Even the most successful businesses have to face customer complaints. In fact, often what separates them from the rest is the professionalism with which they deal with complaints.
Every interaction with your customers is important in terms of ensuring their repeat business and maintaining your business image. But when you’re dealing with a complaint, the stakes are higher. Customers will remember the one time things went wrong more than the 99 other times when things were fine.
“The key is to try to turn the situation to your advantage,” says Business Link Business Adviser Peter Weeks. “One way or another, the customer is going to remember their complaint. The challenge for you is to make them remember not what the original problem was, but how well it was dealt with by you.
“There are a few key points to remember when it comes to managing customer complaints,” Peter adds. “The first is consistency. You need to make sure that you have clear guidelines that all your customer-facing employees understand and implement.
“Second, be honest about any failings on your part. Customers don’t want the run-around; they want to know what’s gone wrong and how it will be fixed.
“And third, go the extra mile to make your customer happy again. Often, a simple gesture is enough, such as refunding the costs of the problem transaction or upgrading to a better product or service for free.”
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