Complaints from customers are normal for any business. There are no industries that don’t have that. Whether it’s an online business or an offline store you still face clients that are not happy with something. The way you handle the issue and as a result, the level of customer satisfaction shows your professionalism and raises you above your competitors.
Here are some highly recommended stages that will help you handle complaints from your customers easily and professionally.
1. Be Ready for Complaints
The first important step is to acknowledge that there always be unhappy customers. We are all people, and we all have bad days, discouragements, health issues, etc. Therefore, it’s important to be cool with the fact that from time to time you will have to deal with unhappy clients. Though, nobody likes that.
When does the customer complain?
Most of the time customers complain when you do not meet their expectations. So, first of all, you need to make sure the customer understands where your service starts and where it finishes. And most importantly what exactly it should consist of.
Also, the customer may complain because the service was unfair. For example, your advertising may be controversial, or your sales rep said something that made the customer believe in something you don’t actually do.
And lastly, there are always some unreasonable customers.
Unreasonable customers
It is important to emphasize that most of the time customers have the point when they complain. But there are always unreasonable customers out there that demand more than they should.
We made an entire article about dealing with unreasonable customers. Handling an unreasonable complaint requires a high level of skills and professionalism.
The most important thing here is to accept the fact that at least 5% of complaints will be irrational. And internally you need to develop the protocol for working with them. For instance, you can learn to say “no” or accept losses by including them in your pricing policy.
2. Rules to Accept the Complaint
The first stage is accepting the complaint. It’s rather important to do it correctly. Here are some important rules to accept the complaint effectively.
Stay calm
Though it may sound like the customer wants to offend you or your business, never take it personally. Stay calm and accept the complaint as any other type of communication with the customer.
Even if the customer yells at you, don’t lose your calmness and confidence. This way you will show your strength and professionalism to your client. And most importantly the customer will understand that you already have the experience to handle situations like that. This means that you are the right person to talk to about the concern.
So, you need to stay calm if you want the customer to calm down as well. Sometimes they just need to complain a bit to chill out.
Show sympathy
When your clients explain their problems show them your sympathy. Ensure them that you are on their side and you are sorry that this has happened to them.
But do this at the right time. Don’t hurry up to apologize or say “sorry” if the customer didn’t explain the problem yet. The client will think that you just robotically say that, just to calm him down.
The perfect time is when customers had actually told you what had happened.
Be kind and understanding and most importantly that you appreciate that they share their experience with you. By the way, it’s a perfect chance to improve your product or service.
Be honest
Be 100% honest with your customer, but never use the phrase “to be honest with you…” or “honestly…”. This may cause a reasonable reaction from the customer “So, you weren’t honest before?”, “Are you honest with other customers?”, “How do I know when you are honest with me?”
Never lie to your clients. First of all, it’s just unprofessional. Second of all, most people feel when they are being deceived. And lastly, you will get into major trouble if your lie is revealed.
Active listening
Another important rule is active listening. You need to show the person that you are 100% concentrated on the case.
There are plenty of nonverbal techniques. Make eye contact, don’t fold your hands, and control your negative facial expressions.
Confirm you are listening carefully by saying things like “yes”, “sure”, “gotcha”, “I see”, “wow, that’s bad” and “I understand”. This way the person will know that you care about the details.
And most importantly, active listening turns the interaction of passing the information into a real live conversation. In this position, you will more likely succeed in handling the situation.
Take notes if needed
Some people underestimate using the notepad during complicated cases. It’s an unforgivable mistake. And here is why.
1) In case there are plenty of details coming from customers it will not be rude if you interrupt them for a second and ask something like “Excuse me, if you don’t mind, I’ll make a couple of notes so that I don’t miss anything?”
2) If the customer is really furious and nothing helps to calm him/her down you can use the notepad as a psychological barrier. Say something like “Wow, that sounds really frustrating. If you don’t mind I will make some notes not to miss a thing”. This phrase will interrupt the endless complaint, it will allow you not to look into the customer’s eyes all the time, and will establish some rules in your communication.
3) When you say you want to make some notes most customers begin structuring their complaints. It happens on a psychological level. They will start providing you with the information in a form of a list, which is much easier to handle.
All details are important
It’s extremely important to carefully listen to all the details, and ask questions to understand the whole picture. The more information you receive the better.
There are 3 things to understand.
– What seems irrelevant to you may be important to your customers.
– When you have all the details you can put the whole puzzle together.
– Paying attention to the details will show the customer that you care.
Also, very often the real reason for a customer’s concern may lie quite deeply. Far not always clients will want to tell you the main reason. For example, prices. Let’s imagine you own a restaurant and you have some expensive gourmet dishes. We all know the case when you see some interesting expensive thing on the menu and want to try it. Obviously, for that price you expect it to be super tasty. But, we all know what the reality is. You are getting frustrated because of the ruined dinner and money. And then everything else will start irritating you, guys at the next table, music, waiters, etc.
So, make sure, you are attentive to all the details. The customer will appreciate that and you will have the data for your further improvements.
