• Login
  • Status
  • Support
  • Partners
  • Pricing
  • Careers
  • ENLanguages
    • English
    • Deutsch
    • Français
    • 日本
    • 简体中文
    • العربية
    • 한국
    • Español
Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform
  • Customer Experience (CX) AI Platform×
  • Platform

      CXone Mpower Platform

      • Platform Overview

        Complete AI platform for customer service automation

      • Enlighten AI

        Powering smarter CX with AI-driven insights and automation.

      • Cloud Architecture

        Innovative cloud-native foundation to rapidly scale extraordinary CX

      • Dashboards & Reporting

        Gain a full operational picture of your contact center, with enhanced visualization of real-time and historical insights

      • Integrations

        Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

      • Trust & Compliance

        Securing your trust with every interaction

      Discover the full value of AI in customer service

      Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

      Calculate your savings

    • Products
      • Explore all Products

      • Capabilities

      • Interaction Orchestration

        Interaction Orchestration

        Orchestrate all interactions and workflows across every customer service touchpoint.

        Learn more

        • Omnichannel Routing

          Reduce wait times and boost conversions with smart customer-agent matching.

        • Proactive Engagement

          Generate more revenue, minimize hang-ups, and proactively connect to reduce friction.

        • AI Orchestrator

          Unify and optimize every customer service workflow from intent to fulfillment.

      • Workforce Augmentation

        Workforce Augmentation

        Amplify team performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        Learn more

        • Specialized AI Copilots

          Elevate human performance with specialized AI copilots for every role.

        • Workforce Engagement Management

          Elevate employees, adapt to flexible work, and meet expectations - without compromise.

        • Automated Agent Notetaking

          Instantly summarize interactions - accelerating resolution times and agent efficiency.

        • Voice of the Customer

          Unlock customer insights to enhance experiences, drive loyalty, and boost business growth.

        • Interaction Analytics

          Gain AI-powered insights from 100% of interactions to drive continuous improvement.

      • Service Automation

        Service Automation

        Automated customer self-service solutions increasing retention rates.

        View Products

        • Intelligent Virtual Agent

          Boost self-service satisfaction and conversion with conversational AI agents.

        • Experience Optimization (XO)

          Synthesize real customer conversations to identify your top automation opportunities.

        • Proactive AI Agent

          Keep customers engaged in conversation from onboarding to installation, service, and retention.

        • Knowledge Management

          Activate AI-powered enterprise knowledge to increase self-resolution rates and loyalty.


      • Solutions

      • By Industry

        By Industry

        • BPO

          Business Process Outsourcers

        • Financial Services

          Customer experiences that count

        • Government

          Elevate citizen trust

        • Healthcare

          Healthy patient experiences

        • Insurance

          Secure policyholder experiences

        • Retail

          Delight customers where they shop

        • Telecom

          CX for Telecommunications

        • Travel & Hospitality

          Boost traveler and guest loyalty

        Discover the full value of AI in customer service

        Understand the benefits and cost savings you can achieve by embracing AI, from automation to augmentation.

        Calculate your savings

      • By Business Initiative

        By Business Initiative

        • Grow Revenue

          Boost conversions and win rates to accelerate growth

        • Engage & Empower Employees

          Create a workplace of truly engaged employees

        • Boost Customer Loyalty

          Improve customer loyalty on interactions across the journey

        • Drive Digital Transformation

          Integrate digital technology at the center of CX

        • Small and Medium Business

          Drive growth and boost revenue with smarter, cost-effective customer service built for SMBs.

        • Call Center Software

          Empower agents to provide better experiences

        • Increase Operational Efficiency

          Leverage AI and automation to increase agent retention

        • Move to the Cloud

          Elevate experiences by moving operations to the cloud

        • Improve Compliance

          Protect your consumers with pre-built compliance solutions

        • Proactive Customer Engagement

          Elevate customer satisfaction with proactive conversational AI

      • Integrations & Custom Solutions

        Integrations & Custom Solutions

        • CXexchange Marketplace

          Discover partner solutions to extend capabilities on our platform

        • Pre-Built Integrations

          Seamlessly connect your business systems with our platform

        • Developer Tools & APIs

          Endless customization options with RESTful APIs and robust SDKs

        • Partner Ecosystem

          Embark on a journey of shared success and collaboration

        91% of customers recommend NiCE as a preferred CCaaS vendor

        Gartner® named NiCE the only Customers’ Choice CCaaS vendor in its 2024 Peer Insights™ “Voice of the Customer for Contact Center as a Service” report.

