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Guest post by: Action Coach Become an Author

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I love those little videos you see in the Financial Post that talk about whether the customer is always right.

Here is what I tell my coaches and clients: the short answer is ‘No’.

Most customers mean well, but some don’t. Over the course of your career(s), you will hopefully meet thousands of customers and potential customers. But some of them—I would say 1 to 2 %–will not be nice. Or fair. So you have to be careful.

BUT: In general, you should treat each customer complaint as a gift. If you run a business and Customer X tells you he doesn’t like Policy Y, chances are he is speaking on behalf of quite a few other customers. You can’t afford to ignore that kind of feedback.

So when a customer calls, really listen (easy to say—not so easy to do). Like I said above, there are some cranks out there who just want to cause trouble. But most of the time, their complaint to you is a gift: a chance to get feedback on your business at no cost!

When a customer calls you to complain, here is what to do:

1) LISTEN: take everything in, write everything down. Encourage your customer to tell you everything that happened—time of day, day of the week, who they dealt with, how it was dealt with.

2) ASK what they would like to see or hear. Some people are just calling to vent. Some are calling for a refund. Some are very angry and want to see someone’s head on a platter.

3) LOOK into the situation. Get their number and tell them you will call them back the same day. And make sure to make that call.

4) IF THE CUSTOMER WAS WRONG, call them back and thank them for calling. Explain your side of the story. If they are satisfied, great. If they are not, try to meet them halfway.

5) IF THE CUSTOMER WAS RIGHT, and you or your staff did mess up, call them back and apologize. For some, that will be more than enough. Others will want discounts or free products or services. Again, try to meet them halfway.

Above all, DON’T hope the complaints go away. It could be the problem is you, or your policies, or your staff.

GM went broke because they stopped listening to their customers—do you want that?

ActionCOACH Paul Thornhill

905-642-9549

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