Dealing with irate customers is probably one of the least enjoyable tasks in any business.
However, there are ways to make the process easier.
Here are three steps you can take to deal with an irate customer:
This provides you with a fair chance to win their continued business, or to recognize that the two of you are no longer a good fit.
Copyright 2010, by Marc Mays
However, there are ways to make the process easier.
Here are three steps you can take to deal with an irate customer:
- Acknowledge their pain, frustration, or disappointment Customers who are irate do not want excuses.
- Whenever possible, involve your customer in crafting a solution When you involve your customer in the development of a solution, it is more likely that any unresolved issues will be flushed out.
- Follow-up properly, after the solution has been offered After the solution has been presented, it is important to follow-up with the customer, to make sure that all major concerns have been resolved.
Initially, they also do not want to be informed that a product or service has failed them, because of something which they are responsible for.
Instead, when a customer is irate, the first step towards defusing the situation is to understand and empathize with their problems.
Customers want to feel like you are on their side, and working with them to help solve their issue.
This makes them more likely to calm down, less likely to escalate the problem (through lawsuits or higher management appeals), and more likely to get into a problem-solving frame of mind.
Customers may surprise you, by offering particularly novel or good solutions to a recurring problem, if you ask them.
This can pay dividends not only for the current customer, but for all future customers who also experience the problem, provided you document the discovery of a "best practice" solution as one is found.
This can save you trouble in the future, and as an added bonus, is more likely to be accepted by a customer who proposed the solution themselves.
Most customers will behave reasonably, and if they will not, this process allows you to discover unreasonable customers, and encourage them to purchase from your competition instead.
This lets customers know that you really do care about the outcome, and that you are committed to their overall satisfaction and delight.
In turn, your customers should become more loyal, and you may even get beneficial testimonial(s) and referral(s) from these customers, if you ask.
If you can increase these by even a small amount, then the time and effort you spend dealing with irate customers will have been well worth it.
This provides you with a fair chance to win their continued business, or to recognize that the two of you are no longer a good fit.
Copyright 2010, by Marc Mays