What to Do With an Unhappy Customer: Do You Know?
If you want customers to get to know you, it's important to make a good impression—because a single complaint can cause you a world of trouble.
A while ago I went to a department store full of excitement. I knew its history, its products, and most importantly, its customer service—so I didn’t hesitate to apply for its credit card, which, by the way, was approved.
Anyway, the grand-opening promotion was that everything you bought with the card would be reimbursed as store credit, plus you’d get seven months interest-free.
To my surprise, when I got to the register, the clerk didn’t know about the promotion, had a bad attitude, and the system was having problems. That immediately put me in a bad mood. They ran my card several times, refunded the money, voided the receipts—half an hour wasted. Finally the manager came over and we agreed the transaction would be done manually, and that I could go home with no problems or worries.
Read: What continuous improvement is for
Long story short, a month has gone by and they still haven’t processed it. I got calls from the bank asking me to pay immediately, so I went back to the department store, spoke with the manager again, and—well within my rights—made it clear I was a completely dissatisfied customer. The sad part is that nothing has been resolved, I’m disappointed, and I still have the debt.
This time it happened to me, but it could happen to anyone. It’s important to analyze the case objectively, not subjectively, because in this situation the company should act differently and put the continuous improvement we’ve talked about into motion. Unluckily for me, that hasn’t happened.
Any other dissatisfied, angry, or frustrated customer who couldn’t get their problem solved would have spread their discontent to a good chunk of their contacts, loved ones, and coworkers—and worse, would have acted on social media or even taken legal action, none of which benefits the company in any way.
Read: How to act proactively in customer service
If you want customers to get to know you, it’s important to make a good impression, because a complaint like this can cause you a world of trouble—including losing customers and damaging your reputation. So be very careful with that.
Often the customer doesn’t have to come to you angry, complaining about some shortcoming in your service. You need to pay attention, recognize when something isn’t quite right, and take the initiative by asking whether they have a problem or found what they were looking for.
But if they’ve already asked to speak with management, it’s important to follow certain recommendations: listen attentively, write down everything relevant to the problem, and confirm with the customer what you think you understood.
Read: 5 golden rules for serving your customers
Recommendations:
Stay calm at all times. When someone is upset, they say a lot of nonsensical, provocative things. You must stay calm and not take the bait, because doing so can create an even bigger problem.
Feel empathy toward the customer. Make them feel that you understand them, that you’re putting yourself in their shoes and that you grasp how upset they are.
Ask questions that help you solve the problem. This way you’ll gather all the information you need to truly get to the root of the issue and its possible solutions. Ask what solution the customer would like, and exceed their expectations if you can. If the customer is still very angry, let them know you’ll review the different solutions you can offer within a matter of hours or days and will get back to them—but please make sure you actually do. It’s extremely frustrating to have no results after a month.
The right way to avoid losing a customer or leaving a bad taste in their mouth is service recovery. If your company makes a mistake, the way to fix it is by owning your error, showing the customer they’re not alone, and solving the problem immediately. That way the customer knows everyone makes mistakes, but that you didn’t leave them stranded. When you genuinely care about resolving the bad experience the customer went through, they’ll see it as something positive, and the bad taste in their mouth will turn into a different kind of experience than what they’re used to.
Read: Make better decisions based on trends and problems