Complaints and inquiries are a certainty for any business. Whether they’re made with the vendor delivering your products or services, the staff member who assisted a customer, or even directly with yourself as the business owner, it’s important that you deal with complaints and inquiries appropriately. Even the best businesses will experience unhappy customers. When that happens, it’s important to remember that complaints can often be your most valuable tool for improving your business by finding out what’s wrong, how others perceive you, and what you can do to keep them loyal.
1. Dig Deeper By Asking the Right Questions
When receiving a complaint or inquiry, it’s important to remember that when dealing with an unhappy customer, you’re not going to be able to make them happy by simply telling them how their problem will be solved. It’s important to dig into the issue and ask questions that will make customers feel as though they’re being heard and start the process of working towards a solution.
2. Identify the Type of Customer You’re Dealing With
It’s important that you find out exactly who the customer is and their part in the complaint process. This can help you assess whether or not a return customer will be lost if a solution isn’t found, and it will also help you know how to deal with them in terms of communication. When receiving a complaint or inquiry, it’s important to identify the type of customer you’re dealing with to address their needs better. It’s helpful to research customer types to develop specific solutions for each type of customer.
3. Respond to the Customer Quickly
It’s important to remember that most customers want to feel as though their complaint or inquiry is being taken seriously. By responding to them as soon as possible, with an update on the status of their problem, you’re showing the customer that you value their business. When handling customer complaints and inquiries, it’s important to respond quickly so that you’re able to maintain their trust. If the issue is a simple one that can be fixed easily, let the customer know exactly what your next steps will be and when they can expect it to be sorted out. Some call center phone systems can even help record and prioritize the most important requests, enabling customer service reps to work more efficiently when responding to complaints and inquiries.
4. Present a Solution and Verify That the Problem is Solved
The most important thing when dealing with a customer is solving the problem. However, it’s also important to make your customers feel like they’re being heard and to address any concerns they may have. The customer wants to know that you’re listening, but what they want most is for their problem to be solved so they can feel the issue was handled properly and thoroughly. If your customer’s issue can be fixed, you must present a good solution. Even if the situation isn’t an easy fix, you should be able to clearly state what your steps will be to provide them with what they want. Again, you mustn’t simply tell the customer that their issue is solved. If a solution isn’t found and a customer is angry, they will often view your business as not giving a damn about it and may not return.
5. Log the Complaint So You Can Track Trends
Logging complaints and inquiries are one of the best ways to track trends and analyze problems. If many customers are complaining about the same thing, you can take action to make sure that it’s addressed. This can also ensure that your business is seen positively and will attract new customers. This will help you learn what parts of your business are causing you the most trouble and can help you identify possible solutions to problems before they happen. It also gives you a place to go back when it comes time to address similar issues in the future.
Final Thoughts
Handling customer complaints and inquiries is a natural part of running a business. It’s important to realize when dealing with unhappy customers that although you do want to solve the problem for them, you also want to communicate with them in a way that makes them feel heard and valued. Your customers want to feel important and necessary to the success fo your business.
