How to Practice Patience in Customer Service

When agents fail to practice patience, things can go downhill fast! Misunderstandings happen and people get angry. One bad call can even damage your brand’s reputation!

So really, it’s imperative that your agents can keep a cool head, while also protecting their own mental health, for the greatest good of the company.

That’s why we’ve pulled together these practical techniques and training exercises to help your agents respond well under pressure, alongside top tips on how to remove common barriers that can make practicing patience near impossible.

10 Ways to Practice Patience in Customer Service

Agents need both in-the-moment strategies and long-term training techniques to master patience. Here are some effective methods you can try:

1. Having a Go-To Mantra

Repeating a simple affirmation (e.g., “Stay calm, stay professional”) can help agents regain composure in tough interactions.

You could even set this as a screensaver or put posters around the contact centre as a helpful visual reminder.

2. Using the Mute Button Strategically

If needed, briefly muting the line can give agents a moment to collect themselves without the customer noticing.

3. Visualizing Success

Before engaging with a challenging customer, encourage agents to picture a positive outcome to set the right mindset.

4. Pausing Before Responding

A short pause prevents knee-jerk reactions and allows for a thoughtful, measured reply.

5. Taking Deep Breaths

A simple exercise (e.g., inhale for four seconds, hold for four, exhale for four, for example) can defuse the immediate stress of the situation and refocus the mind.

6. Using Empathetic Phrasing

Phrases like “I completely understand why this is frustrating for you” help de-escalate tension and foster connection.

If you are looking for more empathy statements that can be used in customer conversations, read our article: Empathy Statements for Customer Service With Examples

7. Practicing Active Listening

Fully concentrate on what the customer is saying without interrupting. Repeat key points to confirm understanding.

8. Keeping a Neutral Tone

Even in tense situations, maintaining a calm, steady voice can prevent the situation from escalating.

For advice on the impact of tone of voice in customer interactions, read our article: How to Utilize Tone of Voice in the Contact Centre

9. Reframing the Interaction

Encourage your agents to reframe interactions that test their patience.

For example, instead of viewing a difficult customer as a problem, see them as an opportunity or even a fun challenge to turn the situation around.

10. Asking for Help

If frustration builds up, agents should feel empowered to escalate the call or consult a supervisor for guidance.

Agent Training Exercises for Practicing Patience

Have you ever thought about training your agents through role-play?

Here are three of our favourite ways to help boost your agents’ patience, by helping them test out their strategies in a friendly environment.

Training Exercise 1: The “Worst Customer Ever” Challenge

The “Worst Customer Ever” Challenge is a valuable training exercise that prepares customer service agents for difficult interactions.

Agents create an exaggerated, extreme customer persona – someone overly demanding, rude, or unreasonable – designed to push every button. They then brainstorm strategies for professionally defusing the situation.

This challenge helps them develop on-the-spot thinking, build a repertoire of responses for challenging situations, and increase confidence in handling high-stress interactions.

With these “worst-case” scenarios at the ready, agents learn transferable skills applicable to real-world customer interactions, making them more adaptable and prepared for any situation.

Training Exercise 2: The “Patience Under Pressure” Drill

In this drill, an agent is put into a simulated scenario where the customer repeatedly interrupts or talks over them.

The goal is for the agent to maintain patience, stay focused, and still find ways to effectively manage the conversation.

Through this exercise, agents learn how to redirect the conversation, assert control in a polite and professional manner, and remain calm, no matter how challenging the customer becomes.

Practicing patience in this way and envisioning the absolute worst-case scenario builds emotional resilience and gives agents the tools to stay composed if and when similar, real-world situations come to pass.

Training Exercise 3: The “Escalation Ladder” Exercise

The Escalation Ladder Exercise is a training tool to help customer service agents develop patience in progressively challenging scenarios.

In this exercise, agents are presented with a series of escalating customer frustrations (let’s give them a rating of 1–5, too).

The first stage might involve a mildly annoyed customer, while later stages introduce more intense complaints, rudeness, or even aggression – while the fifth stage would be intense, nuclear levels from the customer (see the “worst customer ever” exercise above).

This helps them build confidence in handling high-stress situations, teaches the importance of remaining calm under pressure, and enables them to identify when a situation requires de-escalation techniques, or another approach.

For more great training exercises you can use in your call centre to improve agent performance, read our article: How to Use Mock Calls to Improve Agent Performance – With Free Exercises

Printable – 3 Agent Training Exercises for Practicing Patience

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Barriers to Patience and How to Remove Them

Even the most patient folks have their limits – especially when they feel compromised by awful systems and frustrating processes.

So, also be sure to fix these underlying problems too, as it’ll be far easier for agents to keep their cool when there’s nothing else getting in their way.

Do these issues need fixing in your contact centre?

Inefficient Processes

The Problem

Slow systems, unclear policies, and outdated tools can frustrate agents and make customers impatient too.

To find out what the experts think are the classic broken processes to look out for and signs to spot them, read our article: Key Signs of Broken Processes (and How to Fix Them)

High Workload & Burnout

The Problem

Overworked agents have less emotional bandwidth, making it harder to exercise patience.

For top tips and advice on reducing absence, agent burnout, and attrition, read our article: Tackle the 3 A’s – Absence, Agent Burnout, and Attrition

Lack of Regular Training

The Problem

Agents who don’t know how to handle difficult customers are more likely to lose patience.

Unrealistic Customer Expectations

The Problem

Customers who expect instant solutions can test an agent’s patience.

If you are looking for information on how to set customer expectations during a call, read our article: How to Set the Right Expectations on a Call

Negative Work Environment

The Problem

A toxic or unsupportive workplace makes it harder for agents to maintain a positive, patient demeanour.

For advice to help you to understand the different types of toxicity and give you some actionable steps, read our article: How to Identify and Manage Toxic Employees

Help Your Agents Use These Techniques Today

Achieving a patient customer service environment requires a mixture of quick fixes and long-term work.

You can tackle common problems right away, then build on that with structured training programmes to really develop those skills.

So, why not start helping your agents use these techniques today and see the difference they can make?

If you are looking for more information and advice on improving your customer service interactions, read these articles next:

• The 5-Star Customer Service Skills Your Team Really Need
• 5 Soft Skills Every Agent Needs Before Taking Their First Call
• How to Develop Empathy as a Skill in Your Frontline Teams

Reviewed by: Megan Jones