We’ve all dealt with vendors like these: Folks who can’t be pleased, no matter what you try. But you often have no choice but to do business with them. Three sore spots — and soothing advice:

1. There are some vendors and customers out there who’ll never be happy, no matter what you do or say.  Accept that andmake it your goal to complete your transaction or iron out your problem.  This is no time for touchy-feely counseling. Take care of business and get on with the day.

2. When you call a vendor or distributor because of faulty goods, you may be met with a gruff, defensive response. Stick to the high road. Is it a technical fault or user error? Will the warranty cover it? Try to get the point across that you don’t hold the vendor personally responsible; mistakes happen, and you want to work together to fix it.

3. Another common situation is when signals get crossed. For some reason, either a staffer on your side or one of your vendor’s people is offended by the “attitude” they detected over the phone. While this is hard to substantiate, that doesn’t stop people from getting upset when it happens. Try to convince the riled-up staffer that communication confusion is common. Some folks come across as naturally pushy on the phone, others might dry and direct, which can be confused with uncommunicative. It’s best to put the frustration behind you and take care of business as quickly and dispassionately as possible.

In the best cases, it’s simply a matter of dealing with someone who’s in a bad mood or who’s having a bad day. When this is the case, your best strategy is to remain as polite and pleasant as possible, and then beat feet quickly. Keep the grumpiness contained to that one person — don’t give them the chance to spread it to you.

Bottom line: Deal with everyone in a consistent and business-like manner. But as a safety net, be sure to keep notes of your version of what took place during your conversation or transaction — just in case you need a little friendly help.

Tags: bad mood, distributor, faulty goods, transaction, vendor