3. Acknowledgement
The next stage is acknowledging. Here you need to make sure you see the entire picture and that the customer trusts you.
Show an understanding of the case
You need to sound and look confident. Then, using the active listening techniques make the customer provide you with the details. After that show the customer that you are here to help, but not to confront.
Your confidence and desire to know all the details will show the customer that you want to understand the situation. And finally, when you really have the whole idea about the case confirm this to the customer.
Transform complaint into a proper form
It is rather important to transform the complaint into a proper form. When you deal with a very frustrated customer you will hear lots of things about your business and services. But it is crucial to discard all emotions and leave only the main essence with important details.
Basically, it should sound like a list of facts, reasons, and consequences.
Confirm with the customer
And finally, you need to confirm with the customer all the details. Rephrase and repeat it back to your client.
Please avoid negative words like “issue”, “problem”, and “trouble”.
You can say things like “I think now I understand what happened, let me quickly confirm with you just to make sure we are on the same page”.
When your client confirms the case you can apologize 1 more time. Don’t say sorry multiple times. It is enough to apologize 2 times. Once in the beginning and once at the end.
4. Developing a Solution
In most cases, you probably have a protocol or procedure to handle typical complaints from your customers. If you talk to your customer in person, via phone, or in a live chat you can go ahead and offer the solution right away.
But sometimes you face difficult customers that do not accept your regular solution. Also, there are relatively unique situations that don’t have a proper protocol. In this case, you need to proactively resolve the case.
Of course, if the customer demands something and you can easily do that for this customer without major consequences for you and your business, you should probably do that (if you are a decision-maker in your business).
If you feel that you are not ready to provide a solution right away, it is highly recommended to thank the customer for providing the info and then interrupt the conversation to find the solution.
If you are not a decision-maker consult with your boss and work on the solution together. But if you are a business owner there are lots of things you should do.
You need to make tons of preparation work. You need to develop easy-to-use transparent and effective protocols. Also, you need to train your staff and upgrade their skills.
Make sure they understand the philosophy of your business, and your terms and conditions. This way they will act and make decisions within these basic principles.
5. Resolve and Confirm
The final stage is to resolve the conflict and confirm the solution with the customer.
Present the solution
The solution’s presentation is as important as the solution itself.
If you provide your customer with the solution within your protocol, then be polite and calm. Ensure the customer the problem can be easily eliminated and there is no reason to worry about anything.
If you make an exception to a difficult customer – make a big deal of that. Because in fact, that’s a big deal indeed. Come back with a solution and present it with positive emotions. It should be a victory cup you just won for the client.
Implement the solution
The next important step is to implement the solution that you agreed on. It is crucial to do it in accordance with your promises. So, the timing and amount of work should be accurate.
For instance, if you promised to ship 3 replacement parts, you better do this. Or if you promised a $50 Gift Card do everything possible for that.
Even if just 1 slightest part of your offered solution is not done consider the entire solution is ruined.
If something goes wrong, it may cause even a bigger problem.
Confirm
To make sure the complaint was handled properly confirm this with your client. Try to understand if the customer is happy with the final solution and if the problem was completely resolved.
This way you show the client that you are a professional and you really care about the case. For you, it’s not just a regular transaction, but an experience that you go through together.
Otherwise, if you don’t try to confirm that the customer is happy, you may not know, that there is still something wrong and requires your attention.
If the customer already posted some negative publically, you can ask the customer to change their negative review.
6. Bonus
Bonus for your customers is an optional stage. You are not obligated to do that, but it is a very powerful tool. It makes a difference between good and excellent customer service.
Some businesses consider it as a part of their marketing and use it as a business opportunity.
It was confirmed multiple times by different companies, that the client is more likely to go for another purchase to a company that can handle problems properly and compensates for losses. So, in other words, we all know that problems happen even with the best companies in the world like Google, Apple, Louis Vuitton, Hilton, etc. But we prefer them because if anything bad happens they will be able to handle the situation properly. Moreover, you will most likely receive compensation as a bonus.
7. Follow Up
Follow-up is another optional step. It is quite powerful though.
You can call or email your clients and ask if everything is fine. This way you will show them that not only do you care about handling their complaints, but also you make sure that the overall experience was good.
Also, the follow-up call is an incredible opportunity. It gives you a chance to reveal the customer’s needs and offer your products or services. Just ask your clients what else you can do for them and invite them to visit your store, restaurant, or salon again.
Remember, good customer service is the best marketing tool.
8. Improve and Evolve
Receiving complaints is a normal practice for any kind of business. But it’s an incredible source of ideas for your business improvement.
It is highly recommended to document all the complaints, sort them, and then implement solutions that will improve your product or service.
Quite often when you just start your business you have an idea and concept. Then you actually produce your products, and service packages, and represent them to the market. Obviously, you cannot predict everything. Therefore, it will certainly evolve into something better and more suitable for your clients.
Hence consider each complaint as a business opportunity. Plenty of large companies hire special people to research the market and develop new business solutions. While your actual clients give them these tips right away at lower costs.