Turn Unhappy Customers into Customers for Life
One complaining customer actually represents many other customers who had the same problem, but who didn’t complain. (They just badmouthed your company to their friends—or to the entire Internet—and took their business elsewhere.)Handled sensitively, customer complaints can be catalysts for improving customer satisfaction and capturing new business. You have two choices. One, treat each complaining customer like he’s a pain in the neck. Or two, appreciate each complaining customer and use the complaint as an opportunity to improve.
By using a customer complaint to uplift your service, you not only transform that shopper’s experience from a negative one to a positive one; you turn him or her into a loyal fan of your business. Furthermore, you gain valuable insight into what many other customers think about your business, and most importantly, how you can improve your service. Read on for advice on how to handle customer complaints.
Thank them for their complaint. Give positive recognition by saying, right off the bat, “Thank you for reaching out, especially in the middle of your shopping.” Show appreciation for the complaining customer’s time, effort, communication, feedback, and suggestions. Always keep in mind that the customer didn’t have to come to you at all. He could have simply taken his business to your competitor. When a customer gives you the opportunity to recover their service, be grateful.
Don’t be defensive. It’s easy to get defensive when an angry customer is on the other end of the line. Customers with complaints exaggerate situations, they get confused, and yes, they may even lie about how things went down. It’s tempting to just say, “No! That’s not what happened. You’re wrong!” But getting defensive will lead only to more problems.
When a customer complains, they’re doing so because they feel wronged in some way. You don’t have to agree with what they’re saying. But you do have to agree to hear them out. That’s how you keep the conversation moving in a positive direction.
Acknowledge what’s important to them. Service providers must find a complaining customer’s value dimension (or what’s important to the customer). Even if you think customer’s complaint is unfair, there is something the customer values that your company didn’t deliver on. Embrace that value.
What the customer wants is to feel right. When you agree with their value dimension, you’re telling them they are right to value this specific thing. For example, if a customer says your service was slow, then that customer values speed. You might say, “Absolutely, you deserve quick, efficient service.” Or if a customer says your staff was rude, you might say, “We do agree that you should be treated with courtesy and respect every time you come to our store.”
Use judo, not boxing. In boxing, you go right after your opponent, trying to punch him to the ground. In judo, you work with someone else’s motions to create a desired result. You use another person’s speed and energy to spin him around and then end up together on the same side. When you show a customer you understand what they value, you’re catching them off guard with your own movement. They don’t expect you to tell them that they’re right. Suddenly, just as you might do in judo, you’ve avoided a defensive confrontation and you can spin them. In judo, you’d spin them to the ground. In customer service, you use the opportunity to show the customer that you’re now both on the same side and you can work together.
Explain the company’s desire to improve. When you understand what the customer values, show them things your company does that helps you perform well in that area. For example, let’s say a customer is complaining because a package was delivered a day late. You would say, “We understand that quick, on-time delivery is important to our customers.”
Show you are sincere about your commitment to do well in the areas the customer values. At the very least, you can say, “I’m going to make sure everyone in the company hears your story. We don’t want this to happen again.” When you express the company’s desire to improve, you start on the path to rebuilding its credibility with the customer.
Educate your customer. Part of hearing the customers out is answering any questions they ask about their specific situations. Provide additional, useful information. If customers ask questions that you can’t answer or don’t know the answers to, tell them you’ll find out the answers and get back to them. And then actually follow through. Contact the customers with the answers they requested. And even if they might not have requested an update about their situation, get back in touch with them with one anyway. These are additional opportunities for you to say through your actions, “We care about you. We value your business.”
Contain the problem. Let’s say a family is shopping in a crowded, busy department store. The youngest child in the group starts to have an all-out meltdown. Suddenly, a staff member sweeps onto the scene and whisks the family into a special room. Inside, they find bottles of water, snacks, and a comfortable sitting area, etc. The only thing missing in the room is any connection to the store’s brand. That’s because this room is used to isolate customers from the brand until they’re all—parents and children—having a more pleasurable experience. The room is also being used to isolate the unhappy family from the families outside the room who are having a more pleasant shopping experience. Your first order of business is to keep the problem from growing. Only then can you work on defusing it.
Even if you can’t help, apologize. Every service provider knows that the customers are not always right. And even when the customers have a point, it’s not always within a service provider’s power to completely rectify the situation. But the customers are always the customers, and you should apologize for the inconveniences they believe they’ve experienced. Your response shows understanding and empathy for the customers’ discomforts, displeasures, or inconveniences.
Recover. Show the customers you care about them, even if you feel the company did everything right, by making them an offer. Companies worry that they’ll get taken advantage of if they give vouchers, discounts, or freebies as part of their service recovery, but the reality is that almost never happens. Offer the customer something and then explain that you’re doing so “as gesture of goodwill” or “as a token of our appreciation.”
Give serial complainers “outs.” Some people just love to complain. These kinds of customers complain, not so that they can become satisfied, but because they are never satisfied. With serial complainers, you must limit your liability and isolate them from your brand. To handle them, don’t let their lack of manners bring your manners down. Let them know you are genuine about wanting them to be happy. Most people—including serial complainers—will reflect on their behavior later in the day and feel awkward or even ashamed. You want their final memory of you to be powerful and positive.
When you treat customer complaints as opportunities to build loyalty, you can create customers for life and uplift your entire company in the process.
Ron Kaufman is the founder and chairman of UP! Your Service. He is the author of the Uplifting Service: The Proven Path to Delighting Your Customers, Colleagues, and Everyone Else You Meet and 14 other books on service, business, and inspiration. UP! Your Service enables organizations to quickly upgrade service performance and secure a sustainable advantage by building an uplifting service culture. Visit www.UpYourService.com and www.RonKaufman.com.
