Create personal connections

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- Creating a personal connection is a great way to build rapport with customers. It
involves moving the call from a transaction to a helpful conversation between two
people. This creates a common bond between you and the customer, where the
customer likes you and feels great about your service. Now this can be tough to do
over the phone, especially when you don't have a lot of time for chit-chat. But there
are techniques that work. And in this video, I'd like to show you a few. Let's start
with names. Calling a customer by name immediately makes the call feel a little
more personal. It's a good idea to learn the customer's name at the start of the call
and use it a few times throughout the conversation. You can use it at the
beginning, such as "Hi Bill, how may I help you today?" You can use it when you
provide a solution. "I apologize for the problem Bill. "I've gone ahead and credited
your account." You can even use it at the end. "Is there anything else I can help you
with today, Bill?" You may have noticed, I'm using a first name in these
examples. For many customers today, this is preferred. However in some industries,
the expectation is to address customers by their last name. And some individual
customers prefer last names rather than first. It's a good idea to figure out what
works best for your industry, your company, and your individual customers, and
then adapt accordingly. Asking questions is another great way to break the ice and
build rapport. The best questions create a personal connection, but also uncover an
opportunity to serve. If you work in a travel reservation center, you might ask if the
trip is for business or for pleasure. The answer might lead you to make some
additional recommendations. Or if you work in technical support, you might ask "is
everything else working properly?" This might uncover another issue that you can
also help your customer solve. I found that having a list of five possible
questions will leave me prepared for almost any type of situation. And it can also
keep me from getting bored from asking the same question over and over
again. Now the last technique is understanding geography. Many people serve
customers from all over the state, all over the country, or even all over the
world. You can develop rapport by knowing just a little bit about where your
customer's located. You might comment about their local sports team, a recent
storm, or something that makes their area special. I live in San Diego. So customer
service reps often mention how they love visiting my town. It definitely helps break
the ice and makes me feel more comfortable. Just one word of caution here. Be
sure to keep it positive. Stay away from anything controversial. Remember, the goal
is to develop rapport, not make the customer feel bad. Okay, now it's your turn to
try out some of these techniques. I've created a personal connections
worksheet that you can download and use as a guide. You may want to print it out
and keep it near the phone so you can practice using some of these skills with your
customers. Creating personal connections over the phone can be a lot of fun. So I
really hope you give these techniques a try.

How to fill dead air

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- Have you ever experienced dead air? It can make a phone call feel awkward in a
hurry. Dead air happens when we're silent while we enter something into our
computer or we wait on our computer system to catch up. I'd like to simulate the
experience for just a moment to show you how uncomfortable this can feel. Your
screen is about to go blank for a few seconds. Now, don't worry. There's nothing
wrong with the video. Ready? Okay, that probably didn't make you feel too
great, but that's what our customers experience when there's dead air on the
call. Fortunately, there's a couple of techniques you can use to fill dead air and
continue to build rapport. One technique is to simply explain what's going on. -
Bear with me just a moment. I'm adding some notes to our computer system so I
can take care of this for you. - Another technique is to use that time to create a
personal connection. We covered some techniques for doing that in another
video, but here's a recap. You can either fill the dead air by asking your customers
questions that break the ice, or you can use your understanding of geography to
comment on something related to where your customer is calling from. You can
also use dead air to gather additional information that you'll need later in the call. -
While we're waiting on my computer to process that, I'd like to ask you a few
questions. - Now, it's your turn to practice. Make a list of situations where you
commonly experience dead air while you're serving a customer. Then, try to fill
those dead air moments using one of these techniques. If you do them right, your
customers will never even notice the dead air.

