Editor’s note: This article was first published in January 2012; it names Twitter and Facebook as the places where an unhappy customer can go viral. Twitter is now X.
We start from the premise that every company, business or person can fail at some point and make a mistake that affects one or more customers. It’s also true that sometimes we’ll find ourselves in situations where our customers are in the wrong. So however good the saying “The customer is always right” sounds, the truth is that they aren’t always right. Still, we should know from the outset that, right or wrong, an unhappy customer can do the same damage to our corporate image.
A customer who is happy with our product or service can bring us around 5 new customers through word of mouth. An unhappy customer, thanks to the internet, can go viral and reach thousands of people who will talk negatively about our business (rightly or wrongly). That’s why, as well as knowing how to sell, we need to be masters at handling a complaint and turning it to our advantage. Failing isn’t the end (everyone does it), as long as we know how to fix the mistake.
0. Don’t give the customer the runaround
By “the runaround” I mean that, to make a complaint, the customer has to speak to one person who sends them to another, who then asks them to fill in a form to be handed in on the second floor of the building, and so on… This kind of practice can make even a peaceful person aggressive.
Quickly assess how serious the problem is. If it’s one of the “big” or serious ones, a good way to calm the customer down, or at least show them that they’ll be looked after and listened to, is to put them straight through to a section head, director or manager. That tells the customer: “In our company, all our customers are important.”
See also: Identifying your staff’s training needs
1. Avoid a scene on the premises
Invite them into the office. First of all, never lose your composure. If the customer raises their voice, don’t raise yours. If the customer bangs on the table, stay calm. Don’t interrupt them, because they’ll get more worked up and it will look like you’re rising to the bait. Listen to them, and even if they’re talking nonsense, however much you want to cut them off, take notes for when they’ve finished.
2. Apologize (only if…)
“I acknowledge the mistake and I can’t tell you how sorry I am. Please accept my sincerest apologies for the harm we may have caused you, which we’re ready to put right…” It costs very little to apologize, as long as the mistake is ours. If it isn’t, we obviously shouldn’t apologize, but we should keep the same calm, measured tone to make sure the customer understands us and comes round to reason in the best possible way.
3. Fix the problem
Once it’s clear to you that the mistake was yours, give a quick solution. Spare them phrases like “we’ll look into what we can do” or “I need to check how we’re going to fix this”.
Imagine you go to a restaurant and, instead of the vegetable dish you ordered, they bring you meat. When you tell the waiter, he doesn’t have to call the chef or the manager. He simply swaps your plate as quickly as possible. Of course, depending on the kind of problem you’ve caused your customer, some mistakes turn out to be expensive for the company.
At that point, think about whether it’s worth risking becoming the talk of Twitter or Facebook tomorrow, because that could cost you far more than fixing the problem. Even so, negotiate with your customer as best you can, always aiming for one thing only: that they leave your business happy.
See also: 17 things I learned about business going from earning nothing to over a million
4. Use the complaint to your advantage by giving them a reason to come back
Offer your customer a bigger discount on their next purchase. That way you make sure they have an extra reason to come back to your business.
5. Make sure they really leave happy with the solution
Don’t be afraid to ask whether they’re satisfied with the solution you’ve agreed on. If they aren’t, ask them what they would need in order to be satisfied. If their answer is reasonable and within the company’s means, no problem: do it. If it isn’t reasonable, ask them, just as calmly, whether they think their proposal is reasonable.
In short: always deal with complaints quickly (never make the mistake of ignoring one), and be kind, polite, patient and calm. You might be surprised at what kindness and good manners can achieve, to the point that a customer who was shouting in your office 20 minutes ago becomes one of your business’s biggest advocates as soon as they walk out. They’ll be able to say that company X looked after them perfectly, fixed the mistake properly and quickly, and gave them a discount on their next purchase too.
Further reading
- How to attract your first customers
- 5 ways to grow your business
- How to run a small business in times of crisis
Featured image: Department of Defense. American Forces Information Service. Defense Visual Information Center. 1994, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
