Handling Complaints

You need a plan for handling complaints. Every business makes mistakes. Sometimes things go wrong and customers are unhappy. Then, they complain. Right?

Actually, only a very small fraction of customers (about 1 in 10) will actually bother to complain. Almost all of them will tell other people (bad publicity) but many will simply take their business elsewhere. So, do your best to avoid creating complaint situations, but when someone complains, remember that how you react is vitally important to your business. You can ignore it, try to justify it, quote policy, blame the customer, or do any number of things that are essentially bad for your business.

But, if you can look at complaints as an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer back into a happy customer, you will positively impact your business immediately and for the long-term.

We have all had experiences where a company made a mistake and then compounded it by how poorly they reacted when we complained. In fact, it seems epidemic these days. We tend to be more surprised when a company fixes our problem than when they don’t.

There are customers that you cannot make happy no matter what you do. There are people who are happier being miserable. But for the most part, people just want what they paid for. They want their package delivered before the party. They want their steak cooked the way they like it. They want the gizmo to work. But, things happen. Shipments get delayed or orders get entered incorrectly. The steak gets overcooked. Gizmos break.

When the system fails for whatever reason and someone complains, how can resolve the complaint so that the customer is happy and willing to do business with you again?

1—Listen. Actually listen to what they are saying. Make sure you understand the problem.
2—Acknowledge what they are saying. “I understand your gizmo was broken when you opened the box.”
3—Apologize. Say "I'm very sorry." And mean it. Put yourself in his or her shoes. It is a very big deal to them if they are taking time to complain.
4—Act. Fix the problem to their satisfaction. They may want a new gizmo. They may want a refund. Offer choices if you can. “I can send you a new gizmo tomorrow or I can credit your account right now.”
5—Offer to do more. Giving someone what they paid for is the bare minimum. If you really want to win customers for life, try to give more when you can. Try a discount on a future purchase, or a free gift, or free dessert.
6—Follow up. Make sure the second gizmo is not broken, too. A letter of apology is always a good idea, but a phone call to make sure they are now happy, or even an email will work, too.

You can use these steps, or similar ones to create a system for handling customer complaints for your company. Use scenarios familiar to your business as examples. Make sure everyone who deals with your customers is able to use these steps to turn complainers into fans.