Manage holds and transfers

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
(mellow music) - Nobody likes to be put on hold. It's the worst part of the
call. Well, maybe the second worse. The worst part of a call might be getting
transferred to someone else and having to tell your story all over again. Holds and
transfers are two situations that can be really unsettling for customers. In this video,
I'd like to share a few techniques that can make those situations a little more
bearable. Let's start with how to put a customer on hold. Chances are, you've been
put on hold in the past when you called someone for customer service. Think about
how you felt in those situations. It's common to feel like the employee doesn't
know what they're doing or that they aren't valuing your time, or you might have
felt anxious when it seemed like you'd been on hold for too long. Your customers
can experience all of these emotions when they're put on hold. But there are a
couple of things you can do to make it better. Start by asking permission before
you put your customer on hold. You may also want to explain why the hold is
necessary. - I need to check with my coworker to find the answer to that
question. May I place you on a brief hold? - Sometimes we need to place a
customer on hold for longer than a minute or two. When that happens, it's a good
idea to check in with your customer so they don't wonder where you went. - Hi Bill,
are you still there? I've just tracked down my coworker and he's getting the
information we need right now. Will you hold for just another moment? Thank
you. - Okay, let's switch gears and talk about transferring calls. It's frustrating to get
transferred to someone else and have to repeat your problem all over again. It can
really feel like you're getting the run around. Always try to avoid transfers whenever
possible. One customer service team I know came up with a list of the top 10
reasons they had to transfer a call. They worked with other departments to identify
several types of calls they could handle without transferring, if they just had a little
more information or a little more training. This is a great idea, but sometimes
transfers are unavoidable. If you must transfer a call to someone else, it's always
best to do a warm transfer. A warm transfer is when you transfer the customer to a
specific person. Explain the reason you're transferring the call, and give your
customer the name of the person you're transferring them to. - Hi Bill, I've got my
coworker Mario on the phone. He's an expert in this area and can help you
out. Please hold just a moment and I'll transfer you to him. Okay. - If possible,
explain the situation to the person receiving the transfer so your customer doesn't
have to repeat everything they've told you. Of course, there are situations where a
warm transfer won't work. If this is the case, do your best to explain to the
customer where you're transferring them and why. When it comes to putting
customers on hold or transferring calls, I'd like to think of them as a guest at a
party. If someone came to a party at your house, you'd want to make sure they
were comfortable. You wouldn't want them waiting around too long for someone
to talk to. And if you wanted them to talk to someone else, you'd take them to that
person and make an introduction. Nobody likes to be put on hold or
transferred, but you can make your customers feel a little bit better if you use these
techniques and try to treat them like a guest.

Control the call with friendliness

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- There are many times when we're under pressure to get through calls quickly. We
might have a large queue of customers waiting on hold, or perhaps your company
expects you to keep the average length of a call below a certain amount of time. In
this video, I'm going to share some techniques you can use to keep the call moving
forward without making your customer feel rushed. The first tip is to keep it
short. Short, concise questions and information help the call move faster. They're
also easier for customers to understand and remember, and you can still keep it
short while being friendly. For example, let's say you're making small talk with a
customer and they mentioned that they'll be traveling to your town. It's a great
move to recommend a favorite restaurant or activity. The keep it short technique
means you should just pick one favorite to share rather than running down a long
list. This may seem counterintuitive, but another call control technique is to listen
to your customer without interruption. Customer service reps sometimes feel an
urge to cut a customer off if they're pressed for time. That's not very friendly and it
could make the call take longer if you misunderstand them. Listening without
interruption can allow you to absorb the entire message without missing a critical
detail. It will also make the customer feel more valued than if you cut them off. Of
course, there are times when a customer shares so much information that it's
necessary to redirect the conversation back to solving the customer's issue. You
can do this while still being friendly by politely acknowledging what the customer is
telling you, and then redirecting the conversation to focus on solving the
customer's issue. - Wow, it sounds like you had a great vacation. Now can I get
your customer number so I can look at your account? - Another technique is what I
call don't take the bait. Sometimes a customer can bring up a topic that you're
really passionate about. You might be tempted to engage in a long
conversation, but a better move is to quickly acknowledge the topic and keep the
call moving. Let's say your customer mentions an upcoming sporting event that
features your favorite team. A friendly comment acknowledging your passion is
great. On the other hand, a 10-minute conversation about your team's players and
strategies might prevent you from wrapping up the call and serving another
waiting customer. Finally, it's a good idea to talk slowly when sharing
information such as an order confirmation number. Talking slowly makes it easier
for your customer to hear and understand you, which makes it less likely that you'll
have to repeat the information. If possible, you can also offer to send a follow-up
email with critical information so the customer doesn't have to write it down. - Your
confirmation number is three four two nine one six. I'll send you an email with that
confirmation number so you'll have it handy. - I've always found that call control
techniques work best when you work with your customer and not against
them. What I mean by this is I focus on saving the customer time and effort rather
than just getting them quickly off the phone. By focusing on helping your
customer, you'll likely find that you can move through calls quickly while still
making your customers feel great.

