Customers are the backbone of an enterprise. It costs five times as much to attract new customers as it does to keep an existing one.
Dissatisfied customers are, unfortunately, a fact of business. Dealing with unhappy clients is not an easy task but if one knows what to say and how to say it, they may be able to handle the situation.
Some tips to face and deal with angry customers are as follows:
1.Listen-Accept-Apologize-Provide a solution: This cycle, if followed correctly, has the power to satisfy even the angriest customer. Making the client realize that his problem is the concern of the business builds up trust. And one can follow it only by listening to the problem carefully, accepting the fault, apologizing and being empathetic and presenting them with a solution.
2.Patience is the cure to anger, sorrow or distress of the customer. Interrupting the customer while expressing their issue won’t be a good idea. One should be calm and listen to the concern and then reply.
3.Negotiate with the customer and provide them with good offers to keep them satisfied, despite of the problem faced by them. Make the caller happy-give them a refund or voucher as per the company’s protocol.
4.Even if one has to encounter a loud and abusive customer, they should always respond by speaking softly and with a very steady tone. Shouting over the customer leaves a bad impression of the company on the client.
5.Try resolving the problem concerned with the customer as soon as possible to maintain trust and build even stronger relations.
6.Don’t take long and try buying time with the hold button. Instead of calming the client down, it escalates the caller’s anger by feeling shunted aside.
7.Reach to the core of the problem so that it does not reoccur. Even if it does one is readily prepared with a solution to the customer.
8.Blaming the customer or the company would only affect the relations between them. Using an indirect approach to resolve the issue and coming to a conclusion is a better option.
9.Informing the customers about your customer care services and giving them a complete follow up of the status of their problem and a solution, if provided along with, helps the client to rely on the business brand even after the inconvenience caused.
10.Taking Feedback from the customers provides a clearer picture of the problem and also proves helpful in rectifying any defects in the working of the system. It might also provide with some innovative and creative ideas to help grow with the society.
We learn from our mistakes and an unsatisfied customer is the result of a mistake.
The company should know how to solve such mistakes and learn from them, also adapt to the changes it brings along to grow and to walk on the same path as their customers.