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Companies of all sizes frequently fail to handle customer complaints appropriately.  In the digital era, where complaints can be seen by hundreds, thousands or go viral to millions, it is essential that customer complaints, especially serious ones or ones backed by considerable emotion, are treated seriously and dealt with in a timely manner.

If you are failing to provide good customer service, this should be corrected.  After all, offering decent customer service is neither costly nor overly complicated.  At its core, good customer service can be reduced down to this: listening to the customer, letting the customer know that their complaint has been acknowledged and catalogued, and working to remedy the situation. 

A good positive attitude and staying calm when dealing with irritated or dissatisfied customers can go a long way towards keeping a customer happy and preventing them from spreading negative feedback in a public forum.  Let’s look at five tips for effectively dealing with customer complaints.

Tip #1 – Take a Proactive Stance 

A good attitude and a proactive stance can go a very long way towards calming an unhappy or angry customer. A disappointed customer wants to know that they are being heard and that steps are being taken to remedy their situation. Clearly communicating that you are working to fix the situation and doing so in a positive manner will satisfy most negative customer scenarios.

Tip #2 – Act Quickly to Fix the Problem

Once a customer is calm and is feeling a little better about your company, your next step is to fix the problem.  When you promise to address a problem, you must follow through or risk damaging your company’s reputation.  Failing to follow up on that promise could backfire and leave customers feeling that they were manipulated.

Tip #3 – Always Stay Calm

If a customer writes an email or posts a negative review online, then they are obviously very unhappy. But if a customer is angry enough to pick up the phone and call, you can be fairly certain that the customer is extremely upset. Don’t be surprised if this anger boils over on the phone call. That’s why your customer service people need to be ready to deal with that anger in a calm and collected manner.  Customer service team members or salespeople should never match the anger of a customer.  Instead, they should focus on demonstrating that they are committed to fixing the problem.  It will benefit you to invest in employee training so that employees are ready to deal with angry or disappointed customers.

Tip #4 – Look for Customer Dissatisfaction Problem Patterns

If the same complaints and issues come up again and again, there’s a larger problem you must address.  Don’t dismiss multiple customer complaints from different customers as a “headache.”  Instead, view it as an opportunity to improve your goods and/or services.  Once you have detected a negative customer service pattern, be sure that you and your team move quickly to remedy the problem.  Your business will be stronger for doing so in the long run.

Tip #5 – Track Your Success

Never assume that you have successfully addressed customer service issues until customers have, in fact, verified that the situation is resolved.  That’s why you should follow up with customers and ask for feedback via either questionnaires in the mail, email follow ups, or phone calls.

Customer complaints that are not appropriately addressed can fester and become larger problems.  The time, effort, and money you invest in boosting the quality of your customer service team will yield significant positive results for the long-term.

Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.

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Just as people will form judgments and ideas about you as a person based on first impressions, the same holds true for your company.  It is always best to put your “best foot forward,” and this is true whether we’re talking about your personal life or your business. Periodically, every company should step back and evaluate its initial point of communication with customers and clients.

In today’s digitally interconnected world, it is critical that customers and clients feel as though they are not just being listened to but are being heard.  Emails must be responded to promptly. This is true regardless of whether the email is from a customer requesting more information about your goods or services, or if it’s a message with a question or complaint. If your company is unresponsive, this fact can quickly spread on social media.

Of course, customers and clients still pick up their phones and make calls. While many people’s first impressions of your business are increasingly likely to be via your website, the phone call experience is still important. When callers reach your business, it is vital that they receive a professional and warm reception. Whether the point of contact is a live person or a message, the experience should be a trouble-free and low stress experience. 

Far too many businesses overlook this variable, but you can be quite certain that not all of their competitors do.  Your navigation system should be easy to navigate. If possible, there should be an option to talk to an operator so that callers don’t get lost within frustrating phone labyrinth filled with dead ends. Callers might not remember a positive phone experience, but you can bet that they will remember a stressful one.

When a team member greets a caller, the response should be pleasant and should include some version of “How may I help you?”  Every operator should know company basics, such as your times of operation and the key names of your personnel. They should also demonstrate a willingness to help.  Your team members should understand that their job depends on the success of the company and that they are on the frontlines of maintaining a positive business-customer relationship.  Professionalism is a must, and team members should never lose sight of this fact.

Finally, your key management executives should invest the time to experience your company’s sphere of communication. What is it like to call your company and interact with team members? What improvements could be made? 

In this very digital era, it is important to remember that there is still no replacement for human interaction. When a caller reaches out to your company for information or assistance, it is best to use technology judiciously. Try to opt for the human touch when possible. While the person answering the phones at your business might not be the highest paid person on your payroll, always remember that their job is an essential part of your company’s image.

Copyright: Business Brokerage Press, Inc.

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The post “Hello” is a Key Part of Making the Right First Impression appeared first on Deal Studio – Automate, accelerate and elevate your deal making.