Few things have a greater impact on a company’s reputation than how it handles complaints and unsatisfied consumers. Customer service has always been a crucial element in developing brand loyalty.
Now that the Internet and social media provide your consumers a forum to share information about their daily lives, providing excellent customer service is much more important.
Consumers may now publicly discuss their experiences more easily than ever before, and how you respond to dissatisfied customers can decide what they say about you in the future. So, what can you do to ensure that you respond properly to an unsatisfied customer so that you both have the best possible experience?
Is there a method to turn unsatisfied consumers into assets for your company? That, instead of seeing them as a problem, you see them as an opportunity.
Here are some ways for turning unsatisfied customers into a beneficial factor for your company:
- Make Your Customers Feel Heard
- Do All That You Can to Delight Your Unsatisfied Customer
- Damage Control
- Build a Positive Reputation
- Assist Your Team in Resolving Bad Service Experience
- Seize the Chance for Improving
1. Make Your Customers Feel Heard
All the complaints have the same premise, something was supposed to happen but didn’t. A product fails to function, a repair person fails to arrive on time, and an expectation is not met. In any case, your client was inconvenienced. The consumer will surely be upset by the time the problem becomes bad enough for them to contact you.
When you respond to a unsatisfied customer by rushing to find a solution, you risk aggravating the situation and making the consumer even more irritated. The consumer is in a highly emotional state when they are disappointed or furious with a company or product, so the first thing you should strive to do is bring them into a more agreeable state of mind.
Often, a dissatisfied consumer is more concerned about feeling understood. However, if you jump to a solution right away, the customer will not feel as if you actually listened to their problem.
We all want to feel special, so take the time to listen to the customer’s issue, even if it’s a common one. This can be accomplished by acknowledging not only the facts of the issue, but also how they felt about it.
You can start by changing your languages or wordings in customer service chats, calls, emails, or messages. Such as try to use “We find it usually works best when . . .’’ instead of ‘‘You need to . . .’’ because this makes them think they need to do something when they are your customer, they are the ones who used your service or products. Or use ‘‘Our records show a balance of . . .’’ instead of ‘‘You owe . . .’’
While it’s normal to become defensive when someone criticizes your product or service, you can gather useful information from the complaint and potentially transform a hostile caller into a loyal customer.
Nobody will ever be more truthful to you than a dissatisfied customer. It also gives you the opportunity to learn whether any internal processes need to be improved when dealing with customers, so take careful notes.
2. Do All That You Can to Delight Your Unsatisfied Customer
There is no denying that there are some problems that are more difficult to fix than others. You may not always be able to undo a mistake. However, you can always find a way to make it up to the consumer. The extent to which you do so will go a long way toward changing a dissatisfied consumer into your most loyal customer.
Going above and beyond to meet a customer’s needs helps them feel valued, appreciated, and in charge. Whenever possible, go above and beyond what your consumer has requested. You may make them feel like your most valued customer by going above and beyond their expectations, or even if it’s just a slightest one.
Turning unsatisfied consumers into loyal customers will have a significant impact on your repeated orders. Everyone understands that difficulties arise, that items break down from time to time, and that service providers occasionally fail. What makes the difference is how you compensate for the inconvenience. Your ability to put things right sets you apart from your competitors. Customers will return to your brand time and time again if they know you’ll take care of any issues that occur.
3. Damage Control
There used to be a regular rule that claimed they would tell ten of their friends when they experience a terrible customer service. However, that was before smartphones, social media, and internet became a standard practice.
In today’s instant-access, multimedia world, one unsatisfied customer can reach literally thousands of others, making their complaint about your business go viral.
Regrettably, it appears that negative comments are more contagious than favorable ones. You’ve probably seen videos of customer support representatives who escalated problems by being disrespectful, not listening, and failing to resolve the complaint.
4. Build a Positive Reputation
An unsatisfied customer who change into a happy one, on the other hand, becomes even more loyal than a satisfied customer. In other words, when we’ve had an issue and it’s been satisfactorily resolve, we’re even happier than if we’d never had the problem in the first place. Even better, when a frustrated customer receives excellent service, they are more inclined to tell their friends about it, partly because it portrays them in a positive way.
Customers will be encourage and happy to spread the story if you delight them by fixing their issues and then exceeding their expectations.
Everyone is delighted to share the news about how unique and valuable they are that a company went out of its way to assist them. Customers will share their great experiences on social media, which your business could re-post.
Nothing beats enthusiastic and genuine client testimonials for boosting your brand’s reputation. Remember that every confrontational or angered customer interaction provides an opportunity to build a long-term beneficial relationship.
5. Assist Your Team in Resolving Bad Service Experience
“Do you mind if I talk with a manager?” This is one of the unmistakable signs that a consumer has a problem with your company. However, the chain of command, authority, and approvals required to resolve customer complaints might cause the process to take longer. Then, leaving the consumer frustrated rather than delighted with the outcome.
Not all your customers’ complaints are your faults. But, you must accept responsibility for whatever role you played in the problem. Don’t point the finger at the customer; that will just make them angrier. So, instead of highlighting the aspects of the problem in which your company was involved. You can let the client know that you are aware of your role in the situation.
Then, express regret for the customer’s negative experience. Be sincere and authentic in your response while remaining professional. Let the customer know how much you value them and apologize for any inconvenience. In your communication with the customer, avoid being rude, or impatient. Put yourself in their shoes and show them how much you care. A sincere apology can go a long way toward easing any resentment your consumer may have. It could also preventing a negative review.
While an apology is always be appreciate, sometimes it is not enough to really recover from a terrible service experience. It’s usually ideal to present a practical solution to thoroughly fix the issue with the customer. Depending on the severity of the problem, many businesses will give a discount, a refund, or a complimentary future product or service package.
6. Seize the Chance for Improving
Your job isn’t done yet once you’ve finished talking to your now-converted pleased consumer. Remember those notes you scribbled down during your phone call ? Dissatisfied clients are an invaluable source of accurate information about your company. Which you need to develop and differentiate yourself from the competition.
Each complaint is just like having an undercover operative pointing out potential concerns of your company. If one dissatisfied client complains, how many more have had a similar problem but haven’t complained?
You can avoid potential problems by attending each individual complaint. Alternatively, if there is a more fundamental problem at hand, you can address it before it escalates. Common customer complaints can show areas where your company needs to improve and point you in the right direction so you can keep improving your product or service. You can aid even more customers by using complaints as input for enhancing your business.
You may achieve the best possible outcome by actually listening to your unsatisfied consumers. Even better, you may turn a bad customer service into an opportunity to generate beneficial change and growth for your company. You now understand that every complaint is an opportunity to reduce future bad reputation and how to turn a dissatisfied consumer into a dedicated and loyal fan ones who will spread the word about your outstanding services.
So, the next time you have a dissatisfied customer on your hands, smile and really say, “Thank you for reaching out.”
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