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John Watson
MT302 Organizational Behavior
Unit Five: Case Incident 2
Abusive customers cause emotions to run high
July 10, 2009





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Abusive Customers Cause Emotions to Run High

1. From an emotional labor perspective, how does dealing with an abusive customer lead
to stress and burnout?
What is the emotional labor perspective? To summarize the deIinition Iound in
the book Organizational Behavior, it is when employees must execute the expectations oI
their organization through their emotions and interact it with their interpersonal
environment at work. The challenge here as the book puts it," Is when employees have to
project one emotion while simultaneously Ieeling another." The book goes on to say,
"This disparity is called emotional dissonance and can take a toll on employees"(Robbins
& Judge, 2007 p.274).
In the case oI dealing with an abusive customer, it could lead an employee to Ieel
stress by having their Ielt emotions compromised by their displayed emotions and this
could lead them to burn out iI they have no outlet. Most common stress relievers are
exercising, talking to a Iriend or doctor, and good sleep.
Furthermore, it should be an employee's skill and ability to learn emotional
intelligence while not taking their customers seriously while using their emotional
intelligence to deal with abusive customers and realize it is their proIession and career.
Through developing this emotional intelligence when dealing with abusive customers an
employee would strengthen themselves by having the protection while not being aIIected
by customer's negative emotions. They would be above the situation. This will eliminate
burnouts and minimize stress.
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Since we are all humans and you cannot divorce emotions Irom ourselves as well
as the workIorce, we experience stress every now and then, no matter how thick our skin
is. It is important then to know what helps you in relieving this stress. As a customer
representative in case incident 2, their customers have never met them and have no
knowledge oI them. Customer representatives should Iirst let their words go and deal
with them proIessionally.

2. II you were a recruiter Ior a customer-service call center, what personality types would
you preIer to hire and why? In other words, what individual diIIerences are likely to
aIIect whether an employee can handle customer abuse on a day-to-day basis?
Finding the correct person Ior the right job position can be easier than it may
appear on one condition, that the person who is applying Ior a customer service position
is honest and truthIul. II they were not, it would surely show in their work perIormance
immediately. What I am getting at is careers Ior ENFJ personality types. This is one oI
the sixteen personality types based on well-known research oI Carl Jung, Katharine C.
Briggs, and Isabel Briggs Myers to assess people's personality types Irom extraverted to
introvert on whether or not they are meant Ior a particular job (Consulting, 2006).
The categories Ior personality types are:
1. Extraverted or Introverted
2. Sensing or Intuitive
3. Thinking or Feeling
4. Judging or Perceiving

From these Iour categories, results into the sixteen personality types and ENFJ are
"Mentors" oI these personality types, which are extraverted, Ieeling, and judging. ENFJ
individuals are suited Ior sales and customer service representatives. "They also thrive on
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guiding others; they Iocus on people, not things, not machines, not ideas, but people. As
leaders, they have phenomenal interpersonal skills, unique salesmanship abilities,
charisma, and are very good at persuading and manipulating others" as Career
Planner.com says (CAREERPLANNER.COM, 2009).
ThereIore, as a recruiter having the applicants take the Myers- Briggs Type
Indicator Test will indicate iI they are qualiIied to withstand customer abuse on a day-to-
day basis.
Although this is just a questionnaire test, there are other Iactors involved in
determining individual diIIerences that aIIect how they handle customer abuse.
Upbringing and shaping may have developed an individual to have the social skills to
deal with abusive people, emotional intelligence and other job experiences may
contribute to these diIIerences as well.

3. Emotional Intelligence is one`s ability to detect and to manage emotional cues and
inIormation. How might emotional intelligence play a role in responding to abusive
customers? What Iacets oI emotional intelligence might employees possess who are able
to handle abusive customers?

