Exclusive 6 Dos and Don’ts of Responding to Customer Complaints

As a business owner, you are likely to receive customer complaints at some point in time. Whether it is over the phone, through email or social media, how you respond to these complaints can make a huge difference in your customer’s satisfaction and their likelihood of returning to your business.

In this blog post, we will look at dos and don’ts of responding to customer complaints.

• • DO: Listen
    One of the most important things you can do when a customer approaches you about a complaint is to actively listen to them. Make sure that you are fully present, paying attention to their concerns, and showing empathy towards their situation. This will help to build trust with your customer and make them feel that their complaint is being taken seriously.

• • DON’T: Interrupt
    Interrupting a customer while they are speaking can come off as rude and dismissive. Make sure you give customers the time they need to fully explain their complaint before jumping in with a solution. This will also ensure that you have a full understanding of the issue before trying to resolve it.

• • DO: Apologize
    Regardless of whether your business truly is at fault or not, apologizing for your customer’s experience is an important part of customer service. A sincere apology can go a long way in helping to defuse a situation and show that you care about how your customers feel.

• • DON’T: Get Defensive
    It is easy to feel defensive when faced with criticism, but getting defensive can make the situation worse. Don’t make excuses or try to justify the situation. Instead, try to remain objective and look for solutions to the problem.

• • DO: Find a Solution
    Once you have fully listened to your customer, taken their concern seriously, and apologized for their experience, it’s time to find a solution. Make sure to suggest a practical solution that can rectify the problem and make it right for your customer. This could include a refund, a discount, or rectifying any issue causing the complaint.

• • DON’T: Make False Promises
    Making false promises to a customer can come back to haunt you. If you promise something that you can’t deliver, it will only hurt the relationship in the long run. Be honest and upfront with your customers and ensure that the solution you provide can be delivered on.

• • Do: Be efficient
    By the same issue, no one wants to take hours to have their problem with a company fixed. Make sure to fix the customer’s problem with as little work and time involved for them possible, simply be efficient.

• • Don’t: Be impatient
    When someone has a complaint, pause everything else and focus on your customer. Take the time necessary to get the fix right. Don’t rush it and risk making the customer feel like an imposition.

• • Do: Go the extra mile
    Don’t just solve the customer’s problem, proactively prevent the next one. Or resolve the current problem in a way that doesn’t just fix it like it never was, but really flips it into an awesome moment for the customer.

• • Don’t: Ask questions that the customer has already answered
    If you ask a question the customer has already answered, whether because you were following a script or because you weren’t listening closely enough, you are wasting the customer’s time. Which tells them that they are not important to you. Which tells them that you’re not their committed advocate in solving their problem.

• • Do: Use the company’s policy as guidelines
    When dealing with a customer, company policy can often hamper retail employees. As a result, company policy should be used to guide employees through difficult situations, but employees of all levels should be allowed (and trained) to make final calls on specific situations.

• • Don’t: Dismiss the complaint
    Every complaint is a big deal. Even if someone is upset because there is a tiny smudge on a product that is invisible to everybody but them, it’s a valid complaint, and you need to treat it as such.

Conclusion

In conclusion, customers will sometimes have complaints, and it is important to handle them as professionally as possible. By keeping calm, listening actively, apologizing for the situation, finding a solution, and avoiding getting defensive or making false promises, you can help diffuse the situation and ensure that your customers are happy.

Remember, handling complaints poorly can lead to negative reviews and can also lead to lost customers. On the other hand, handling them well can earn you customer loyalty and positive feedback. So, use these dos and don’ts the next time you face a customer complaint, and you’ll be more likely to turn the complaint into a positive experience for all involved.

Reference Posts:

• • How to Respond to Customer Complaints – HubSpot
  • Do’s and Don’t of Customer complaint handling – Capterra