How to successfully manage customer complaints & turn them into returning clients
Unfortunately in most businesses, whether online or physical, there are complaints from customers, and these are a serious issue that is not easy to manage. Knowing how to respond to claims is very important because an answer can make you lose customers or build loyalty and help your business grow.
First of all you must take into account that complaints, although they are unpleasant, are an opportunity to:
Know the customer’s opinion: There are several customers who never complain and when they decide to do so, you can take advantage of it to know what you are failing and what you should change.
Strengthen your relationship with the client: This is an opportunity for your client to feel listened to and show your interest in attending to him, in addition to satisfying his needs you have the opportunity to go beyond his expectations.
And as you know, the best way to resolve a contingency is to be prepared to prevent it from becoming a bigger problem, in this post we will give you some tips on how to successfully manage those complaints and claims that you will have to deal with at some point .
The keys to success before an unhappy customer
Planning
Of course the best way to solve a problem is to do things right from the beginning, but when things go wrong it is important that your staff is prepared to react properly. That is why we consider planning as the first rule.
Each of the employees of your online store that have a direct relationship with the client, must be trained to effectively address a complaint, have a relaxed attitude and show interest in solving problems.
Adopt a positive attitude
As you know, the basis of the service is attitude. Without a positive attitude that helps an annoying customer to accept solutions you will never make your business grow.
Personal attention
Try to treat the customer personally, listen to them and give them a personalized response, the customers are already fed up with the typical cold and calculating solution. Do not be afraid of criticism and pay attention to all the opinions you receive. In return for this your business will improve and your customer service will become more and more effective; No matter that the latter is good, it can always be improved. Take these points into account for more personal attention:
- Listen carefully: although it seems obvious, pay attention to the nonconformity and capture the important parts of it, it is vital to avoid confusion.
- Do not take negative comments personally: The most important thing to deal with complaints is not to take personal comments, it is true that there are difficult clients to deal with, but the intention should always be to fix the discontent and not create a discussion.
- Establish empathy: Putting yourself in the shoes of the client is comforting and helps to reassure him. Use phrases like “I’m sorry this happened …”, “I understand how you feel …”, etc.
- Ask effective questions: If necessary, ask questions that allow you to understand the problem and its causes, this will also be a great help to know from what point you should try.
Personal attention is essential, as the needs of customers are constantly changing, by treating it as one more you will risk even greater discontent and will surely change your confidence in a business that meets your expectations. The idea is that you are that business.
Offer a satisfactory solution
When resolving a client’s claim, look for a solution that benefits both parties, this will show that your company knows how to react and increases customer loyalty.
The problem of a client must be a priority, so act immediately. Delaying the solution will make the situation complicated. If it is necessary to delegate the actions so that it is solved, do it quickly and highlight the sense of urgency.
Offering the client some additional compensation to compensate for the bad experience is a great help. Not everything has to be monetary, depending on each situation you can offer different things such as discounts or courtesies in the next purchase, be creative and reconcile with that client to return.
Monitor
Finally, contact the customer a few days later to confirm that your problem was satisfactorily solved and verify if you can help him with something else. This will give you points in favor so that the client feels cared for and will make your problem be minimized thanks to the attention you provided.
I hope that these tips will help you so that the problems do not affect the level of customer satisfaction and the image of your online business is strengthened.
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