7 Ways to Resolve Cus­tomer Complaints!

Unhappy cus­tomers are trou­ble for any com­pany. It only takes one of them to spoil the entire mood and momen­tum for every­one. What is worst, is hav­ing one that spread neg­a­tive infor­ma­tion and present neg­a­tive images to prospec­tive cus­tomers of the com­pany. They have rea­sons to be unhappy. Some don’t feel well that day. Some may have unre­al­is­tic expec­ta­tions while oth­ers are just bad char­ac­ter.

The cus­tomers may not be always right but even so, we should keep our cool and appease them in every way. Remem­ber they are our profit $$$! They are our future busi­nesses too! Thus we want them to be happy again! We need to take con­trol of cus­tomer com­plaints and turn them to our advan­tage. Here we present steps to resolve their com­plaints which have proven over the years to work well. Do not allow time to lapse and make things worse by avoid­ing the. Be fast and respon­sive to their unhap­pi­ness is the key suc­cess in resolv­ing their complaints!

1. Lis­ten with your heart – Pay atten­tion to your cus­tomer. Do not attempt to inter­rupt them. Let the fin­ish what they want to say. They feel there is a need for their story to be said out and want it been heard!

2. Thank Them — Thank the cus­tomer for bring up the prob­lem to your atten­tion (even though deep in your heart you really not want to hear about it). If you don’t feel this way, make your­self feel that you are aware of a new prob­lem

3. Apol­o­gize – Sin­cerely apol­o­gize to the cus­tomer for the sit­u­a­tion that they are feel­ing. This will cool them down for a moment. Do not jus­tify your cause or the com­pany stand. This is not the time for rea­sons or jus­ti­fi­ca­tion. An apol­ogy is all that is ever needed here.

4. Seek the Best Solu­tion – Find the best solu­tion. Ask them first what they would like as a solu­tion. You be sur­prised that they do not really want the solu­tion you have in mind.

5. Reach Agree­ment - Reach an agree­ment of the solu­tion pro­posed to resolve the prob­lem. This includes the time to get the res­o­lu­tion completed.

6. Take Quick Action – After all the talk, it is time to act. Act with a sense of urgency. Cus­tomers will feel paci­fied when you are react­ing imme­di­ately to their needs.

7. Follow-up – After the res­o­lu­tion is being acted on. The prob­lem should be resolved. Do a final clo­sure to their com­plaint. Follow-up with the cus­tomer to ensure that they are fully sat­is­fied. Ask them if there is any­thing that they need to be addressed if they are not fully sat­is­fied. Be patience and you will reap the reward of a sat­is­fied cus­tomer that will come back to you for busi­ness in the longer run.

Prob­lems hap­pen every now and then. It is how we admit it hon­estly and han­dle them suit­ably which counts. Cus­tomers will remem­ber you for resolv­ing their com­plaints and will give you another chance to delight them with the cor­rect solu­tion. How­ever, a cau­tious note, do not drag any res­o­lu­tion. Be swift and accu­rate as pos­si­ble in resolv­ing the prob­lems. A pro­longed res­o­lu­tion will only worsen the cus­tomer expec­ta­tion of you.