No matter the issue, customers acting in a threatening manner towards your staff is never acceptable. It’s your job, as the employer, to keep your employees safe at their place of work – your petrol station.
In this article, we’ll go over a few ways that you can safeguard your employees from the threatening behaviour of customers, along with how to manage such situations.
Threatening Situations
So, what constitutes a threatening situation? Threatening situations usually involve an aggressive, erratic customer that makes staff feel concerned or afraid. Here are some threatening behaviours that a customer might show:
- Pointing at your employees
- Raising their voice
- Swearing
- Screaming
- Using verbal threats toward your staff
- Breaking physical items in your store
- Becoming physically aggressive with staff
Managing This Behaviour
At your petrol station, you probably already have a risk assessment procedure in place. A risk assessment procedure imagines all the potential situations an employee could find themselves in and how a customer might react. With these hypotheticals, you generate an employee response, so your staff aren’t left surprised amid a threatening situation.
In your risk assessment, make sure to:
- Write a policy on how to handle a myriad of events
- Implement the policy when those situations arise
- Train your staff on how to handle such situations
- Be flexible if members of your staff are non-confrontational, and consider moving more confident staff to the front of the store to deal with customers
- Be alert and make sure to have an emergency protocol in place as well
If a customer becomes verbally aggressive, it’s important to know how to de-escalate the situation. When a customer is angry, you should:
- Apologise for the inconvenience – this will make them feel seen and heard
- Empathise to let them know that you understand the frustration of the situation
- Paraphrase their words back to them, so they know you’re listening
Even if you disagree with the customer’s point of view, these steps are crucial in de-escalating a situation that could rise to something threatening.
Getting Through Tough Situations
If your staff have dealt with a threatening situation and need support, it’s a good idea to provide access to services such as counselling to help them recover.
ServoPro members can access staff training which includes units on how to deal with aggressive customers – ServoSkills. Members can also access a range of policies and procedures. For more information contact us.