26 Sep How To Deal With Complaints
Are you a self help book junkie? If you are, you would have heard all the tips about “mirroring language” to enhance communication outcomes and even though this is true, it can be really hard to put it into practice in a business setting. For instance, how do you mirror the language of an irate customer? Mirroring isn’t always appropriate but what is, is being authentic. Less and less business is being transacted face to face and even less are complaints. Angry customers are much more likely to unleash a torrent of abuse in an email or on social media compared to when they are looking you in the eye. This can make it difficult for the Owner to break down the wall and solve the customer’s problem (remember, solving the problem is always the aim). It is up to the Owner to put a human touch on the situation again. Being too formal or too friendly will generally aggravate the situation, the aim is to bring it back to a neutral state. Reply in a conversational tone, not too casual and not too stiff. Ensure the customer understands that you understand what their problem is and that you genuinely want to make things better. Genuine is the key word here. If you have the customer’s contact number, try and call them and discuss over the phone. Wherever possible, you want to take the conversation away from being written. It is just too difficult to defuse a situation using a keyboard. There is no body language, facial expressions or tonal changes to fully grasp where the problem lays. Depending on the issue, it may be worth replying and stating that you would like to discuss this properly and to set up a time to talk. This is especially wise if the complaint looks like it could escalate and you need to solve it immediately. Though truthfully, all complaints should try to be solved immediately, or at least as soon as possible.
In addition to the above, the next most important thing to remember is to not play pass the parcel with the customer. The person that receives the complaint should (ideally) be the person that solves it. If this is a frontline employee, so be it. There is no need to escalate it to management if the customer is going to feel like they are just being pushed from person to person. Have the employee discuss all angles with upper management about the complaint and then let them handle it. Only then, if the customer is still not happy, should it be escalated.
Complaints are normal. But that doesn’t mean you have to deal with them normally, be extraordinary!
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