may be common, and while this kind of customer may leave unsatisfied and upset you, it's a situation that can be de-escalated and dealt with appropriately. A non-abusive customer's behavior is generally a result of an isolated incident or how you chose to handle it. An abusive customer's behavior crosses a line into an attack. It's important for employees to understand customer abuse primarily for their own safety. If a combative customer causes an uncomfortable or tense situation, it's good for employees to know how to de-escalate the situation or contact help if needed. If abuse does occur, employees should know how to ensure that any other customer's present are safe and unaffected. It's also critical for management to understand how to deal with customer abuse. Management has a responsibility for the safety and well-being of their employees, and that includes protecting them from abusive customer behavior. A company can risk legal trouble for exposing their employees to unsafe working conditions. Understanding customer abuse is also critical for managers who want to provide their customers with a positive experience. This is especially true for in-person retail stores. If customers enter a store and see an employee being abused, they may develop a bad opinion of the company, either because they believe the employee did something to deserve the treatment, or because they think the company is not being mindful of their employee's safety. Any job where you must interact with new people every day can be challenging, and knowing how to handle a difficult interpersonal situation is a skill that you can use in any environment.

Beginner Provider : KnowledgeCity 4 Lessons · 14m in German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Urdu, Chinese

Course Description

It can be difficult to interact with someone who is treating you unfairly, especially when that person is a customer. Navigating an abusive situation, while also treating a customer with respect, requires strong communication and people skills. You can learn how to respond to an abusive customer by completing this course. In this course, you’ll discover how to identify customer abuse and learn about common characteristics of customer abuse and red flags to watch out for. This course also discusses how to differentiate between rude and truly abusive customers. You will also learn how to respond to verbal and physical abuse from customers.

What You'll Learn

Identify customer abuse and recognize its common characteristics and red flags
Differentiate between rude customers and truly abusive customers
Recognize and identify verbal abuse from customers
Recognize and identify physical abuse from customers
Respond appropriately to verbal and physical abuse from customers
Apply strong communication and people skills while treating customers with respect

Key Takeaways

Navigating an abusive situation while still treating a customer with respect requires strong communication and people skills.
Customer abuse can be identified by recognizing its common characteristics and the red flags to watch out for.
It is important to differentiate between customers who are rude and those who are truly abusive.
Abuse from customers can take both verbal and physical forms, each of which requires an appropriate response.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn how to identify customer abuse, understand different types of abuse, and learn how to respond to abuse. The course covers common characteristics of customer abuse, red flags to watch out for, how to differentiate between rude and truly abusive customers, and how to respond to verbal and physical abuse.

Who is this course for?

This course is for anyone who interacts with customers and may need to navigate situations where a customer is treating them unfairly while still treating the customer with respect.

What topics do the lessons cover?

The lessons cover Detecting and Experiencing Customer Abuse, Identifying Verbal Abuse, and Identifying Physical Abuse, followed by a Test Your Knowledge section.

What skills does this course help build?

The course supports skills including handling confrontation, customer experience improvement, customer interaction management, customer service training, managing a hostile work environment, and know your customer.