How to Deal with Angry Customers
August 14, 2007
Following my last post we all agreed how important it was to have happy customers in order to receive referrals and grow our business. So what do you do when you have an angry customer on the phone screaming at you and demanding a refund?
The first thing you need to understand is that the customer wants to feel that they gotten good service and secondly, they don’t want to feel that they aren’t getting their money’s worth. So when they start to complain, be a good listener and let them get it all out. Don’t take what they say personally and really listen to what they have to say.
In answering them, be soft, a soft answer calms their anger. That does’t mean that you still can’t keep your boundaries up while still being soft. If someone is irate and starts to use profanity, you can still say, “Excuse me, please don’t talk to me that way. I’m listening to what you have to say but you have no right to speak to me like that.” If you’ve done all you can to give them the best service you can and they hang up on you, call them back and see if you are able to talk to them. If you can’t get a hold of them be sure to leave a very polite voice message still offering to work with them to fix their problem. Remember, hold your ground but be nice and don’t ever retaliate in any way.
Often times when I’ve had a customer surprisingly angry over something minor, I stayed on the phone with them and continued to talk to them in a soft way. In many cases, it’s not just the small things that they were dissatisfied with, but there were usually other things going on in their life they were upset about and that exacerbates the situation. Nine out of ten times they, the client (without realizing it) will have the tendency to take out their frustrations on the service industry. That is why listening, really listening and understanding your clients is so critical. Once you’ve let them vent, you need to figure out a solution to their dissatisfaction. Offer to fix whatever they are unhappy with for free. It’s their choice whether they let you come back or not. You don’t necessarily have to give a refund.
In our next blog we will discuss how contrary to popular opinion, the customer is not always right. Dealing with unhappy customers is one of the most difficult aspects of running a service industry business. If you have any questions or experiences you would like to talk about don’t hesitate to email me.
That’s all for now, be sure to go and do something good for yourself!
Elaine
Last 5 posts by Elaine Gordon Evans
- Heading For Summer, Sun And Fun In Your Service Business - June 1st, 2008
- Launching your business with a conscience - May 7th, 2008
- Increasing Fair Marketshare When Times Are Tough - April 1st, 2008
- Running A Bussiness When Life Is Falling Apart - February 12th, 2008
- Service with a Smile - October 13th, 2007
Although I don’t offer products or anything that I deal with having to give refunds I remember what it was like when I worked at Wal-Mart. We were trained that the customer was always right and if they wanted a refund they got it.
Sometimes no matter how calm I was I still couldn’t please an angry or irate customer. There are just those people out there that no matter what you do they still won’t ever be satisfied.
But I do remember that it was alot easier to send a customer away happy (and with a refund) if I remained calm no matter how vulgar and nasty they were with me! There is just something about a calm soothing quiet tone that helps ’smoothe’ things over.
I tried the customer service route once, and unfortunately the more irate a customer got, the more upset I got. It wasn’t a good fit.
I’ve found that the same great advice works with kids, too. You have to listen and really hear what they’re saying without allowing their attitude to ruin yours.
That’s great advice Elaine. I think people just want to feel someone else understands them and is listening as you say.
Mara is very right to say this definitely works with children as well! It instantly calms them down when you say “I understand what you’re feeling” or “I understand that you’re upset”
Luckily I haven’t had an any client up to this point, but if I ever do I’ll be sure to follow this great advice! :)
Angela