5 Methods for Dealing with Unhappy Customers
–No matter how hard you try, your business will be faced with customers who are unsatisfied with the products or services they receive. This could have a detrimental effect on your company, particularly if unhappy clients voice their displeasure in a public setting.
If this happens, negative reviews could result in scaring away potential customers from your business. Plus, even if they’re not publicly vocal with their complaints, it could still harm your business if they file a lawsuit.
As a result, there are many different aspects to consider in ensuring unhappy customers don’t cause significant damage to your company. Below are five helpful methods for dealing with the issue:
Make it right
When possible, you should always strive towards fixing any problems brought up by customers. To start with, understand why they are unhappy. What did your business do that caused them to complain? What resolution, if any, do they expect from your company?
Even if the customer isn’t always right, you should always take into account their feedback. Then it’s a case of using this feedback and going above and beyond to rectify the objection.
Avoid automation
While automation is often judged favorably due to how it can save businesses a lot of time, there’s a time and place for this function. For example, a peeved customer will want to talk to a real person rather than deal with an automated email or AI chatbot.
When possible, avoid the automation and contact forms, and have someone ready to discuss any issues customers might have. This personalized attention will show that you care and are willing to hear about their grievances.
Turn a negative into a positive
If the customer places a negative review of your business on the Internet, don’t simply sit there and let it fester. Instead, respond to the adverse review. Do so with a reasoned and professional tone. Sympathize with the issue and offer a solution.
When this is done, others will often pay greater attention to your response than the review, and they will have greater respect for your business as a result.
Have the right insurance coverage
Sometimes, it is simply not enough to solve a customer problem with kind words and propositions. The issue might even develop to the point that it results in a negligence claim or civil lawsuit.
Before this affects your business, you should sign up for professional liability insurance. With this insurance, you are protected against any professional-related mistakes that lead to customer protests. For example, if you run a home inspection company, a client might complain if you failed to identify a structural issue. As it was a mistake, the professional liability insurance will protect you from needing to pay a customer a sizeable settlement.
For coverage against accidents, this should also be paired up with public liability insurance.
Learn from the experience
Once you have dealt with the negative feedback, you might feel this is the end. However, you should always learn from the experience and build upon the services/products you offer. By doing this, you have the chance to limit the possibility of customers complaining about the same point in the future.
