Dealing with angry or difficult customers is a hard task.
When faced with a venting customer, it’s good to remember that such disproportionate anger is unlikely to be about you. What’s more likely is that something else is going on in their lives which is contributing to the outburst.
Whatever the reason, it’s still tough to find yourself on the receiving end.
Even when you know it’s not personal it can be a confronting and overwhelming experience.
Try to keep your cool. When someone is directing anger toward you, it’s natural for your fight or flight response to be activated.
You might feel a surge of adrenaline and your instinct may be to get defensive or go on the attack.
Instead take deep breaths, slow down your speech and try not to raise your voice. If you can, be ultra polite.
This can diffuse the situation. It's harder for a person to maintain anger or be unreasonable in the face of a calm, level, courteous response.
From a practical point of view, it can help to have a prepared exit strategy you can use in these situations if it gets too much.