        Get report


      • View All Products
    • Services
      • Explore all Services

      Professional Services

      • Professional Services

        Industry-leading expertise, tools and know-how

      • Implementation Partners

        NICE-certified implementation partners

      • Business Consulting

        Your partner for successful transformation

      Training

      • Contact Center Training

        Tailored education delivered by CX experts

      Support & Assistance

      • Customer Support

        Global support you can depend on

      Make the smartest buying decision with the latest Gartner analysis

      NiCE has been named a Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ Leader for Contact Center as a Service for the 10th consecutive year and is positioned furthest on Completeness of Vision.

      Get report

    • Resources

        Knowledge Base

        • All Resources

          Whitepapers, datasheets, demos and more

        • Analyst Perspectives

          Contact center reports from third party analysis

        • Terms Glossary

          Detailed descriptions of industry-related terms

        • FAQs

          Contact center focused frequently asked questions

        • Guides

          Expert insights for superior CX

        Learning & Insights

        • On-Demand Webinars

          Browse our extensive webinar catalog

        • Interactive Product Tours

          Explore the complete platform with our self-guided demos

        • Blog

          CX industry guidance by contact center experts

        • Why NiCE? Video Series

          Step Inside The Room Where It Happened to see CX AI in action

        • NiCE & Simple: Video Demo Series

          Brilliant, bite-sized videos from our top product pros

        Community

        • Events

          Upcoming events and webinars

        • Customer Stories

          Our customer's success is paramount. Read case studies about real CX transformation

        • NiCE Clubs

          Collaborate, learn, and share best practices for customer service excellence

        Join us at the Largest CX Event of the Year!

        Registration is open! Interactions 2025: June 16-18, 2025. Aria Hotel, Las Vegas

        Register now

      • Company

          Company

          • About Us

            Powering seamless cloud experiences

          • Investors

            Investors relations, reports and filings

          • Global Offices

            Interactive map of locations worldwide

          • Careers

            View job openings and learn about our culture

          • NiCE Leadership

            Meet our global leadership and executive team

          News & Media

          • Events

            Upcoming events and webinars

          • Press Releases

            Find the latest updates from NiCE

          • Media Center

            Media contacts and resources

          Corporate Governance

          • NiCE Trust Center

            Securing your trust with every interaction

          • Market Leadership

            Discover why NiCE is the market leader

          • Corporate Responsibility

            In a world where you can be anything, be NiCE

          Join us at the Largest CX Event of the Year!

          Registration is open! Interactions 2025: June 16-18, 2025. Aria Hotel, Las Vegas

          Register now

          • ENLanguages
            • English
            • Deutsch
            • Français
            • 日本
            • 简体中文
            • العربية
            • 한국
            • Español
          • Get Started
            • Login
            • Status
            • Support
            • Partners
            • Pricing
            • Careers

          Company

          • About Us
          • Careers
          • Global Leadership
          • Media Center
          • Investors
          • Awards
          • Global Office Locations
          • Contact Us
          • CCaaS
          • Customer Experience
          • NiCE Public Safety
          • NiCE Actimize
          • NiCE RPA

          Partners

          • NiCE Partners Overview
          • Developer Partners (DEVone)
          • CXone Mpower Partner Portal
          • NiCE Help Partner Portal
          • NiCE User Group

          Customer Support

          • Customer Support Overview
          • CXone Mpower Support Login
          • NiCE Customer Support
          © 2025 NiCE
          • Terms of Use
          • Site Map
          • Privacy Policy
          • Legal
          • Cookies Settings
          • Accessibility

          Stay Connected

          © 2025 NiCE

          3 Ways to Provide Success When Handling Rude Customer Interactions

          by Laura Bassett
          May 10, 2019
          Share

          As I searched for ways to discipline my accident-prone, very determined, yet very sensitive and sometimes diva-like 5-year-old daughter, I had a revelation: Dealing with rude customer interactions in the contact center can be similar to this challenge.

