"I always take time to listen to the customer's needs. When I offer a service, and the customer turns it down, I get creative. I might talk to a co-worker or a manager to come up with another solution if I have tried everything I can think of. I have also been able to negotiate at times to give them something that I generally couldn't offer others."

"It can be difficult to determine what a difficult customer wants. Often the basis for frustration is due to ineffective communication, especially when a customer has trouble expressing their needs, or asking for what they want. Listening, mirroring, and empathizing goes a long way. Beyond that, I like to ask them what I can do to make them happy. The beginning of the bargaining process. If their expectations are unrealistic, I'll compromise and let them know what I can do for them, emphasizing again my understanding of their expectations. More often than not, this does the trick."

Your aim is to show how you overcome a challenge or adversity. Attitude is everything here. Convey how well you work under pressure. Some customers take going above and beyond to a whole new level! Picture shopping in a retail store with the sales associate running around trying everything they can to help a customer who can't decide. Or maybe a customer called you with a complaint about their credit card and you did everything you could to resolve the issue, even offering them additional perks, but they still weren't happy. These are the situations that will test your patience and your sanity!

You are looking to connect with your interviewer on this point. A meeting of the minds is the end goal. Reaching a communal understanding with them can be easily attained by demonstrating a meeting of the minds between you and the customer in your example.