Polarization has become par for the course in the United States. It spreads across all facets of everyday life: social media, sports, politics, social justice, news, and even the virus itself. Very few aspects of our culture have been immune to the tidal wave of immoderation. 

Every business owner in America—and, for that matter, the world—has aggressively pivoted towards a safety-centric business model. While the health of your employees and patrons has been at the forefront of your agenda, your business stillhas a responsibility to maintain fiscal health, too. This requires (almost) never turning away a paying customer. 

With each American business confronting various degrees of noncompliance, disobedience, and outright irresponsible behavior from patrons—and sometimes employees—in regards to public health, business owners have been put squarely in the center of an unprecedented predicament without an obvious solution.

How do you assure your customers, employees, and even your own family that you are acting in the best interests of public health without completely alienating those with antithetical beliefs? Customers with whom you share fundamentally different ideologies are still your customers, and the same goes for your employees.

Health Comes First

When it comes down to it, your business’s commitment to upholding health and safety regulations is priority number one. Creating and maintaining an environment that is diligent in upholding safety protocols starts with you, but it takes a team to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Your employees can not afford to take a passive approach to combating COVID-19. In a survey done by Accenture, 82% of consumers were fearful for the health of others, as opposed to 64% that were fearful for their own health.

While brick-and-mortar establishments have the benefit of being able to heavily enforce safety rules and regulations, businesses that offer—or are exclusively limited to—field services have been forced to toe the line of overstepping boundaries. Your employees are required to wear masks when in a customer’s home, and you’ve required that customers reciprocate. But what happens when a customer does not oblige? 

After all, they’re in their own home. Does your employee feel obligated to continue servicing the customer, or have you afforded them the autonomy to refuse service? What happens when it’s not the customer, but your own employee ignoring protocols? While each customer and employee is unique in their methods and beliefs, your job is to lay out the ground rules for deeming what is acceptable while on the clock.  

Everyone has differing opinions on what they think is the “right thing” to do is right now. Disagreements will occur—it’s natural. But by doing our best to occasionally take a walk in someone else’s shoes, we can work together towards the common goal of safety. Including empathy in the core philosophy of your business plan isn’t just a suggestion anymore—it is imperative for you and your employees alike to understand that.

Remain Calm in Conflict

Everyone is subject to moments where stress gets the best of us—it’s a part of being human. Whether you have worked directly with customers or have simply been a bystander in a shopping centre, most people have encountered an unruly customer at some point. Before COVID, it was simply an annoyance. Customers—fairly or unfairly—would seemingly lose the ability to use their “inside voice” while hurling insults and vulgarity. Annoying, yes, but most likely not dangerous.

In today’s world, the routine rudeness towards those in customer service positions has escalated. With these professionals often tasked with policing the health and safety measures of their business, they are subject to the backlash coming from those who don’t feel as though public safety measures apply to them. The backlash becomes magnified when your employees have to police this behavior while in the confines of your customer’s home. 

Don’t forget—just because your employees are in charge of enforcing health and safety regulations does not mean they are perfect actors themselves. Be aware and in control of your employees behavior. Their nonchalance about mask-wearing will foster an unsafe environment, and it facilitates further unsafe behavior from the customers who are following their lead. It is up to you to ensure your employees are setting a good example.

This is all uncharted territory. Before 2020, the customer was always right, no matter what. But what happens when the customer is threatening the health of those around them rather than simply being argumentative about returning a pair of shoes? What happens when it’s your trusted employee of 10 years that is neglecting safety protocols?

• Be empathetic. Most people that are lashing out at you about safety protocols are handling their own frustrations and anxieties about the pandemic in a poor fashion. Oftentimes, they just want to feel heard. Reiterate that you value their business—or their contributions to your business—and simply want them to take part in safety measures for the betterment of everyone. Even when you don’t agree, express understanding.

• Keep Things Professional. While it is important to be assertive and firm, communicate in a manner that doesn’t resort to raised voices, personal insults, or otherwise unprofessional behavior. Sometimes, people are just seeking conflict for conflict’s sake—don’t indulge them.

• Work As A Team. As the owner or primary authority on staff, it may be in your best interest to step in during a confrontation with an unruly customer. While your employees should always be encouraged to ask for help, they may be less likely to do so in a situation like this. 
  
  Give your employees room to resolve the conflict themselves, but if the customer continues to unreasonably escalate the situation, it’s time for you to step in. If there is a scenario where a customer is attempting to hold an employee accountable to following safety standards, take time to pull them aside, address the issue, and reiterate what they can do better next time.

• Offer Solutions. During an altercation, it doesn’t always seem possible to find a reasonable solution. But when you’re able to focus the attention on the future rather than the initial problem, people are more likely to participate in the de-escalation process. Whether it’s providing a free mask or offering personalized attention, find ways to progress the conversation. 

• It’s Their Home, But It’s Your Health. If your business offers field services, your employees may feel a bit uncomfortable enforcing rules in someone’s home. It is important that you address this with both your employee and the customer in advance—laying out the ground rules will remove the ambiguity and awkwardness.
  
  Your employees and customers need to know when, and if, it is acceptable to refuse service. If your customer reports unsafe employee behavior, take immediate steps to confront that employee so that further issues do not arise.  

• Know When To Draw The Line. Just because you do everything right doesn’t always mean the other person will follow suit. If someone is endangering the health of you, your staff, and other customers, it may be time to remove them from the premises. This is a last resort saved for only the worst of the worst offenders. That being said, it’s important to know when this option must be utilized.
  
  While you’ll tolerate some heated vocabulary and minor non-safety related rule violations, the line is crossed when this person repeatedly refuses to wear a mask, social distance, or otherwise not follow public safety protocols.

Put The Situation In Perspective

It can be easy to let personal sentiments trickle into your professional life—especially when it relates to dealing with particularly difficult customers. The manner in which your employees respond to these challenges begins with you. As a business owner, your job is to cultivate an atmosphere that upholds a professional standard of service to every customer regardless of any personal disagreements that may exist. That being said, it is also important that you teach your employees where “the line” is, and what to do when a customer crosses it.

It can be awkward—at the very least—to address these issues with an uncooperative employee as opposed to a customer. Regardless if you’ve known them for 20 years or 2 months, they are people capable of spreading COVID-19 just like you and me. No one is exempt from the responsibility of maintaining public health, and it’s your job to have those uncomfortable conversations to ensure this stays true. 

In our increasingly polarized world, we encounter many people whose words leave us with nothing but an exasperated “Really? C’mon.” Being the bigger person is hard. But when your business—and public health—is at stake, being the bigger person is the only option there is.