Recently we had a customer lose their cool entirely. 
They were yelling at the top of their lungs – expletives every 4th word.

They did not want to wear a mask. (there is a bit longer story but you get the gist)
It was rattling to see and hear someone coming totally unglued.

So a couple of managers worked, as gently as they could, to get this person out of the store but it was obviously going to take a while.

And for those of us not directly involved there was this kind of magnetism to take in the spectacle of it all.
Yet there was a very important part we needed to play and it wasn’t standing around watching.
We needed to get with our staff, turn their attention away from the incident and get them walking the aisles, connecting with customers.
We asked them to be warm and reassuring. Let customers know that the situation is being handled and we are sorry for the disruption. 
Tell them the location in the store where the disruption is taking place so they can stay clear.
Ask customers if there is anything we can help them find.
Customer service is not just carrying out people’s water jugs. It needs to be interwoven in all aspects of the store, even challenging situations such as this.

What really helps and calms the situation is the considerate reassurance of a confident staff member who has shown enough caring to make contact and check in with customers.
With challenging situations like this we need to step forward and control the space and vibration of our co-op.
This is not a time for us to be taken off guard standing still, shocked and dismayed at the show.
It’s a time to claim our authority at our co-op and bring forward our service ability to provide calmness and security within our co-op walls.
Yes, these incidents will happen; however, it is up to us to set the stage of how they will be experienced by our customers.
What do customers remember from that day?
Yes the yelling, much more though was the caring and leadership.
Staff too.