Tune out distractions

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- Exceeding expectations requires us to do two things. First, we need to listen
carefully to our customers so we understand what they expect. Second, we need to
identify opportunities to go beyond those expectations so we can delight our
customers. There's often a big obstacle that stands in our way: distractions. In this
video, we're going to identify some common distractions and find solutions for
overcoming them. Let's start by looking at some common distractions that you
might see every day on the job. Take a look at this scene from a typical contact
center. See how many distractions you can identify. - This is Kristen, how may I help
you? Oh, can you repeat that? Got it. Absolutely. So sorry about that. (giggling) I'm
making notes right now. How many distractions did you observe? I spotted a few. A
coworker interrupted her. Her personal cell phone was going off. She was playing
with a stress toy. And there was a lot of background noise. All of those distractions
can make it hard to concentrate on the customer. If you aren't paying careful
attention, you might miss an opportunity to exceed their expectations or even
worse you might not resolve their problem. Now, it would be pretty hard to
eliminate all distractions but there are some things we can do. One technique is to
imagine you are having a face-to-face conversation with the customer. You'd be
much less likely to get distracted if your customer was right in front of you. Some
distractions can easily be eliminated or at least reduced. Try to find distractions that
you have direct control over and stop them. For example, you can close down
unnecessary programs on your computer so you won't be distracted by
messages popping up on your screen. You can store your personal cell phone out
of sight so it doesn't distract you while you're on a call. And you can get a noise-
canceling headset that will reduce the amount of background noise that both and
your customer hear. A third technique is to take a break. I don't just mean a break
from work. I mean a break from all the noise, distractions, and rapid multi-tasking
that's a big part of many phone-based customer service jobs. Our brains get tired
trying to block out all of these distractions. Throughout the course of the day, it
becomes harder and harder to tune them out. Taking a break allows you to
recharge and gain back some of your focus. A few contact centers have even
created quiet rooms to help their reps escape from all the noise. Tuning out
distractions isn't easy. It takes a lot of hard work and discipline. But if you can
improve your ability to tune out distractions and focus, you're much more likely to
spot opportunities to delight your customers.

Listen over the phone

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- Now we're going to talk about some listening techniques that are specific to
phone-based customer service. But first, let's take a moment to identify some of
the unique challenges of listening to customers on the phone. Take a moment to
think about some of the challenges you may have experienced. A few examples are
distractions, pressure to get through the call quickly, the customer's rambling
stories, thick accents that make the customer difficult to understand, and bad
phone connections. These challenges are hard enough when we're face to face with
a customer, but they make listening even more difficult when we can't see the
other person. Let's listen to an example. Imagine you are working in customer
service for a clothing company that serves customers who order online. Listen to
the customer and try to determine what he needs. - [Man] No, you're not
listening. I finally got my order, but it's the wrong color. This is not the color I
ordered, and I was supposed to give it as a gift tonight, but now I can't do anything
with this. What do you want me to do, wash my car with it? - Okay, what does the
customer need? Now, most people will say the customer needs to get the item he
ordered in the correct color. Now, that's part of it. But the customer's most
pressing need is he has to give a gift that evening. It sounds like it will be a big
challenge to make this customer happy. But it will be an even bigger challenge if
you just focus on replacing the item with the correct color rather than helping the
customer feel better about not having a gift. So let's look at a few things we can do
to listen carefully. Try to imagine you are face to face with your customer. Position
your body towards your phone or computer as if you were speaking directly to that
person. This can help you stay more focused on the conversation. It's also a good
idea to ask a few questions to verify you understand what the customer needs. If
you were speaking to the customer who received the wrong item, you might ask
him a few questions about the gift he planned to give. You can also paraphrase
what the customer's telling you to confirm understanding. - Let me make sure I
understand everything. You were going to give this as a gift this evening, but we
sent you the wrong color, did I get that right? - In many cases, paraphrasing like
this can help calm down an angry customer. They feel better when they realize you
understand them. Taking notes is another great way to listen. You can keep a
notepad handy or just add notes directly into your computer system. Either way,
these notes can help you capture important details about what your customer is
saying. Finally, try to identify your customer's emotions. This is often the true key to
helping them feel better. In my experience, many customer service
professionals are overconfident about their listening skills. They think listening is
easy, but in reality, it's quite hard. You could be a step ahead if you apply these
techniques and make a habit of really understanding your customers.

