You have likely encountered a customer who has had a bad experience with your company. It can be tricky, but handling it with care and tact is essential to ensure you can salvage the relationship and possibly even turn things around. In fact, sometimes it was their lack of communication and follow-through that caused the issue and not your company's fault, but it still needs to be solved.
Not long ago, a client of mine had to work with a customer who had a bad experience with his company. My client listened to his customer's concerns, acknowledged them, and worked with his customer to come up with a solution that addressed those concerns. The solution offered was exactly what was discussed during their onboarding. The client had all the resources and tools to fix their own issues, they just didn't do their part. However, after gently guiding them back through the solution, the customer continued their business with the company, despite being dissatisfied previously. The customer was impressed with my client's commitment to customer service and was willing to work with his company again.
Let's break down how you can handle negative customer experiences just as my client did.
Obviously, we need to let them vent their frustrations and actively listen to what they have to say. This not only shows that you care about their experience, but it also gives you valuable insight into what went wrong and how you can improve moving forward. There's a time to listen and a time to offer a solution. Realizing that when someone is emotional, they really are not ready to handle a logical solution. Let time be your ally in this situation by placing time between their emotions and a solution.
Please note, acknowledgment does not equal agreement! However, don't try to brush it off or pretend it didn't happen. Instead, apologize for any inconvenience or frustration they may have experienced.
Next, taking ownership of the situation is essential. You may not be the one that can actually solve the problem, but you are responsible for the communication between the person that can and the customer. Set the right expectations of what is going to happen next, make that happen, and then communicate with the customer. Be sure to continue to set time expectations so they know when they will hear from you next.
Finally, after the problem has been resolved, remember that when there is a problem, there are always two things to fix:
- The problem, of course.
- The person!
If we only fix the problem, but not the person, it's highly possible that they will decide not to do business with you in the future because they were not fixed. Think about this: Have you ever had a problem with a company that was very frustrating and took up your valuable time? Eventually, the problem was fixed, but you vowed never to do business with that company again? If so, then you know what I mean. Fixing the person can involve an outreach from a person of authority at your company, recognizing the problem, and letting them know you are aware of the situation and will ensure it won't happen again. Offering some type of additional service or resource to them personally will go a long way to repairing the relationship!
No company is perfect, but having a process in place to work through customer issues will create a unique experience that will go far in retaining your customers.
Clint Babcock
Clint has nearly 25 years of experience developing and directing organizations' recruiting and sales strategies, as well as coaching and mentoring "C-level" executives. His expertise is in training inside and outside consultative sales teams in new business development, profit and loss management, sales compensation, key account management, and product/service positioning. Specialties include corporate sales training, public speaking, hiring assessments, and business development structuring.
