There is always going be a bump on your way to success. Whether you make a wrong business move or a more regular task that seems trivial but stressful. One of those things is handling customers. If you run your online business in the front row, you may have deal with it daily. Some harsh and not so kid's friendly words are often spoken from angry customers. Here are some tips you need to learn how to talk to them in a more professional approach without you getting heated too.
The Right Respond to Customer Complaints
1. Take a Deep Breath
The initial reaction when dealing with complain often is anger. Nobody likes being told that their products or services suck. If that is the state of your emotion, it's best if you don't respond at all. Take a deep breath and step back from it for a few moments. Give yourself a little bit of time to get rid of that negative emotion and look at the complaints once again with a cool mind. This will save you a huge mistake that can cost your business.
2. Identify Who You're Talking To
Evaluate first who is the person that you're talking to. There are many persona that a complaining customer has. They can be a meek customer that they just say things to notify you. You can also face an aggressive customer that are outspoken and say every possible awful things about your online business. Each of that response generally has the same response, what's difference in your patience levels.
3. Maintain a Professional Front
No matter what, that angry customer still is your paying customer. You have to remain professional in your response. Don't give a passive-aggressive responds though, that will leave a bad taste in your clients. Be polite in your language. Make sure that you take a step to apologize to them, even to the unreasonable ones. Maintain a friendly and approachable manner when dealing with them.
4. Acknowledge the Problem
Behind all of that, there is a real problem that needs to be addressed. Listen to your customers pass the harsh words and where they're upset. Is it the difficulty that they face in the product that they purchased, the delivery time that wasn't in the promised time, or what? You need to know all of this. There's improvement to be made in your online business from what they say. Make sure that they feel that they're complaint is being heard.
5. Assist Your Support
From what they say, offer solutions that you can offer from the difficulties that they're facing. There are many ways that you go about with this. There's no real black and white of what you should be doing. If you know their problems, you should be able to suggest some kind of solutions to help your customers. Keep in mind that support means assisting your customers to make them satisfied with your products and services.
6. Flexible in Your Response
If after your assistance they're still unhappy with your solutions, then you need to be flexible in your online business. There are still handfuls of ways to compensate them. Judge it yourself on how big the problem actually is, then find a compensation that you think are equal with the problem. You can give them a gift card, a voucher, discount on future purchases. If the problem is considered to be severe enough you can offer their money back or even the replacement of what they buy.
7. Verify the Resolution
Make a conscious step to make sure that your customer is really satisfied with your support and compensation. You need to make sure that the resolution that you offer has met their needs. It's really important to clear each and every customer to make sure that they have everything covered. Check this by asking questions on whether or not they have more problems unresolved. End the conversation with the invitation that your customers can go to you if they face another problem in the future.
8. Give a Genuine Respect
Treat your customers of your online business with the respect that any human deserves. The moment that you stop talking to them like regular people is the day you start losing customers. Make sure that you talk to them with the most polite and nice language. Avoid using bots as your answering machine. Nobody likes to be ignored and left talking with a bot. You need to take your time and answer every question yourself. Make it into a conversation instead of a stiff. You'll be more relatable that way.
9. Time is of the Essence
When complaining about something, it's so annoying to not get a response right away. This is also the case with your customers. If possible, you need to answers about what they're saying as quick as you can. Sometimes, a quick response to unsatisfied customer saves yourself a big time. They'll be a lot more reliance because you can explain to the problem they're facing quickly. It can cut down their angry level tremendously.
10. Remember, it's Not You
It's a flaw many customer service often failed to address. They take the complaints as a personal attack rather than a criticism of your products. Try to see it from a different perspective instead. Angry customers are your most honest feedback. They're great at telling you what you did wrong. Approach it as your most valuable assets in bettering your online business. Collect those reviews and make them as your free sources of your future business development.
Every complaint from your customers may be different. Make sure that you address each of criticism coming your way with a cool head and patience. Don't neglect it or worse get into a heated argument with a customer. How you respond to a customer reflects your branding, so make sure to make it the best service that your customers experience. People will go back to you if your customer service is good even though they may have a problem with the product.
