by Lisa Bjurstrom

Created on: November 11, 2009

Debbie worked in customer service for the same company for 16 years. She knew the product, the supply chain, and the people. Then, out of nowhere, she was let go. The whole customer service group was let go in favor of having a 3rd party call center do the work. After a few months, she was asked to come back, along with only 2 others. The call center was over-run with dissatisfied customers. Debbie came back to spend months speaking with upset customers, many of whom had to wait several weeks for a resolution due to the backlog of complaints.

While not everyone who deals with consumers must take complaints on a daily basis, there are situations that will arise and require immediate attention. The next time your phone rings, it could be an angry man demanding a refund for a defective product. Or a woman will walk into the store and tell you that she will never buy from your store again and you do not know how to treat customers properly. These people will skewer your company and may give you a verbal beating. Take a deep breath and move on.

The most important thing to do when faced with a customer's complaint is to listen. Customers are human. They have feelings. They deserve the same courtesy that you do. Your customer is upset for a reason and you owe it to them to get to the heart of it. Ask questions, and listen for both the facts and the feelings involved in the situation. This will help you in finding a solution for your customer. It also shows respect.

Listening may also bring your company more knowledge. Your customer sees the end result of your product and service. They may know things that you do not. Your customer's experience may show you a glitch in your web ordering system that you were not aware of. They may have found a flaw in your product that was undetected in the quality process. When looking at the big picture, these complaints may be good for the company.

Your business would not survive without customers, so it's always frightening to hear those who say they will never patronize your business again. This is not the time to throw in the towel! People ask Why did this happen and what are you doing to be sure it doesn't happen again? If the company was at fault, explain what went wrong and what steps are being taken to correct it. Always put yourself in the customer's shoes. If this happened to you, how could the company get you to purchase again? And, above all, apologize. Your company's apology can go a long way.

Finally, follow up with your customer to be sure you were able to rectify the issue. The additional personal contact will show the customer that your truly care about their situation. It will paint both yourself and your company in a better light.

Your goal when answering customer complaints is to make the customer happy, and if possible, keep your customer's business. Debbie was able to keep many of her customers by listening patiently, apologizing and explaining, and following up with them. One day at work, a card was delivered addressed to Debbie in Customer Service. It was a short hand-written note from a customer she had spoken to a few weeks earlier, thanking her for taking the time to help her. It is not easy to deal with customer complaints, but it will be worth it.

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