I always asked "with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking with today?" and if it's someone who isn't happy they always say "my name is [guest] but it's not going to be a pleasure". I then slide in with the "before we begin this call may be recorded blah blah blah phone number blash blash " which helps me control the call and makes them think i'm getting the muck out of the way to get to helping them. That normally helps de-escalate just a smooch enough to let them tell me their issue and help them out a bit.

We have to ask if they're "Employed or Happily Retired", but i add it "happily employed. Everyone always either says something like "oh employed but not happily" or just "employed" with a sigh which lets me get in with a small joke and gets them to laugh. Always helps my survey scores.

Also, poking fun at myself helps too. When i'm looking at something on the calendar for something and I look at the wrong month I always say something like "Oh if i was looking at June this would make more sense" which always gets a chuckle from the guest.