De-escalating Tough Situations At The Register
When you’re dealing with a confrontational customer, these tips can help cooler heads prevail.
We are often asked by retailers and store managers how they can best de-escalate challenging interactions with disgruntled customers, and we understand why. These types of situations are difficult, and can intensify rapidly, potentially even threatening the safety of your employees. That’s why it’s critical to teach your staff how to handle these scenarios properly when they do arise – so they can protect both themselves and the store.
See our latest resource: Know How to De-Escalate Confrontations Tipsheet
If you’ve spent any time reviewing We Card’s training materials, you’ll no doubt be familiar with the AERO method. AERO stands for Apologize, Explain, Remove and Offer, and is a simple four-step process that can be used by sales associates to deny a sale of an age restricted product to someone underage, or someone with an expired ID or with an invalid form of identification. If you need a refresher, we go in-depth on it here.
AERO is one very strong tool in our belt, but there are others to be aware of. Consider these tips and strategies to help you and your staff reduce the tension, straight from the experts at We Card.
Remain Calm
It may sound simple, but keeping your cool in the face of an angry customer can make all the difference between reducing tensions, and things boiling over. If a customer raises their voice or gets aggressive, it’s only natural for you to want to match that level of intensity. But meeting force with force is often a recipe for disaster. If instead you stay calm in your tone and body language while remaining both respectful and firm, the situation has more of an opportunity to be resolved.
Use The Right Words
Sometimes it’s not how you say it, it’s what you say. The language you use when talking to a customer can defuse a situation or at the very least, deflect it from rising to higher levels of confrontation. Try to avoid directly accusing a customer. Rather than saying “you gave me an expired ID,” try saying “sorry, my scanner shows this ID is invalid because the ID is expired.” “What to Say” is one of the more popular learnings retail employees report that they like best about We Card training. Learn more about how to speak with customers in We Card’s Employee Training Course.
Follow Store Policy
Every store is a little bit different, and no one knows it better than store managers. If you’re a manager, you probably have a number of things you want your employees to follow, like how you want shelves to be stocked, what to do when the store is busy and how you want them to act and speak in front of customers. When you have an established company policy, especially one that’s written down on age restricted product sales, it’ll be easier for your employees to follow that playbook to keep things going smoothly.
Prioritize Employee Safety
There are some situations where de-escalation tactics just aren’t enough. Sometimes, nothing will get through to a confrontational customer. In these extreme situations, make sure you have a store policy on how employees should handle it. Utilizing an internal company “incident report” will make a record of what transpired and should provide guidance to employees. Develop an incident report process, include specific example scenarios that your employees have experienced in the past and review it at least annually.
While situations that require the use of de-escalation tactics are rare, it’s important you and your staff know what to do when they occur. It’s always a good idea to review these principles with your employees (even veteran ones) so they are prepared and ready when the time comes.
For questions about We Card, our programs, and our activities, please visit www.wecard.org or contact us at comments@wecard.org.
