3 Best Ways to Successfully Deal with Customer Complaints

For any business, customer complaints are one of the most stressful and difficult things to deal with. It’s tempting to ignore them completely, or at the very least become defensive over your brand or product. However, the trouble with this is both of these options can lead to the dreaded negative review.

These days, just one negative review can have a significant impact on a business. In a time where customers don’t think twice before posting a review, it’s extremely important to make sure you deal with customer complaints in the right way. Here, we’ll look at how your business can successfully deal with customer complaints before they cause you a lot of problems.

1. Ensure you have an efficient customer complaints procedure

The first thing you’ll want to do is check that you have an efficient customer complaints procedure in place. This includes ensuring all staff know what is expected when a complaint is made.

If complaints are made over the phone, it’s easy for information to get lost in translation. It can also prove problematic when you have all calls being directed to the same number. So, a good tip is to invest in a phone call tracking service to determine the intent of the customer. That way, they can be directed to the correct department. You should always have a dedicated customer complaints department.

2. Listen to the complaint and acknowledge the problem

When dealing with complaints, it’s important to listen and acknowledge the problem. Even if you don’t agree there is a problem, it’s important not to become defensive. You’re going to face very irate customers at times. Just let them vent their frustrations and avoid interrupting them. You’ll often find once they have let off steam, they are a lot calmer and easier to please.

Ensuring you acknowledge the problem is extremely important. Either admit to the error, or if you don’t agree, respond by telling them you can understand why they are frustrated. Never tell them they are wrong. Remember, in business, the customer is always right!

3. Try to avoid the formal complaints procedure

Although you’ll obviously want to avoid giving out refunds, sometimes it’s actually cheaper to. If a complaint escalates into a formal complaint, it could end up costing you a lot more than the initial refund.

So, be sure to give your complaints procedure staff the power to offer refunds immediately. By refunding the customer quickly, it’s going to really boost your reputation, turning the complaint into a positive.

Overall, the way you deal with customer complaints can make a huge difference to your business. By responding quickly and correctly, you may even get the opportunity to turn the complaint into a positive review for your company.