What would you do if an angry customer physically threatens or assaults you?

Delivering excellent customer service is the hallmark of a true customer service professional and can bring a sweet feeling of sensation, fulfillment and success when delivered, but what do you do when an irate customer becomes violent and threatens to beat you up?

If you're a business owner or service personnel, then you'd agree with me that we've all had to manage difficult customers at one point or the other. Customers do get upset at times but we must keep in mind that customer complaints also present sale opportunities. This is true for the average customer. Problematic customers on the other hand could be troublesome and sometimes violent. But how do you deal with assault?

Having done a reflection on the subject matter, some vital questions came to mind:

·         Is it right to call in the police on a customer who has turned violent knowing fully well that such customer could be lost forever by such action?

·         Would your response to threats, violence or assault from a high net worth customer be the same with that of an average customer?

·         Should an organization ever be comfortable losing any customer?

·         If it does, then at what point should an organization allow a customer to go, if any?

·         Would a customer threaten or assault a customer service officer without any provocation from the customer service officer?

-     Is the customer king no matter what?

My take on the matter:

I do believe that one would have to place a premium on how much he is willing to sacrifice to keep a customer. It is also a fact that organizations do deliver an over the bar service to high net worth and consistent customers while maintaining exceptional service to the average customer.

I once asked in a public discussion what people would do if they were punched in the face by an angry customer. Someone answered that he would gladly receive the punch for a million dollar worth of business.  I find it amusing how people would ordinarily be unwilling to receive a punch on face value but where there is a financial incentive, the reverse may just be the case.

So what am I trying to say here? He/she will have to consider the how much business is currently received from the customer, whether or not the customer is an instrumental part of the success of the business as well as the potential earnings from such customer and then decipher whether he/she is willing to accept the risk. A customer cost benefit analysis should be able to answer this.

Common sense however suggests that if the customer is violent then it is probably better to discontinue doing business with them. Tolerance is an essential part of customer service but where a customer poses a physical danger to service personnel and other customers then it is better to discontinue doing business with them. However, i do not believe that most conflicts would degenerate to this. Practicing emotional intelligence and exuding exceptional people and customer management skills can help resolve a lot of challenges currently faced in handling problematic people.

I’d like to hear other views on the matter. If you’re a front line staff or you do deliver customer service, then please share your thoughts.

Valentine Okolo