          As customers get more frustrated — whether it’s a product not working correctly, not reaching resolution, or any number of triggers — logic seems to exit the building. Emotions rise, and customers eventually want one thing: gratification.

          However, there are ways to help both sides of the interaction, agent and customers, and it starts with your response.

          Here are 3 ways to provide success in these types of contact center interactions:

          1) Don’t Try to Win

          Pick your battles and fight only what really matters — it’s not necessarily a fight for victory. Train your employees to expect the unexpected. Establish give and take with the customer, and use choices to keep emotions at bay.

          When your employees are prepared to handle these situations, either with scripting, pulling from previous experiences, or using role-play training, their responses will become more effective and address the situation in real-time, hopefully leading to efficient resolution. A negative or impulsive reaction quickly can impact the company’s overall reputation.

          It may feel like a power struggle with the customer. But before the struggle gets fully underway, act in a way to curb it. Take a deep breath. Then ask or suggest ways you could help.

          It’s important as an agent to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and detach from what may seem personal. Remember, the caller doesn’t know you, and he or she likely was cross before you answered the phone.

          2) Guide Rather Than Control

          Offering choices is a good way to guide the caller to resolution in a way that passes the control onto them and that possibly brings them back to a more logical, less emotional place. Think compromise and cooperate.

          With logical handling, both parties will know when the right resolution has been reached.

          Be sure your employees understand your guidelines for acceptable resolutions as well as their spheres of influence — and when the interaction may need to be escalated. Sometimes customers will ask to engage a manager, and the appropriate response should be to let them.

          3) Build Healthy Relationships

          Keep your relationship healthy. This kind of customer obviously is trying to get your attention, and he or she is trying to get you to engage. But remember: The customer’s motivation is desperation, not spite or malice.

          If an error has been made, then by all means apologize and explain the error. Your actions will set the tone for the ongoing relationship with this customer.

          Be aware that you can benefit the customer while being fair and true to your business. However, sometimes we have to know when to dig in our heels. When the customer needs clarification on a key issue, or needs correction about the situation, you need to help your agents understand how to convey their message and know they are empowered to have the right conversations and make decisions for the best experience.

          Ask yourself how you would like to be treated. Use this guideline to set the model for behavior.

          All of your customers deserve your best response. The faster the resolution, even in the most unpleasant circumstances, the better the outcome. The more proactive and pleasant your agents can be will help complete the interaction with both parties satisfied.

          Are you focused on customer experience? Do you have the right tools for optimal delivery?

          About the Author

          Laura Bassett

          See All Blogs

          Follow Us

          Follow us to get the latest news from your preferred Social Network

          linkedinlinkedinlinkedinlinkedin

          Popular Posts

          Woman on her phone, excited with the launch of NiCE New World

          June 3, 2025

          Welcome to a NiCE world

          Read
          9 ways to unlock scheduling flexibility and gamify shift management

          May 28, 2025

          9 ways to unlock scheduling flexibility and gamify shift management

          Read

          May 20, 2025

          10 NiCE Interactions experiences everyone will be talking about (And why you’ll want to be part of it)

          Read
          3 biggest takeaways on proactive engagement and the future of customer experience

          May 14, 2025

          3 biggest takeaways on proactive engagement and the future of customer experience

          Read

          May 7, 2025

          Behind the bang: How Future You got so dynamite

          Read

          More from the blog

          Woman on her phone, excited with the launch of NiCE New World
          AI

          Welcome to a NiCE world

          At NiCE, we believe great service doesn’t just happen, it’s something we create. Together. People and AI, united on one platform. That’s how we raise the bar for experiences every single day.

          June 3, 2025

          9 ways to unlock scheduling flexibility and gamify shift management
          Workforce Optimization

          9 ways to unlock scheduling flexibility and gamify shift management

          Agent satisfaction and retention remain a perennial issue in contact center and back-office environments.

          May 28, 2025

          AI

          10 NiCE Interactions experiences everyone will be talking about (And why you’ll want to be part of it)

          Know that feeling when you’re standing at the edge of something extraordinary, when the air floats with possibility?

          May 20, 2025