How a business handles customer service interactions increasingly defines its online reputation, yet, according to our recent survey that gives a list of the best and worst customer service brands, many are still getting it wrong. Brand reputation and online image can draw new customers or deter them, therefore we all need to be asking, “how do we get customer service right?”

Most of us think great marketing is all about closing the deal, but what if telling people they don’t have to buy is the real secret? Maybe you’ve experienced this too, that moment when someone shares an idea that feels so against your instincts, you want to reject it outright. That’s what happened when my friend, behavioral scientist Nancy Harhut, introduced me to her counterintuitive marketing strategies last year at SXSW.

If you’ve ever worked the front lines, where you’re directly dealing with customers, you know that sometimes, a customer can’t be satisfied. It’s always a challenge dealing with a difficult customer, but many times, companies have hard and fast rules for how to engage with these customers, leaving employees in the position of facing anger, frustration, yelling, and even sometimes rage.