Use advanced communication techniques

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- One of the biggest disadvantages of serving customers over the phone as you
can't show them anything to help you communicate. Let's say you have a billing
question and I need your account number to access your account. If we're face-to-
face, you can just hand me your bill, so I can enter your account number
directly into my computer system. It's a little trickier when you and your customer
can't see each other. - You can find your account number on your bill. It's on your
bill. I don't know, just look for a bunch of numbers where it says account number. -
You can imagine how the customer might quickly get annoyed with searching for
their account number. I know I've been in that situation and chances are, you have
too. The key to overcoming this barrier is to use visual techniques to communicate
over the phone. Here's how that customer service rep could make things easier for
her customer by using a visual reference to help the customer find their account
number. - Do you have your bill right in front of you? Okay, look in the top right
hand corner, right under the logo. You should see something that says account
number. Yes, that's the one. Would you read those numbers to me, please? -
Notice the visual references the rep used this time. She verified the customer while
looking at their bill. She directed the customer to the appropriate place on the
page, the top right hand corner. She used the logo as a visual reference to make
the account number easier to find. Using visual communication techniques like
this can make things much easier for your customer and avoid a lot of
frustration. Let's look at how you can do this. Step one is to identify a visual
reference. This should be something that a customer is likely to be able to look at
along with you. Examples might include a bill, a website or even an email that was
sent to your customer. It's often helpful to gather few references ahead of time. For
instance, you might get a lot of billing question, so you might want to get a copy of
a customer bill, so you know the layout. It's much easier to use visual references if
you and your customer are looking at the same thing. Step two is to guide the
customer. Here, you want to be careful to give clear step-by-step
instructions. Make sure you have a visual reference each time. Listen again to how
the customer service rep uses step-by-step visual references to guide her
customer. - [Representative] Do you have your bill right in front of you? Okay, look
in the top right hand corner, right under the logo. You should see something that
says account number. Yes, that's the one. Would you read those numbers to me,
please? - I'd like to give you one last tip here. Sometimes your customer doesn't
have access to a visual reference. Let's say you want to give your customer a set of
instructions for using your product, but the instructions aren't easy to find on your
website. If possible, it's helpful to send the customer of visual via email. For
instance, you could email the instructions or a link to the instructions and then wait
for the customer to access it, so the two of you could look at them together. Okay,
now, it's your turn. I encourage you to gather some visual examples you're likely to
use with a customer like, bills, websites and instructions. Take a moment to
familiarize yourself with the layout, so you know how to direct your customer to
various pieces of information. Try to find opportunities to use these visual
references with your customers whenever possible to make communication even
clearer.

Deliver moments of "wow"

