Wouldn’t it be great if every live chat you engaged in was a happy, positive experience? It’s true that at least 95% of them are...perhaps even 99%. But once in a while, you will encounter a difficult customer who seems determined to cause trouble.

Don’t worry, though; this is just another aspect of life as a live chat agent. You simply need to learn how to deal with problem visitors the right way. Then you can take even the most challenging of customers in your stride and get a result that’s right for everyone. 

Of course, nobody wants to deal with tricky individuals if this can be avoided. So the first step is to do all you can to minimize friction during your live chats. 

Customer friction is anything that creates hesitation or disrupts your customer experience. It may cause customers to feel frustrated, stressed, or angry. There are many different ways customers can experience friction in their journey, including:

Here are few ways you can minimize friction throughout all three stages:

It’s always a good idea to imagine what it would be like to be on the other side of the conversation. If you were the customer, how would you feel at this point? What can you do or say to keep everyone calm and happy?

It’s always best to anticipate a problem and resolve it before the issue even arises. You will find this so much easier than trying to fix a problem once it has reared its ugly head.

It’s hard to be rude to someone who is being friendly and polite to you. So always remember to go the extra mile and treat every visitor with respect. As we’ve discussed in previous lessons, simple things make a difference...so be sure to:

Invest some time and effort into improving your chats now, and you will reap the dividends later. You will avert problems before they arise, meaning you will rarely have to deal with difficult customers.

Most companies already have customer service guidelines that explain how to deal with awkward situations. Ensure that you are up to speed with how this works in your company, plus the procedures you should follow.

These guidelines have usually been thoroughly tested in the real world, so they are proven to work. So don’t try to reinvent the wheel...just follow the system step by step.