A day in the life of a business person can be filled with joy and satisfaction or it can be frustrating and stressful. When things go wrong, some people lose control. Holding emotions in check and reacting professionally under fire are not always easy. It is particularly difficult to be nice to people who are not being nice to you.

So what do you do to keep your cool when the customer is chewing you out? Most of the time, it is not even your fault. It could be that the problem was with a product or a service delivered by someone else in your organization. You’re getting the blame because the unhappy person found you first, and it’s not pleasant. When faced with angry people, there are four key steps that will help diffuse the situation.

Step one is to apologize. “But,” you say, “it’s not my fault.” It doesn’t matter who’s to blame; apologize anyway. As a representative of your company you have a responsibility to see that things go well. Your willingness to be accountable will have a positive effect. After all, it takes two to have an argument. If one of you refuses to be disagreeable you can’t have a disagreement. You are not accepting blame-you are simply saying, “I’m sorry about the problem.” You are wasting your breath unless you apologize with complete sincerity so be sure that your tone of voice matches your words.

Step two is to sympathize with the irate customer. Let the person know that you can identify with his feelings. Say that you understand the frustration of receiving a faulty product or poor service. The angry person begins to feel better as soon as his reaction is validated.

Step three is to accept responsibility for the situation. Be accountable to the customer. Let him know that you intend to do whatever it takes to make things right. You can’t help what has already happened, but you will come up with a solution to the problem or you will find someone who can.

The last step is to take action. Decide what you can do and tell the customer. You will replace the defective or incorrect product as quickly as possible. If the issue was poor service deliver better service. Whenever you can offer a bonus of some sort or waive fees, the tiger before you is transformed into a pussycat.

Use the acronym “ASAP” to remember these four steps for calming upset customers. Each letter stands for part of the process.

A is “apologize.”

S represents “sympathize.”

A stands for “accept responsibility.”

P means “prepare to take action.”

Nothing will be solved by becoming argumentative and reactionary. Instead, diffuse the client’s anger by being apologetic and sympathetic and focus on positive steps that will resolve the situation. Before you know it, your adversaries will become your allies.

Oh yes, remember to smile. It will make everyone feel better and behave better.

(c) 2005, Lydia Ramsey. All rights in all media reserved. Please reprint article with by-line intact and all links made live.

You would think corporations have enough to concern themselves about without also taking on the commute of their employees. How far someone lives from work should certainly be his or her own concern, shouldn’t it? Or should it?

Over the years, studies and interviews have shown that the long distance commute has had adverse effects on the worker and work production. After 40 or 50 minutes on the road, the need to resist a break to relax and recoup is strong. Some people even plan on getting to work early so they can have time to reenergize before they begin the work day. There is no doubt that long commutes have adverse effects on work production throughout the day.

Still, why should corporations care? Because the loss of revenue creeps into the millions of dollars. Because making decisions when chronic fatigue has set in can have devastating effects. Because the accident rate increases significantly. Because absenteeism, health problems, relationship problems all have a major effect on the bottom line.

Corporations should care because the way to make money is to have well-oiled parts, both mechanical and human. From top to bottom, the employee who functions well, who makes good decisions, who produces outstanding work, is the employee who moves the company forward. And the employee who has difficulty in functioning, making poor decisions, producing poor work, is the employee who is causing the company to stumble on its march to excellence. And the road-weary employee can easily be the one having difficulty.

What’s a company to do? There are a number of things, both big and small that will that will ease the employee’s commute and have beneficial side effects for the company as well. There are services aimed at providing companies with tools to help their workers with the commute (for a list, visit our website at Commuter-Assist.com).

Asking your employees what is needed or how you can help, will not only score big points among employees, but it will also increase performance and productivity. And for people wishing to achieve balance and success in your life, there are ways to get through and turn around anything in your life that is not in balance.