Tell me about a time you handled a difficult customer

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Job Interview Question and Answer: “How Would You Deal With a Difficult Customer?”

The Reason Employers Ask This Question

If you are seeking a job in customer service, an interviewer may ask how you would handle interactions with angry patrons. They want to know if you can stay calm and professional in these moments and diffuse the situation to keep customers happy. Demonstrating proper conflict-resolution skills in your response can help employers see that you are the right person for the job.

Table of Contents Show

Job Interview Question and Answer: “How Would You Deal With a Difficult Customer?”
The Reason Employers Ask This Question
How to Give the Right Response to “What Do You Do When Customers Get Angry?”
Answers to Avoid for “How Do You Handle Difficult Customers?”
Example Responses
Stay Calm, Cool and Collected
Similar Questions Employers Will Ask
Example customer service questions:
Other Ways Interviewers Ask About Your Experience Dealing With Difficult Customers
Why Are Interviewers Interested In How You Deal With Difficult Customers?
Tips For Answering: ‘Tell Me About a Time You Had to Deal With a Difficult Customer’
STAR Interview Technique
Sample Answers To ‘Tell Me About a Time You Had to Deal With a Difficult Customer’
Question 1: How Do You Deal With Difficult Customers?
Question 2: What Does Great Customer Service Mean To You?
Question 3: Tell Me About A Time When You Turned An Unsatisfied Customer Into A Happy One
Common Job Interview Questions & Answers
How do you handle difficult customers best answer?

How to Give the Right Response to “What Do You Do When Customers Get Angry?”

When answering this question, describe the steps you take to resolve disagreements and conflicts in the workplace. Your actions may include:

De-escalation: Calming the customer down by assuring them that you will solve the problem.
Showing Empathy: Actively listening to customer complaints, taking responsibility, and apologizing for whatever upset them.
Creating Solutions: Offering suggestions on how you can improve the situation and make the customer happy.
Taking Corrective Action: Implementing a solution that will satisfy the customer while assuring them that you will do your best to prevent similar situations from happening in the future.

Talk about a situation at work, school, or in your personal life where you used these steps to resolve an issue or disagreement.

Answers to Avoid for “How Do You Handle Difficult Customers?”

Steer clear of vague statements like “The customer is always right.” Generic responses fail to reveal anything about your ability to handle conflict. Also, avoid giving examples where you placed blame on coworkers or argued with upset patrons. These types of answers show a lack of professionalism and could disqualify you from the position.

Example Responses

Your answer to “What do you do when customers get angry?” should show that you have a level head and can find solutions to difficult problems. The following sample answers can give you an idea of what a good response to this question should look like.

Sample Job 1- Fast Food Employee

“At my last job, a customer came into the restaurant and started yelling at me because her drive-thru order was incomplete. I quickly and sincerely apologized for the mistake and told her we would immediately get the rest of her order. In the meantime, the customer continued to vent about previous bad experiences they had had at our location.”

“I listened closely to what they said and assured the customer that I would talk to my supervisors about their complaints. I also offered them a coupon for their next visit. They seemed happy when they left, and my coworkers and I made an effort to start double-checking all orders before they went out.”

Sample Job 2- Sporting Goods Store Manager

“When I deal with upset customers, my main goal is to keep them calm while I resolve their issues. At past jobs, I have seen customers yell and knock over displays when they get angry, so I try to diffuse those situations before they get to that point. I apologize and tell them how I plan to resolve the problem quickly. I might also give them a coupon or store credit to put them in a better mood.”

Sample Job 3- Grocery Store Cashier

“I think solving their problem as quickly as possible is the best way to deal with an angry customer. A shopper once approached me and was upset that she couldn’t find an item she was looking for in our store. Another worker had told her what aisle she could find it in, but she hadn’t seen it there. I stopped what I was doing and walked with her to the correct aisle to show her exactly where the item was.”

“The fact that I took immediate steps to solve her problem seemed to make this customer relax. She apologized for her frustration and thanked me for taking the time to help her. Since then, I have always tried to show customers that I care about their concerns and am willing to help in any way I can.”

Stay Calm, Cool and Collected

Handling difficult customers can be a complicated and nerve-wracking experience. However, keeping a level head and approaching the issue calmly and professionally can help bring the situation to a happy conclusion. Impress your interviewers by using these tips and examples to explain your personal conflict-resolution techniques.

Example customer service questions:

Give me an example of a time when you resolved a difficult customer issue.
Tell me about a time when you ensured that a customer was pleased with your service.

Your answers should explain how you approach challenging situations with difficult customers, how you would deal with hypothetical customer service situations, and how you have dealt with difficult customers in the past. Interview questions about how you dealt with situations at work in the past are so-called behavioral interview questions. These questions require you to provide the interviewers with actual examples of your work experience.

In this blog, questions about dealing with difficult customers are discussed, and you can find out how you should answer them. If you want to learn more about customer service questions and answers, check our customer service Q&A page. Also, read more about frequently asked job interview questions here and check our job interview preparation checklist.

Other Ways Interviewers Ask About Your Experience Dealing With Difficult Customers

The interview question ‘how did you deal with a difficult customer to come to a successful resolution‘ belongs to the behavioral category of interview questions. But interviewers can also ask you the same question in a different way.

The interviewer may ask this conflict-related question in plenty of variations. A couple of them are listed below:

What actions did you take during your past jobs to handle challenging situations?
Give us an example where you solved a complicated problem at work.
Describe a situation with a difficult task at the workplace and how you handled that.
Can you tell us about a situation from your past experiences when you made a certain mistake and what you did to fix that?
Tell us about the time you led a project where there was conflict within a team.
Have you had any experience responding to unhappy customers?