Emotional Intelligence mentioned above in the Iirst question discusses on the
surIace that dealing with abusive customers should use EI. Here I would like to elaborate
Iurther using the Iive dimensions Iound in research to explain how it plays a role in as
well as what Iacets oI EI might employees posses in responding to abusive customers.
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The role and Iacets in which emotional intelligence plays in dealing with abusive
customers may Iirst Iollow the Iact oI being aware oI what you are Ieeling. As brought up
earlier this is when you align your inner emotions and Ieelings with your displayed ones
that are expected oI you at work. In this sense, you are able to have the ability to manage
your own emotions and impulses as to deal with abusive customers more readily
(Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 278).
Within EI, one would also need the ability to persist in the Iace oI setbacks and
Iailures because we are all not perIect individuals, every customer service event may be
dealing with diIIerent people taking a swing at you. A person may tend to get oII track
every now and then. ThereIore, by Iiring back at them would be considered a Iailure and
setback however, one must persist (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 278).
The real intelligence here is having the ability to sense how the other is Ieeling.
By showing ones, empathy to the customer, ones compassion and understanding, to help
them, may create a better relationship out oI that business transaction (Robbins & Judge,
2007 p. 278).
This leads us to the IiIth dimension social skills, in which to have the ability to
handle the emotions oI others. This dimension may not be able to be achieve were not Ior
empathy since we must Iirst understand and sense what perspective or attitude a person is
coming Irom (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 278).

4. What steps should companies take to ensure that their employees are not the victims oI
customer abuse? Should companies allow a certain degree oI abuse iI the abuse results in
satisIied customers and perhaps greater proIit? What are the ethical implications oI this?
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To ensure that employees are not the victim oI customer abuse the supervisor
should play a role consistently to check on how the employees are doing, being attentive
to them, and acknowledging them Ior their work.
Creativity is one way that can increase ones good mood. It is stated, "Supervisors
should actively try to keep employees happy because this will create more good moods
and make them perIorm better"(Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 282). It also states, "That
employees like their leaders to encourage them and provide positive Ieedback on a job
well done, which leads people to be more creative"(Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 278).
Another way a company can ensure that their employees are not the victims oI
customer abuse is by managers showing Iunny video clips, giving employees a bag oI
candy or a pleasant beverage. Companies can also use humor and give small tokens oI
appreciation Ior a job well done (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p. 285,286).
Should companies allow a certain degree oI abuse iI the abuse results in satisIied
customers and perhaps greater proIit? Yes! The ethical implication oI this is "A typical
dissatisIied customer will tell an average oI 14 others about a bad experience while she
will tell only six about a satisIying experience with an organization"(SCIBD, n.d. p.15).
In addition, in this competitive market, especially the ones who are maturing and
witnessing slow or no growth it is more proIitable to Iocus on their existing customers.
Studies have shown that it costs 10-12 times more to attract new customer than to retain
an existing customer. ThereIore, Iocusing on a liIetime customer satisIying their needs
and wants are more important than trying to sell them products (SCIBD, n.d. p.4).
In the end,"70 oI customers who complain will do business with a company
again iI it quickly takes care oI a service problem." Lastly most loyal customers take the
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time to complain, this can improve the product or service that such mistakes do not
recur"(SCIBD, n.d. p.15).

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ReIerences

CAREERPLANNER.COM (2009). |Description oI Personality Type: "ENFJ.|.. Retrieved July
11, 2009, Irom http://www.careerplanner.com/MB2/PersonalityType-ENFJ.cIm
Consulting, B. (2006). Careers for ENFJ Personality Types|Electronic version| Retrieved July
11, 2009, Irom http://www.personalitypage.com/ENFJcar.html
Robbins, S.P., & Judge, T.A. (2007). Organi:ational Behavior(12th. ed.).Prentice Hall.
SCIBD (n.d.). |Customer Relationship Management.|., 255. Retrieved 7/12/09, Irom
http://www.scribd.com/doc/7008217/Customer-Relationship-Management