Quicken Home And Business Article
One of the greatest things to learn in home business is how to handle your angry customers. And further more, to cherish them as an opportunity to learn by listening to the feedback...
When Customers Complain.
You will not have to wait too long before you get your first complaint. In any business, including a home business, low end customers pay nothing and expect the Earth, while high end ones pay a lot but expect an inhuman effort in return. It is unrealistic to expect to please all of the people all of the time, even if you run yourself ragged trying. So what can you do about it?
Try Not to Be Rude or Dismissive.The customer might seem stupid to you, or even insulting, but that should not mean that you can respond in the same way. You must treat every customer complaint seriously, and always act as if it is 100% your fault that things were not to their satisfaction.
Remember that every unhappy customer will talk about their experience to your potential customers (research varies, but some say that they might tell as many as 20). Those potential customers won't get to hear your side of the story. Going the extra mile to keep unreasonable customers happy is, above all else, a defensive technique to prevent them from damaging your business. Actively seek out to know your customers complaints. In this way, you get a good chance to put things right before they tell anyone and it is a great opportunity to improve your processes.
Write a Letter of Apology.People will really appreciate the effort you have gone to if you take the time to write them a formal letter of apology, and say that you are sorry. Tell them that you wish things had been to their satisfaction and you appreciate them taking the time to tell you so that you can improve.
For example:
Dear Sir,
It has come to my attention that you weren't happy with the service you received from my home business company in respect of the delivery of items to your home. We have now contacted our delivery service and fixed the issue, although I understand that this came too late to avoid inconveniencing you.
I would like to sincerely apologise to you for the bad experience you have had with my company, and hope that this will not harm our chances of doing business together again in the future.
Make sure you sign the letter yourself, in pen. People hate seeing letters with printed signatures on.
Offer a Partial Refund.The closing part of your letter should offer a refund of as much as you can afford to give, for example, where there was a problem with delivery, you should offer to refund the full cost of delivery, plus a little extra to cover the inconvenience.
In this way, you can turn your dissatisfied customers into some of your most satisfied ones. They will tell everyone they know that there was a small problem that was not your fault, and they probably complained too harshly, but you handled it courteously and sent them a refund.
Having people know that you respond well to complaints is some of the best word-of-mouth marketing you can get in your own business. What's more, that customer you treated well is surprisingly likely to come back and do business with you again, although, of course, they will be very annoyed if things go wrong the second time.
Do Some Complaining Yourself.A large amount of the time, when a customer complains about something, the problem was not caused by you, it was some kind of problem with your supplier, or someone else you rely on. Of course the customer wont know this, but you do, and you need to do something about them.
Write them a letter of complaint, like the following:
Dear Sir or Madam,Due to your service being unavailable this week, I have received the attached customer complaints. I hope you will understand that I am very displeased, and I am currently considering alternative suppliers.
With this letter, enclose a copy of every customer complaint you got thanks to them. Your supplier will often be eager enough to keep you on as a customer that they will offer some kind of compensation, which you can then pass on to your customers, or use to cover the cost of refunds you have already given them. Just remember, you are their customer too!
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