A Parks and Rec guide to angry live chat customers
Customers express their anger a bit differently when using text chat. From ALL CAPS to !!!???. And also I love Parks and Recreation.
We’ve recently put together an eBook in which we give tips on how to deal with challenging customer service situations. Our first chapter focuses on angry customers and features the transcript of a pretty heated phone call.
In the book we tell you to give a sincere apology, take responsibility, show sympathy and actually walk the walk. We do believe these 4 simple guidelines can go a long way but we realized that on chat, you first have to spot angry customers
Text chat is a tricky mean of communication. It’s both a blessing and a burden when dealing with irate customers.
It can be great because you are not actually being yelled at which makes it a lot easier to deal with stress and anger. But on the other hand it’s a lot harder to show the customer some real empathy and turn around the situation.
Situations involving face-to-face or voice communication make it quite easy to see (or hear) when a customer is unhappy. Text chat makes it a little more difficult at times.
Here’s a list of the few types of angry customers you could encounter on chat:
#1 THE ALL CAPS ANGRY CUSTOMERS
This customer makes it really easy for you to spot his anger. All caps are often used as a text form of yelling. This kind of message suggests a high level of anger. You customer probably tried to contact you before and didn’t get what he wanted or just had several problems with your product. In any case he’s angry and wants you to know it!
Some people also use ALL CAPS as a sign of excitement so make sure you read the message twice before assuming your customer is angry.
As an agent, you should NEVER WRITE IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS. It’s really hard to read and even if you just want to show excitement the customer might mistake it as anger. You can use “!” at the end of your sentences instead. It’s less agressive but still let you communicate your emotions.
#2 The “…” angry customers
The “…” are often used a a sign of annoyance. The customer is polite enough to not cyber-yell at you but he still wants to know he’s not happy with the problem. The sentence can also suggest that the person is not expecting much from you or the product. It gives you a good change to prove them wrong and surprise them with amazing service.
Just expect this customer to be more of the sceptical type. You’ll probably need to give him concrete proof that you resolved the problem once and for all. You’ll also want to check back few weeks later to make sure he’s not experiencing trouble again and just gave up on the product all together.
#3 The “f***ing” angry customers
Customers are usually more hesitant to write down swear words and most won’t take the time to *** part of the word. However you might receive rude message on text chat as well. The insults aren’t directed at you, it’s just a strong way to show how annoyed they are with the issue.
Just stay really polite on your side of the conversation. It’s usually okay to adopt a more casual style when chatting with someone, but we would advise that you stay rather formal is someone starts swearing. Just set the tone and stay really polite to remind them they are not talking to their old college pal.
#4 The “!!!???” angry customers
Punctuation is a really good way to communicate emotions when text chatting. As for the ALL CAPS complaint, you have to be careful not to confuse complaint and excitement here.
Multiple “!” at the end has just about the same meaning as capitalizing the whole sentence. You customer is probably angry typing on his keyboard wishing he could yell at you.
The use of multiple “?” has a slightly different meaning but it can be used to point out anger while asking a (often rhetorical) question. These questions can sometimes sound a little aggressive to the receiver. For example “Are you even trying to fix my problem?????” sound more aggressive than “Are you even trying to fix my problem?”. The second sounds colder, but also calmer.
As you probably can imagine, the “!!!!!????” combo doesn’t sound too good for you. This can represent surprise in a normal conversation but is usually a good sign that your customer is angry (and very annoyed). Just stay calm. The punctuation storm will eventually go away.
#5 The “ok.” angry customers
Did you ever received the dreaded “ok.” message? What’s wrong with it? I mean it’s just someone saying ok to you. And yet there’s this “.” and it changes everything.
I have to admit that this is a really tricky complaint to spot. I know some people who just like to write properly on chat and end their sentences with “.” as we all should. However one way to spot an angry period is to look at how long the sentence before it is. If someone is sending you short messages (3 words or less) and is ending all of them with “.” there’s a chance he’s mad at you.
You can’t really assume someone is angry, just take it as a warning and stay very positive to make sure your customer doesn’t turn into an “ALL CAPS” or “!!!!!?????” monster.
We listed 3 more angry customers types on our blog. Just click here to read the full post ☺ (we’re talking about Ben Wyatt, Larry/Gary and Tom)
