subject: Small Business: Resolving Customer Complaints [print this page] Small Business: Resolving Customer Complaints
Companies that have a complaints resolution team can better serve their customers by forming a set of policies and processes for handling complaints and concerns from customers. Although the service professionals might not be able to instantly turn things around and make an instantaneous sale for the customer who is complaining, they can take the opportunity to turn a bad situation into a good one. If the customer's concerns are addressed and the situation is handled responsibly, it's actually possible to use the negative situation to earn a lifelong, loyal customer.
Many service professionals will tell you that the necessary element to handling these situations satisfactorily is to first deal with the person rather than dealing with the complaint. This can be accomplished by acknowledging the customer's emotions before moving any further. When people come to the point in which they are complaining, they usually have become quite frustrated or even angry and are probably not going to be in a calm and cool state of mind.
In order to address the complaints of the upset customer, service departments should generally try to avoid making any statements that might further agitate the situation. Service providers do not want to say things like, "Well, it wasn't my fault," or "It wasn't me who did it." The customer views the person they are talking to as a representative of the company, and if they feel the company has done something wrong, they are not going to want this person to start defending the actions or the policies of the business.
Shifting blame, blaming the management, blaming the policies of the company or otherwise denying responsibility will only make things worse. Handling the situation in a calm and collected manner and being as apologetic as possible is the best way to begin dealing with a complaint. Then it's possible to move forward and tackle the problem.
