At some point in your business, you might encounter unhappy clients or customers. It could be that a fault in your product or service was found, a mix-up took place or an unexpected misfortune occurred. Whether the concern was caused by internal or external factors, businesses have the responsibility to look into the complaint and even appease the customer.
Sometimes, the client may also be going through a rough patch and emotions may run high. You and your team must not take things personally and deal with the matter at hand with fairness and an open mind. Below are tips on the actions you can take when dealing with irate customers.
Understand the problem and the customer
In an emotionally-charged situation, it is important to keep everyone calm, especially the customer. First, listen attentively to the complaint and understand the problem. Allow the client to state what the concern is and repeat them to clarify. Ask questions to have a better picture of the scenario. Adjust your mindset and try to look at things from the perspective of the customer so you can sympathise with them. Remember that the consumer may be exasperated or frustrated, so make sure that you ease their minds and let them know that you’re there to help them.
Respond politely and explain thoroughly
No matter how angry a customer is, be polite as much as possible, unless the patron goes beyond the line. Be sincere in your response and state your explanations with composure. While you may have a customer service or staff receiving the complaint or attending to the customer, it may sometimes be helpful to have a manager step in. Be conscious of situations where the business owner has to interfere as it may bring positive results, but may also make matters worse.
Acknowledge any mistake and apologise humbly
Whether it was an unintentional error or a misunderstanding from the part of the customer, offer an apology for the stress the situation may have caused. If a mistake was done from anyone in the company, acknowledge it humbly.
Offer solutions and compensate, if needed
The best way to respond to a complaint is to offer solutions if there are any problem presented. If it’s a damaged product, you might want to send a replacement. There are incidents where a ready solution is in place while there are those where you probably need to discuss internally how to mend an issue or solve the problem. Be ready to compensate, if necessary. Even if it’s not needed, do an act of goodwill by sending over free goods or special benefits to the consumer as a way of making up for the anxiety that may have been experienced due to the situation.
Follow-up and update the customer
If it takes time to resolve the problem, make sure to update the customer of the status of the complaint. Follow-up with the customer if you have brought satisfaction with the way you dealt with the problem. It may even be even helpful to let the customer know if you have instituted changes or improvement within your business that was a result, directly or indirectly, of the circumstance.
In business, one is bound to commit mistakes and misunderstandings are unavoidable. Nevertheless, whenever you encounter disgruntled customers, treat every complaint as important. One tiny error can ruin a lifetime of hardwork. Don’t be afraid to face an angry client. It is better to resolve issues as early as possible, seek ways to mitigate it and review how it can be prevented in the future.