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- So far we've focused on core skills for customer service over the phone, like
tuning out distractions, listening, and using visual references to communicate. You
might be thinking, what does all that have to do with exceeding
expectations? Tuning out distractions, listening, and communicating clearly, all help
you better understand what your customer expects. Understanding your
customer's expectations allows you to find opportunities to exceed them. Once you
spot the opportunity, you can take action. One technique is to send your customer
a surprise. You might send a gift card to a loyal customer as a thank you for their
business. If a customer had a really bad experience, you might send flowers or
candy along with an apology note. In one famous story, a technical support
rep was on a long call with a customer, when she heard her customer mention he
was hungry. She went online and had a pizza delivered to him. When it comes to
surprising customers you're only limited by your imagination and your
budget. That last part is kind of important so check ahead of time to see what
you're empowered to do. Sending handwritten notes is another great way to
exceed expectations. It makes your service more personal and lets your customers
know you care. One tip is to keep a box of notes at your desk so it's easier to write
one and send at a moment's notice. You can often exceed your customer's
expectations by being there until the end. Let's say a customer calls with a
question about using your product. You could make a great impression if you stay
on the line while they try it out. This will give your customer extra assurance that
everything is okay, Or if someone else goes wrong you can be right there to help
them. Sometimes it's not possible to stay on the phone with your customer until
their issue is fully resolved. In that case, you can follow up with them via phone or
email. A follow up lets customers know that you're thinking about them and you
care about their success. It can also be an opportunity to solve an additional
problem that your customer may have experienced. You can also exceed your
customer's expectations by trying to solve the next problem they're likely to
encounter. The idea is to give your customer confidence and prevent them from
having to call back. Here's an example. Imagine you work for a utility company and
a customer calls to schedule a service appointment. During their appointment, the
technician will need to shut down the customer's electricity for about 30
minutes. You can avoid any future problems by helping your customer prepare for
the power outage. For example, your customer might want to gather some candles
or lanterns, if the service call is scheduled for late in the day when it might be dark
outside. You could really wow them by emailing a list of reminders to help them
prepare for the service call. We've covered just a few ideas in this video, but keep in
mind that delivering moments of wow requires us to do just two things. First, we
need to identify the opportunity, and second, we need to take action. Now, I have a
short assignment to help you practice. Think about opportunities you have to
deliver moments of wow to your customers. Now, take some time to prepare. This
might include learning your company's guidelines for sending out little
surprises, scheduling some time to make a few follow up calls, or getting a box of
note cards that you can keep at your desk. Being prepared will make it easier to
take action when the opportunity arises.
Friendly follow-up

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- One of my favorite problem solving techniques is called the friendly follow-up. It's
a way of preserving the relationship with a customer after helping them solve a
problem. You can use this when a customer was still angry at the end of a call and
they needed a little time to cool down. In other cases, you just want to do
something a little extra to let your customer know you're thinking of them. Either
way, the friendly follow-up is a great technique to use. Here are few ways you can
do this. One option is to call, just to make sure everything turned out okay. I used
to use this technique when I worked for a retail catalog company. Anytime a
customer placed an order with expressed shipping, I made a note to call them the
day the item was supposed to be delivered. Most of the time, customers
appreciated me checking in on them. Occasionally, there was a problem with their
order and customers really appreciated me being available to help solve it. E-mail is
another great option. It's a fast and easy way to touch base or send additional
information. For example, let's say you helped your customer solve a really difficult
problem over the phone. You can send them a follow-up e-mail with some links to
additional information, plus your contact information. This way, they can e-mail you
back or call you directly if they have any more issues. The mail is also a great way
to follow up. We don't get a lot of letters or cards in the mail these days. So this
can be a really great way to stand out. You can send your customers a handwritten
card to follow up, or you can even surprise them with a gift card as an additional
way of apologizing for a problem. Now you probably won't use the friendly follow-
up technique with every customer, but it's a great way to preserve the relationship
with a customer, after there's been a big issue. Take a moment to brainstorm a few
ideas that you'd like to try. And then use some of those ideas at your next
opportunity.

Stay focused while you work

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- Let's face it. Serving customers over the phone all day long can be
exhausting. This video will give you some techniques that can help you stay fresh
and focused. Let's start by taking a look at why serving customers over the phone
can be so tiring. One challenge is called emotional contagion. Other people's
emotions can be contagious. We really can catch a bad mood from someone
else. This can wear us down if we talk to angry customer after angry customer all
day. This makes it important to do a mini reset after a really difficult call. Take a
deep breath, get up and stretch, or go get a cup of coffee, tea, or water. Another
challenge is emotional labor. This is the effort you put into putting on a display of a
certain emotion. In customer service we're expected to be warm and friendly with
our customers. It's easy to do if you're in a good mood, but it's much harder if you
don't actually feel warm and friendly. Just like physical effort, emotional labor
becomes increasingly difficult the more you use it. So if you're having a bad
day you've got to find a way to get in a better mood. One way to do this is to keep
a list of what I call attitude anchors. These are things that can help you feel
better. I've created an attitude anchor worksheet that you can download and use to
make your list. You'll notice there are two columns on the worksheet. The first
column is labeled maintenance anchors. These are things you can do every day to
stay in a good mood. It might be eating a healthy diet, spending time with friends
or family or working on a hobby that you enjoy. The second column is labeled
repair anchors. These are things you can do to repair a bad mood. It might be
taking a walk, listening to music, or having a conversation with a friend. Attitude
anchors are personal so what works for me might not work for you. The key is
identifying what keeps you at a good mood and making time to work on those
things. The final challenge I'd like to share is called directed attention
fatigue. Directed attention fatigue comes from over using the parts of our
brain responsible for blocking out distraction and focusing our attention. Many
people who serve customers over the phone are constantly doing this. Take a look
at some of the typical symptoms. Distractibility, irritability,
impatience, indecisiveness, and procrastination. Unfortunately the only known
solution is rest. That means taking your breaks throughout the day and using those
breaks to recharge. It also means trying to get a good night's sleep so you're fully
rested the next day. Overcoming these challenges isn't easy, but putting some
effort into staying fresh and focused can really pay off. You'll be able to serve your
customers at a higher level and you'll feel better at the end of each day.

