Dear Reader,
Handling complaints is just as important part of business as customer orders because a complaint well-handled can lead to a better customer relationship. Often, the customer feels they were not given the answers to questions they needed to answer before the questions were asked. Added to this, if someone is complaining in English, how can you make sure that you have everything down right?
The first thing to remember is to thank your customer for telling you about the problem. It shows them that you are listening and has a calming effect. After all, they could take their business somewhere else and not give your company the chance to improve on the situation.
Here is some basic advice:
- Get out pad and pencil and ask the customer to state the problem. (What seems to be wrong?) Besides making the problem tangible, you cannot write as fast as the complaining customer can speak. They will have to wait until you catch up with them, thus causing a calming effect.
- Get your customer to repeat the story several times and note each change in the story. Each time, more important information will appear. (What else? Did I get that right? What happened before/after…? How long has it not been working? Have I left anything out?)
- Often, the complaining customer has been told what to say by someone else – it is more or less a sales presentation. In this situation, you are the buyer who cannot process the complaint unless you can convince someone else of it.
- Fix it right away. Let the customer know when they will be getting a reply and get back to them before that time. If the service or the product is defective, don’t hesitate to replace it, do it over, or give a refund. (I’ll get back to you in the course of the afternoon.
Lastly, discuss the problem, the situation and the solution in your work environment. This information will help others handle the problems later.
Sincerely,
Nelly Thomas