No matter how good your product or service is, if you are in business long enough, you will come across an unhappy customer. Come up with a plan to deal with these situations before they occur.
There are two things that are most important when dealing with unhappy customers.
- No matter what, THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS RIGHT. The customer is right, even when they are wrong. You as a business owner must take responsibility when things go wrong. Your job as a business owner is to alleviate the situation so that you have happy customers.
- Never let a customer leave angry. When a customer is angry, they tell other potential customers about their bad experience. You must turn the customers negative experience into a positive experience
Below are steps you can take to deal with an unhappy customers:
Listen and offer sympathy – Listen to the customers complaint without interrupting. You should remain calm and speak in a calm tone. In a calm voice, you should say something like “I apologize for your inconvenience. Tell me what happened so that I can help you”. Then BE QUIET and LISTEN to what the customer has to say. Trust me, your client is doing you a service by letting you know what’s going wrong. If one client feels a certain way, there are usually others who feel that way, but just chose to take their business elsewhere.
Repeat what the customer tells you – An example “So, you ordered a size small and you received a size extra small. Is this correct?
Find out what the customer wants – Do they want to return your product, a refund, or a replacement?
Offer a solution – After listening to what the customer wants, offer a solution and be happy to do it. Say something like ” I apologize that we sent you the wrong size shirt. I will be happy to exchange it for you is this OK?”. If they agree then, solve the problem. If they do not agree negotiate until they are happy.
Go above and beyond with future incentives – Offer some incentive for the customer to continue to do business with you. For example, offer a discount on their next purchase Or throw in a sample of another product that you sell to the customer.
What are ways that you deal with unhappy customers or what has a business done to keep you as a customer?