No company can avoid it completely. Eventually you?re going to have a customer come in who?s angry with you.
There simply isn?t a way to please everyone, but how you handle a customer who?s mad can do a lot to ease back any potential damage and improve your standing with them in the end.
The first steps are the most basic and can be done before that angry customer ever walks through your door. Creating a friendly office environment will do wonders to prevent any further hostility when a person first walks in. The simple gestures like printing greeting cards or other ways of acknowledging them says from the very beginning that you care about their business and the troubles they?re facing.
Make sure you listen to exactly what the complaint is based on the assumption that the customer is justified in being angry. Don?t jump to any conclusions until you?ve heard everything they have to say.
One of the most important things is to make sure that you don?t confront emotion with more emotion. Stay clam and collected and also be sure that you let them know that you care about the issue they?re bringing up. If you sound too cold and detached they?ll only become more agitated, and if you return their hostility with any of your own, the situation is going to get a lot worse.
Once the problem is known make sure you come up with effective solutions, no matter what the problem may be. If it?s something on your end, do your best to offer them different ways to make things right.
Make sure that you handle everything yourself from beginning to end. Nothing can annoy someone more than the feeling that they?re being passed around from one person to another. I?ve had to deal with it before just as I?m sure plenty of other people have and it isn?t a pleasant feeling. If they know that you?re going to get to the bottom of the issue they?ll be a lot more confident in your companies ability to handle complaints.
Once the initial meeting is over make sure that you follow up with the person. Using postcard printing in combination with postcard marketing to send a response directly to them letting them know that the issue has been taken care of will help coax them into coming back to do additional business with you.
The follow up is particularly important due to the opportunity it gives you. By using postcard marketing you?re taking a greater effort to show them that you care about their concerns, which will not only make them happy, but also give you a person willing to tell their friends about how effectively you handled the situation.
So long as you aren?t surprised when those complaints do pop up you?ll be in a much better position to answer them. If you go above and beyond by printing greeting cards and using postcard printing you?ll not only solve the problem, but gain a strong customer base at the same time.