Dealing with aggressive and abusive customers can be a nightmare for all customer service workers, but there is new training which can help employers to help their staff.
According to Nathan McDonald, the founder of Resolution Education, a hostility epidemic has spread into retail and other sectors and employers should be mindful of their staff.
“It’s no longer just police and emergency workers who have to deal with danger – aggression is becoming an everyday reality in many more workplaces,” McDonald said.
“Everyone has the right to feel safe at work but a recent survey of retail, fast food and warehouse workers showed more than 85 per cent were verbally abused and 14 per cent had been physically attacked by a customer.
“The retail rage over plastic bags should not have left supermarket staff in fear.”
McDonald has developed conflict avoidance training, which can be tailored to suit business or industry requirements.
“There are simple steps everyone can take to stay safe on the job,” he said.
“The best way to deal with physical confrontation is to avoid it in the first place. Learning to manage aggressive or agitated customers and clients can also help you deal with road rage incidents and other heated situations. Our programs teach people how to handle all sorts of unsafe situations from angry customers to hostile colleagues, even the walk to your car in the dark after a long shift.”
McDonald urged employers to help staff provide the best possible customer service in good times and bad.
“Our conflict avoidance training is fun and effective because it’s designed for real life situations, when cool heads are needed to protect your staff and your business reputation.”
McDonald is hosting conflict resolution courses in Brisbane and Sydney in October, search Resolution Education for more information.