Good business is all about happy customers, and in the event a customer is unhappy about something, it calls for a very diplomatic response. As we all know, bad news travels fast, and a complaining customer can cause your reputation to be negatively impacted, all those years of hard work count for nothing when bad things are being said.
Professional Training
This is the only way to ensure that your staff have the tools to diffuse any volatile incident, and, of course, the customer is always right, even when they are wrong! Every employee gains from objection handling training, and with online courses that are downloadable, you can hone your employees’ diplomatic skills that will go a long way towards maintaining that high level of customer satisfaction your company is known for.
Key Points
When training your staff regarding customer issues and responses, you need to focus on the following:
- Create an Objection Handling Model – To listen, comprehend and respond appropriately
- Analysing the Various Forms of Dissatisfaction – Working out responses
- Role Playing Scenarios –These are the best way to teach someone how to respond when a customer is unhappy, and the more practice your staff have, the better.
The Importance of Listening
When a customer is telling you what they are unhappy about, you need to listen carefully, and by trying to keep things positive, you are also helping to reduce the customer’s anxiety. If you are unsure what the problem is, politely ask questions to confirm what you don’t fully comprehend and always maintain an audible concern, so the customer feels they are being treated with respect. There is also an informative article with tips on how best to deal with a customer complaint, which is a recommended read for all managers.
The Right Response
Obviously, this is the key to a successful outcome, and it is not a good idea to have this discussion with other people around, so offer the customer a seat in your office or a quiet corner. Of course, the response very much depends on the nature of the complaint, and in some cases, the employee has little authority to make a decision. If you are competent at dealing with customer complaints, you can turn it into a positive outcome, which is what you really want to happen.
Downloadable Training Materials
An online search will help you find a company that provides a wide range of business training courses, including the difficult task of dealing with an unhappy customer. Is it worth the small fee for the training course? The short answer is most definitely a yes, as sooner or later there will come a day when this problem arises, and with all of your staff having training on how best to respond, you will minimise the damage and possibly turn it into an advantage.
Once you have made a secure online payment and downloaded the training material, you have everything you need, including trainer’s notes and printable handouts, and the course can be used as many times as you like, and after the training is over, you could ask a good friend to cause an issue to see first-hand how the employees deal with it.