Dealing with Customer Attitudes

A customer is angry, then threatens to leave a negative review—how do you handle it?  

Liisa Andreassen 

We’ve all dealt with them: clients with an attitude problem, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. How do you handle these customers? We’ll look at different scenarios and share ideas for how you can best equip employees to maintain professionalism while ensuring their mental health stays positive, too. 

EDUCATION AND EXPECTATIONS 

Aaron Veal, owner/operator of Phoenix Pest Control in Alcoa, Tennessee, says when a customer is unhappy, it’s rarely about the bugs. Most times it’s about lack of education and unrealistic expectations.  

“When that happens, it’s on us, and we need to revisit what we’re doing,” he says. “There’s a lot of mistrust out there right now. Education typically works—whether verbally or through video—or both. If they still don’t get it, it’s probably time to let it go and move on.”  

One customer told Veal that she didn’t want to see any dead bugs outside—ever.  

“That’s just not going to happen,” Veal says. “Don’t pretend that it will. Just tell the truth, give them the facts, and work together. If possible, coach them to a more realistic goal. Once the customer understands what’s realistic and what’s not, they’ll often take the company’s lead.” 

Opportunities like this are the ideal time to educate customers and explain expectations. Quite often, these unreasonable requests can turn into wins for both the customer and the business. How? Veal provided the following scenario: 

Mr. Jones: Hello. Can you please come out and treat my shed so no more bugs will get in?  

Pest control tech: Thanks for calling. I’d like to come out and see what we can do to help. What’s a good time?  

Mr. Jones: Tomorrow at 10 a.m. 

Pest control tech: See you then.  

Mr. Jones: Nice to see you. Let me show you the shed. 

Pest control tech: Sure. I can treat it.   

Mr. Jones: Great.   

Pest control tech: OK. We’ve solved the problem for now, but it will likely be an ongoing process since the shed is not airtight like a house. It’s very likely the bugs will come back. If that’s not an expense you’re willing to take on, I’m happy to treat it for free today since it’s not something you really want to do long term. On the other hand, if you don’t mind the expense in exchange for the bug-free environment, we’re happy to do that, too. 

In this scenario, the problem is addressed first. Veal says that his overall company motto is “Shut up and fix it” since “customers don’t care about anything we say until their pain is gone.” Once the customer has been educated about expectations, the customer is in control. He can make the commitment to frequent treatments and agree to the cost, or he can be happy that the tech came out and did the treatment at no cost. More than likely, he will call the company again with future—and more realistic—pest control needs.    

Veal adds that while his company has not noticed a greater number of difficult customers, it has seen an uptick in the level of upset. He says that customers seem angrier, and their demands are more unreasonable. And this seems to be a growing trend.  

In Pennsylvania, D-Bug Pest Control serves the western part of the state, and Zak Lipniskis, director of operations, describes a recent customer who complained about a service she received that she felt was inadequate. She said she was going to contact the Better Business Bureau.  

“After speaking with the team member servicing this customer’s house, we found that she was upset over seeing a mouse three days after we started our initial treatment,” Lipniskis says. “As most pest control professionals know, rodent control takes more than three days. But no matter the case, a resolution was needed.”  

Management reached out to the customer, nicely explained the situation, and offered to personally come out, check on the issue, and install more bait stations. The customer obliged, was happy, and ended up leaving the company a five-star Google review.  

Christina Ritzer, founder and CEO of Ritzer’s ABC Pest Control, a northern Wisconsin-based company, agreed that impatience is a real issue. Again, resolving it is about education and setting expectations.  

“The ‘I want it right away or I will go elsewhere’ syndrome seems to be more prevalent these days,” she says. “We try to answer the phone in real time, and we are responsive. We might not be able to give them an appointment until next week, and they say they’ll keep looking. You need to explain that the techs take their time to do their jobs well, and this can’t be rushed.” 

DEALING WITH NEGATIVE REVIEWS  

In today’s age, social media is a huge factor in a business’ success. So, what do you do when a customer writes a negative Facebook post or Google review? Negative reviews can run a company into the ground, while positive reviews can make them thrive.  

All companies agree that the best way to handle negative reviews is to address them head on.  

“Throw every tool in your tool belt at the problem to help remedy the situation. Don’t give up,” Lipniskis says. “Ask them what it will take to get them to remove the bad review, and then do it. What’s the worst that can happen?”  

For example, in the past, a customer had a problem with bees, and the technician could not eliminate them. The customer called another company to fix the problem, and then he took to social media and complained about the “terrible tech.” As soon as the review came through, management called the customer and let him express his frustration.  

“We responded and explained that as a family company, we want everyone to be happy and asked how we could fix it like it never happened,” Lipniskis says. “The customer asked for his money back, and we wholeheartedly agreed. We then asked if he would take the bad review down; he was happy to do it.”   

At Phoenix Pest Control, Veal agrees you should never leave a bad review open-ended. “Find their name in the system, call them, and try to work it out,” he says. “Listen to them. Let them know that you understand their frustration and that you want to fix it. Good customer service goes a long way. It takes time to retain a customer, but it pays off in the long run.”  

Luckily, Ritzer’s has yet to see a bad review, but the company is being proactive about the situation to try and minimize the chance of one happening.  

“On one occasion a bad review was threatened. The customer was a lawyer, and our contract had some loose ends,” Ritzer says. “We ran interference and gave him a full refund in exchange for not writing a poor review. Since then, we’ve made a very clear and concise annual service contract agreement for our clients. They understand our plans for their property, and we encourage them to ask questions about the service, products, and staff.” 

FIVE WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR COMPANY AND EMPLOYEES  

1. Focus on training and hiring: While difficult customers will always be around, Lipniskis says he’s actually noticed a decrease in customer complaints over the last five years. He attributes that to better trained employees and to hiring staff who want to be there.   

“Often in a service industry, it’s not the business owner who treats a customer poorly or disrespectfully, but one of the team members who is not as caring or passionate as the owner,” he says. “So, when you treat your employees like they are more than just a number, they tend to care more about the business and not just the paycheck.” 

Veal subscribes to the same hiring philosophy and says that he tries to hire staff who are not just there for the paycheck. “I hire bug geeks,” he says. “I encourage staff to learn, get certifications, and to really understand what’s involved in the job. I have a library of resources at the office that includes books and videos, and staff is welcome to view any of it at any time—it’s an ongoing process.”