Selling to Nasty Customers

I know my title was a little extreme, but I think an important aspect of selling is how to deal with difficult customers when you still depend on them, not only for their potential monetary contribution, but also their potential impact on your reputation. I can think of plenty of situations when I had to deal with difficult people, but one that comes to mind is a table I served to towards the end of this past summer. I walked up to the table, greeted by a very friendly family – a middle-aged couple, a grandpa, and the couple’s young adult son. When they went around the table ordering drinks, it was the son’s turn to order and he asked if he was able to order a drink even though he didn’t have his ID on him, but explained that if not, he would just take a water. Even though I knew our rule at the restaurant was pretty clear, out of respect, I told him I would ask the manager if a picture would suffice. I went back to tell him, unfortunately, he could not order a drink, and was surprised to watch his “very friendly” dad turn pretty aggressive very quickly. Each time I went back to the table, I was met by a friendly mom… friendly son… friendly grandpa… and a very enraged dad who would either make a sarcastic remark about me or glare me down. My point to this story is not to talk about how ridiculous people can be, even though that is a very prevalent factor in the story. But instead, despite my extreme impulse to give the nasty glare straight back, I got my frustration out when talking to the staff, and then walked back to the table with a smile each time. Towards the end of the family’s time there, I expected to see a big, fat 0 on the tip line. However, when I took the check over, the woman grabbed it out of my hand before her husband gave it to me, and I saw later that she had tipped me almost 50% on their very expensive bill. All of this story comes to say that, while it is not a promise that you will be rewarded for kind behavior when dealing with frustrating people, it can sometimes come with a surprising reward on the back end of it. In addition, selling with a smile, even when dealing with difficulties (whether that’s the situational factors or the people involved), builds your patience, your endurance for those situations, and also your reputation from both workers and customers. In one article called How to Deal with Difficult Customers in Sales, it goes through 6 ways to navigate hard situations; #5 spoke to me most, which says, “Don’t Argue – Ever.” My natural instinct wanted to fight back against the man, or really all frustrating customers I’ve dealt with, and treat them the way I was treated, but keeping professionalism is not only a good thing to do, but essential if you want to succeed in sales. Dealing with difficult people is ineivitable in any job, but can heavily dictate how you do in the field of sales.

Citation:

“How to Deal with Difficult Customers in Sales.” Sales Insights Lab, salesinsightslab.com/difficult-customers-in-sales/. Accessed 28 Jan. 2026.