Even the most successful companies have dissatisfied customers. However, many of them usually don’t spend their time complaining. They just turn to your competitors without telling you when and how your company failed to meet their expectations.
Reasons for complaints from customers can be different. Dissatisfaction is often caused by a violation of the company’s obligations. This is the low quality of goods, works, and services, non-compliance with deadlines, customer service complaints, and incorrect behavior of the staff. In most cases, customer complaints are justified.
However, statistics show that 95% of complainants are ready to give your company another chance if their complaints are handled well and quickly. The main goal is not to lose regular customers and those who come on their recommendation.
How to handle complaints from customers? The key to successful complaint management is the right attitude towards complaints. It’s that simple. Customers don’t complain when they are just bored. They let you know they have a problem with your product or service.
Use this feedback as an opportunity to find ways to improve your business. Here are seven tips that will help you communicate with a dissatisfied customer.
7 Tips For Dealing With Customer Complaints
So, how to behave when a client is dissatisfied?
1. Let The Client Speak Negatively
You shouldn’t interrupt or clarify something if clients make a complaint. You need to listen to them to the end. This way, clients will tell you everything they don’t like, and you will find out what the client’s problem is.
Moreover, it is useless to interrupt dissatisfied customers. They won’t hear you and will only get angrier. Customers often want to be heard. A good complaint customer service should admit the mistake and apologize, and only then solve their problem.
2. Don’t Take Criticism And Anger Personally
You lose control of the situation if you take a client’s complaints as a personal insult. Focus not on your own emotions but on what the client is saying. Getting personal is a mistake that will aggravate the conflict.
You should be friendly and communicate with the client on behalf of the company. You must prove with facts or figures that the company is reliable and values its customers. Your task is to leave a good impression on the company.
3. Demonstrate Interest
Customer complaint handling service must show clients that they are surprised by the complaint and that it is important to solve the buyer’s problem. Clarifying questions will help. If the client is talking emotionally, ask questions about the essence of the problem.
This way, you will transfer clients from emotions to a constructive discussion of the problem. Find out what, where, and how it happened, or clarify whether you understood clients correctly by formulating the problem for them. For example: “You claim that…”, “Do I understand correctly that…”.
4. Tell The Client About The Next Steps
Tell the client the next steps you will take to solve the problem and provide information on the claim’s status on time. Even if you find it difficult to offer a specific solution immediately, you must inform the client when and how you will solve the problem.
Inform the client about your actions, even if the issue is delayed. The customer needs to see that you remember them and work on their issue. In addition, it increases their loyalty to the company.
5. Make Keepable Promises
Your call center service provider should set a maximum time frame to resolve a client’s problem. If the issue is resolved faster, it will be a plus. On the other hand, if you promise to solve the problem quickly but delay the deadlines, you will again cause negative feedback from the client.
6. Don’t Say You Don’t Know How To Solve The Problem
The phrase “I don’t know” makes the client doubt the competence of the employee and the entire company. Say, “Let’s see what we can do.” If you need to contact a colleague for help, notify the client and specify how long it will take.
7. Respond To Written Complaints With Gratitude
How to deal with customer complaints? Your goal is to respond to clients in a way that makes them feel grateful for their concern for the development of your business. The attitude of the client to you and the company will depend on how quickly you respond to the complaint. You should respond within four business hours.
Minimize Reasons For Complaints
Knowing how to solve the problem that caused the customer complaint and dealing with customer complaints is undoubtedly an integral part of business success. But more importantly, you can learn from these situations what you can do in the future to minimize customer complaints.
Do your best to improve your product, adjust your workflow, and train your employees. In addition, to avoid excessive expectations and dissatisfaction, the most important thing is not to make empty promises and be honest about products and services.
