No matter how hard you try, in business you simply can't please everyone. You could have a highly trained customer service squadron and an award-winning product, but still you'd have some buyers who just weren't happy. The bad news is that unhappy customers are more eager to share their experiences than happy ones which could spell disaster for your business.
There is good news, however. Unhappy customers who receive satisfaction can become your biggest allies. The trick, of course, is discovering how to satisfy their needs so efficiently that they'll forget whatever caused their disappointment in the first place. Here are some ways to make that happen:
1) Be a Good Listener
When someone complains about us, our first instinct is to get defensive and to distribute blame. Most of the time we start doing this even before the other person has finished their argument. When that happens, we may misjudge the situation, offer inappropriate resolutions, or appear insensitive to our customers' feelings. Instead, we must work hard to become patient listeners. We should stay focused on the customer and not get distracted by anything else going on around us.
We should also pay attention to what is being said, not how it is being said. Even a beligerant customer is trying to express a concrete complaint, he just might not be able to do it as clearly or as calmly as someone else. By listening patiently to our customers, we can take the first step toward helping them more effectively.
2) Don't Let an Unhappy Customer Slip Away Without a Fight
Just because someone is unsatisfied with your service or your product, you don't have to throw your hands up in the air and say "That's another one gone." Take steps right away to resolve the situation. Most customers who have a complaint just want you to take the problem seriously, to handle it as quickly as possible, and to have it resolved in a respectful and professional manner. If you can do that for them, you will successfully mend the relationship.
3) Resolve the Problem to Their Satisfaction, Not Yours
When many businesses right wrongs, they do so by only considering what is in their best interest and not what would satisfy the customer. That simply doesn't work most of the time. Let me give you an example.
One young woman took her small children to a well-known fast food restaurant for dinner. Because her youngest child was diabetic, she ordered diet drinks for their child-sized meals. Instead, she received regular drinks, and the extra sugar in the drink caused her child to have to be rushed to the emergency room that night. When she called to complain, the manager offered her a free meal to compensate her for the near-death experience of her two year old daughter.
Why did the manager make such a ludicrous offer? Because that was what the restaurant had decided to do in order to deal with customer complaints in a cost-effective manner. It was good for them and that's what mattered.
The reality is that customers will all have different ideas on how to resolve these issues: some may want an employee to be fired or punished for their bad service, others will want financial restitution, some will want assurance that it will never happen again, and most will want a combination of those things.
To determine how to satisfy your unhappy customers, just ask them how you can make things right and then do whatever they ask for (within reason, of course). By doing this, you will be showing how much their satisfaction and patronage means to you.
4) Keep Your Head
When customers are angry with us, it can be very upsetting, especially if we truly do care about their business. Yet, we may get so upset that we aren't able to cope effectively with their problem and end up losing the relationship which can be even more upsetting. Instead, take these four steps to coping with your feelings:
A) Remember it's not about you ? While it may seem that they are yelling or complaining about you personally, they aren't. They simply want what they paid for. Your customers don't know if you're a good family man or a single mother struggling to get by; all they know is that they paid for something and that's what they expect to receive. So don't take their complaints personally.
B) Stop thinking "If only" or "What if" -- After an incident, you may spend days going back over the situation and wondering what you could have done differently, but this is futile. No matter how much you may want to, you can't go back and change it now. Instead, you should be looking forward and finding ways to prevent it from happening again.
C) Know you've done all you can ? If you feel guilt because you weren't able to satisfy an unhappy customer, you can shut your conscience up easily if you know that you did everything within your power to right the situation. After all, there are just some people who will never be happy with anything that you do and they aren't worth stressing over.
D) Keep improving ? In life, we learn more from our mistakes than we do from getting something right. So each unhappy customer provides you with a learning experience that will not only help you handle future situations better but will also show you how to prevent future mistakes from happening. Obviously, you don't want too many of these learning experiences, but when they do happen, be sure to use them wisely.
While you won't be able to safe every relationship, you may be surprised at how many you can rescue with these suggestions. It may seem like a lot of extra effort, but if you care about your customers and about your business, it's the least you can do for them and for yourself.
Vishal P. Rao is the owner of: http://www.work-at-home-forum.com/ An online community of people who work at home.
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
|
![]() |
When you own a business, you may find yourself in... Read More
Every business loses customers, but not many do much about... Read More
So today was the day where I almost stopped going... Read More
The relationship between customer satisfaction and success of a service... Read More
What happened to the old saying, the customer is always... Read More
Despite rumors to the contrary, the Web is not dead.... Read More
Businesses that fail, often forget to seek out the customer... Read More
May people these days have a problem with mounting debt.... Read More
What is your customer saying about you? Do you really... Read More
I spent some twenty years in the corporate world, for... Read More
Your opportunity to build a stellar client relationship starts with... Read More
Over promising is a problem only when you under deliver.... Read More
1) Being placed on hold endlessly. Don't you just love... Read More
Every time my firm conducts communication skills training, we know... Read More
The primary objective of a business is to get and... Read More
This article offers five ways to help you deal with... Read More
You probably spend a great deal of your time looking... Read More
In today's demanding economy, the first line of any business... Read More
Have you ever wondered why you often find a coupon... Read More
How often have you left a meeting with a customer... Read More
My regular readers will know that one of the things... Read More
With customers being smarter, more cost conscious, more product knowledgeable... Read More
I wish I had a nickel for every time someone... Read More
The purpose of business is to create and retain a... Read More
If there was a restaurant in your town that was... Read More
Note to Kmart: It wasn't about the weatherIn the 1970s... Read More
Good service is easy to spot and hard-to-find. Mediocre service... Read More
Do many of us realize that we are working an... Read More
Over the last month, I have come to hate emails... Read More
Anyone who knows me knows my favorite fast food restaurant... Read More
I'll always feel warmly about Conrad's restaurant, in Glendale, California.On... Read More
We'll be examining what makes follow up to prospects/customers so... Read More
The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is... Read More
A couple of years ago I had a call from... Read More
Every time my firm conducts communication skills training, we know... Read More
While most companies talk about consumer friendliness, customer centricity, customer... Read More
Customers put you in business, keep you in business, and... Read More
The primary objective of a business is to get and... Read More
You want customers. I want customers. We all want customers.... Read More
Homebuyers are an interesting study. Watching people make their home... Read More
One thing all successful small business owners have in common... Read More
The simplest way to describe a 'durian' (pronounced doo-ree-ann) is... Read More
"Every company's greatest assets are its customers, because without customers... Read More
Another sad fact of life is that these days, very... Read More
"Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and... Read More
First let us specifically define customer service. It is the... Read More
Have you ever called a company and been greeted with... Read More
You've heard it all before when it comes to stats... Read More
One of the most important questions people ask when they... Read More
So today was the day where I almost stopped going... Read More
With Some Tips on How to RespondTt has probably happened... Read More
1) Being placed on hold endlessly. Don't you just love... Read More
If you're a pet owner, you know the stress of... Read More
Customer support is very important when you're running a business,... Read More
When you make a mistake with a customer, should you... Read More
If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don't... Read More
Our challenge as the business owner/sales person answering the telephone,... Read More
Ever notice how customer service varies from store to store?... Read More
Customer service is everything to a business. Just look at... Read More
The future of customer service is here. Technology has made... Read More
It should be a straightforward business scenario: making sure that... Read More
1. Hire people who have a service attitude. Some people... Read More
It's never too soon to start saying thanks to your... Read More
- Excerpt from Richard Saporito's latest e-book "How to Improve... Read More
Some businesses have slow paying customers or past due balances... Read More
Clients? they are the most important influence in the success... Read More
Customer Service |