10 steps for dealing with irate customers

by Richard Vurva

Suppose an angry customer phones one of your customer service representatives to complain about an incomplete shipment. Does your CSR know how to respond? Do you have a plan that your employees follow to deal with angry customers? If not, you should think about developing a more formalized approach for dealing with customer complaints. After all, the fastest way to turn a customer into a former customer is to offer weak excuses and be slow at solving problems. 

Every distributor occasionally has to deal with cranky customers. Such situations require skill, tact and diplomacy in order to avoid damaging or losing a valuable customer relationship. The key to dealing with unhappy customers is to have a clearly defined customer service plan. 

First, you must empower employees to succeed. Many companies pay lip service to empowerment, but few actually empower their employees.

Ron Kaufman, author of “UP Your Service!” writes, “Empowerment exists when employees have the authority to make decisions and take appropriate actions without first seeking approval from others. This frees people to act more quickly, improving customer satisfaction and boosting staff morale.”

Kaufman suggests taking these action steps for empowering your employees:

1) Ask your frontline staff what they can’t do for customers without first getting a manager’s approval.

2) Ask yourself what you might gain if your staff could act immediately.

3) Make sure that any credit risks or financial limits involved with empowering your employees are high enough to be worth the time and effort your administrative procedures will require. Otherwise, let your team do what’s right, right away.

Empowering employees to solve problems quickly builds customer loyalty, enhances your company’s reputation, and promotes the professionalism and positive attitudes of your staff. It’s more cost-effective to build customer loyalty and keep existing customers happy than to continually advertise for new customers. 

Here are 10 ideas you might want to include in your customer service plan.

Let the customer vent.  Give the customer an opportunity to say what’s on his or her mind, and resist the urge to interrupt. Listen carefully to what the customer is saying so you can identify the real problem. Ask questions and focus on finding solutions.

Diffuse the customer’s anger. A CSR can easily become flustered when a customer is yelling into the phone. Diffuse the situation as quickly as possible by focusing on the customer’s needs and wants, not their angry tone.

Apologize for the inconvenience. At this point in the conversation, you don’t know if your company made a mistake or not. It doesn’t matter. The customer is upset and is taking it out on you. Say, “I can tell that you’re upset. I’m sorry you have to deal with this. Let me see what I can do to help.”

Clarify the problem. After the customer explains the nature of the problem, briefly restate it to indicate your understanding of the situation. For example, say, “Let me make sure I understand what you’re saying. You ordered six rotary hammers but you only received five. Isthis correct?”

Be accountable. When a problem arises, resolve it. Avoid placing blame on another department or employee. When you blame someone else for the problem in front of the customer, it only generates more ill feelings toward you and your organization. The customer wants the issue resolved, so be accountable for your organization and provide alternatives in order to fix the problem.

Resolve the conflict immediately. When you delay the resolution of a conflict, it allows more time for people to let the situation fester and create negative feelings. Address a conflict when it arises in order to douse ill feelings before they develop.

Watch your tone of voice. Tone of voice can change the impression or meaning of words more than you realize. There’s a fine line between sounding interested and helpful or bored and condescending. Take deep breaths, smile, and make sure you don’t speak in a monotone.

Use positive language. State what you can do, not what you can’t. Instead of saying, “We don’t accept checks,” say, “We gladly accept cash or credit card.” Instead of saying, “We don’t have any in stock,” say, “I’d be happy to special order that for you.”

Be proactive.  Don’t wait to take action. Customers are anxious to resolve issues. Look for positive solutions to challenging situations. When you delay, it generates more frustration and anger. If you exhibit a genuine concern and a willingness to take immediate action, the customer will remember your positive attitude longer than any negative feelings will last.

Agree on a solution. Clearly explain your solution and gain the customer’s agreement. If there’s more than one potential solution, explain each option and let the customer choose the option he or she likes best.

Bonus suggestion: Make a follow-up telephone call after the solution has been implemented. This simple step demonstrates that you care and shows how important the customer’s business is to you and to your company.

For a self-test to find out hour your company rates, click here.

This article originally appeared in the May/June '04 issue of Progressive Distributor. Copyright 2004.