These questions are closely related to adaptability job interview questions.

Why Are Interviewers Interested In How You Deal With Difficult Customers?

Every question in the job interview has a different purpose. The experts do not add random questions, small talks, or fillers to the interviews; they are just interested to know more about you. Their prime goal is to test your abilities to work on a specific profile. Therefore, you should know how to answer this question in the most effective manner.

Your answer will help the interviewer understand what kind of person you are and how you behave in complicated situations. You never know what kind of problem you may face during your job, especially when you have to deal with the customers in the market. Interviewers try to predict your behavior to angry or unhappy customers.

Learn everything you need to know about customer service interview questions and how to answer them.

Tips For Answering: ‘Tell Me About a Time You Had to Deal With a Difficult Customer’

While answering this question, you need to highlight three important things, such as your:

Behavior when under work pressure and your strategy to deal with tough situations.
Ability to respond to difficult customers in the right way.
Communication skills and your abilities to fit into the work environment.

It is smart to follow the STAR format to answer behavioral interview questions. STAR is an acronym that stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. This interview technique helps you to structure logical and concise answers that include all the relevant details to impress the interviewer the right way. Below we discuss the STAR interview technique in more detail.

STAR Interview Technique

Behavioral job interview questions are best answered by providing example situations according to the STAR method. This way, you can give interviewers exactly what they are looking for. Also, it allows you to provide a concise and to-the-point answer about how you acted in previous work situations.

Below, the STAR acronym is broken down into each step.

Situation

When you give your answer to the interviewer, start by setting the stage. Provide context around the situation or challenge you were facing. Also, make sure to provide relevant details.

Task

After you describe the situation, talk about your specific responsibilities and what your role was. It’s important that the interviewer gets an understanding of your task during that specific stressful situation.

Action

Then, talk about the actions you took to resolve the challenges you were facing while under stress. Provide the interviewer with a step-by-step description of what actions you took.

Result

Finally, talk about the outcomes of your actions. Make sure to take credit for your behavior that led to the result. Here you answer questions such as What happened? And What results did you get? Also, provide the interviewer with information about what you learned from the situation. Make sure to focus on positive results and positive learning experiences.

Sample Answers To ‘Tell Me About a Time You Had to Deal With a Difficult Customer’

Below we discuss a couple of frequently asked customer service interview questions and how to answer them. However, these answers are just examples. Make sure that you tailor your answers to the specific position and company where you’re applying for a job.

Question 1: How Do You Deal With Difficult Customers?

‘At my previous job, once a customer came yelling due to some trouble with her order. I knew she was frustrated, and instead of taking her words personally, I tried to ensure her that the issues would be processed by the team. I listened to all her problems patiently and apologized. She was basically making efforts to return an item without any receipt for the same.

I explained to her that we could not process the cash refund without getting the original receipt, but it is possible to give store credit of an equivalent amount. In this way, the problem ended in a win-win situation. After this, she became a loyal customer of the brand, and we also received a positive review from her online.’

Click here to learn how to answer job interview questions about the most popular job interview topics.

Why this is a strong answer:

The answer is honest, short, and concise. It gives the interviewer insights into a real-life situation about how you dealt with a difficult customer and more importantly, how you solved the situation.
This answer demonstrates that you’re determined to help customers while still following company protocol. It shows that you think in terms of solving customer service problems effectively and efficiently.
The answer has a positive outcome, which is great for making a good impression on an interviewer.

Question 2: What Does Great Customer Service Mean To You?

‘To me, great customer service means going above and beyond in order to meet and exceed customer expectations. It starts with identifying the issues of a customer through active listening and using in-depth knowledge of a company’s products or services to find effective and efficient solutions.

Excellent customer service is a top priority for any company, and it is essential to create loyal and returning customers. The ultimate goal is to give customers the best possible user experience with a product or service and build a positive reputation for the company.’

Why this is a strong answer:

The answer is short and concise. It gives the interviewer insights into your views on customer service.
Also, the answer gives the interviewer room to ask follow-up questions about why you think certain things are stated. Make sure to prepare for logical follow-up questions such as ‘tell me about a time you went above and beyond in order to meet and exceed customer expectations.‘
The answer shows that you understand customer service, that you’re determined to help customers, and that you think in terms of solving problems efficiently.

Question 3: Tell Me About A Time When You Turned An Unsatisfied Customer Into A Happy One

‘In my previous position, where I worked as a customer service representative, I had to solve a situation with an angry customer. The customer wanted to return an item bought in the store without a receipt. He demanded a full return but company policy only allowed me to offer him store credit or let him exchange the product.

The first important step I took in this situation was staying calm and making sure that he felt heard. I listened carefully to the customer and apologized for the inconvenience. By empathizing and reassuring them that I was there to support him and resolve the matter, the tensions calmed. I assisted him in the store in finding a similar product which he really appreciated. He told me he understood my position and was happy with the new product.’

Why this is a strong answer:

The answer demonstrates your creativity and conflict resolution skills to help solve an issue with a customer.
Also, the answer shows that you abide by the policies set by the company, which is very important in such situations.
The answer has a positive outcome, which is great for making a good impression on an interviewer.

Common Job Interview Questions & Answers

Below you can find a list of common job interview topics. Each link will direct you to an article regarding the specific topics that discuss commonly asked interview questions. Furthermore, each article discusses why the interviewer asks these questions and how you answer them!