How to express empathy

Selecting transcript lines in this section will navigate to timestamp in the video
- One of the most important steps you can take when solving a problem is to
express empathy. Empathy can be a tricky skill to master, but this video will give
you a few ideas to try. Let's start with why empathy is important. Empathy is
defined as the identification with or vicarious experiencing of the
feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. In customer service, expressing empathy
is the ability to demonstrate to your customer that you understand what they're
thinking or feeling. Psychologists call this validation. The idea is to make the
customer feel okay for feeling the way they do. Empathizing with an upset
customer over the phone is critical. A study conducted by Mattersight learned that
75% of customers have felt frustrated after talking to a customer service rep on the
phone, even if their problem was solved. Empathy comes from having a similar or
relatable experience. This isn't always easy, especially if you've never been in the
same situation. For example, someone in technical support might have trouble
empathizing with her customers, because she can fix her own computer. So I've
created a few exercises to help you empathize with your customers. You might
want to pause the video and download the empathy worksheet, so you can use it
to follow along with me. Are you ready? Okay, think of a common situation where a
customer might get angry. The first step is to describe the problem. For example,
your customer might've been shipped the wrong item, they might have been
confused by your product or service, or they might have a billing question. The
next step is to describe why you think the customer was upset. Try to think beyond
the problem. If a customer is calling about a billing problem they might really be
upset because they're anxious about money. The third step is to think about a
situation where you had a similar feeling. If your customer is anxious about
money try to think of a time when you felt the same way. Finally, think of a way you
can demonstrate that you understand your customer's feelings. I like to think of the
name Laura to guide me with this part. It's an acronym that spells out five empathy
techniques. Listen to the customer, then acknowledge their feelings, understand
their emotional needs, and then find a way to relate to them. Finally, act to make
things better. You may often find that it doesn't take much time or effort to express
empathy, just make sure it's genuine. Listen to this exchange between a coffee
shop customer and a barista. The customer's angry that her latte doesn't have
enough vanilla in it and she's experienced the problem before. Notice how the
barista takes a moment to empathize before fixing the problem. - [Man] Hi, may I
help you? - [Woman] Yeah, you guys screwed up my drink order again. I was here
two days ago and you did the exact same thing. I asked for four pumps of
vanilla, you gave me like maybe two. - [Man] Well, I'm sorry we didn't get it
right, but I'd be happy to remake it for you and add more vanilla. - [Woman] Okay,
I just don't understand why this keeps happening. Like four pumps of vanilla, how
hard can that be? - [Man] Yeah no, I completely understand. I'm actually a
peppermint person myself, can't get enough of it. This was a vanilla latte, right? -
[Woman] Yeah, nonfat. - [Man] Okay, you hang onto this one, I'm going to make a
new one, that way we can do a little taste test afterwards and make sure I get it
right. Cool? - [Woman] Okay. - You may have heard the barista using the Laura
technique. He started by listening to the customer and then acknowledging her
feelings. He was careful to understand the customer's emotional needs and then
relate to them by sharing his own fondness for peppermint. Finally, he acted to
make things better. Okay, now it's your turn to try using these empathy
techniques. Try to use the empathy worksheet to identify some specific ways you
can demonstrate empathy when one of your customers is upset. Mastering this skill
can go a long way towards making angry customers feel a lot better.