Sure, it’s never your intention to have an unhappy customer—but it happens! Sometimes a client or customer is just not thrilled and you need to salvage the relationship.
How can you do this? It comes down to implementing some customer service best practices. These are things that anyone can do, as long as you are intentional and sincere about turning things around.
The secret formula to turn unhappy customers into happy ones is threefold: mindset, communication, and action. Let’s dive in!
Mindset
Before you even talk to the unhappy client, you’ve got to check yourself first. Say you receive a complaint from a client or had some bad reviews—what do you do? Take a few moments to get in the right mindset before doing anything.
A good customer service mindset includes:
- Genuine interest and curiosity about what the problem was and where things went wrong.
- Sincere intention to fix things and make them right.
- Plenty of “benefit of the doubt”—things might be a simple misunderstanding!
- Humility to admit any mistake you may have made.
- A sense of humor and levity—while it’s an important situation to deal with, it’s not the end of the world!
At the end of the day, you want to make your customers happy. And that starts with you. Approach the problem with a positive mindset and customer service focus. It also helps if you’ve already added a sense of calm to your workspace to ensure you’re in a positive headspace!
Communication
Once you’re in the right headspace, make sure you communicate well. Communication is always important, but even more so when there is an issue or problem. Tough talks at work happen between colleagues often, but there is an added challenge when it is with a client or customer.
Here are some communication best practices:
- Apologize. You don’t have to go overboard with this, but if you have made an error or mistake, offer a sincere apology. If the customer is unhappy through no fault of your own, you can still offer an apology for the situation or their frustrations.
- Make it easy to contact you. Your email, feedback form, or other contact information should be easily accessible to any customer or client.
- Be timely. This means responding in a timely manner, but also respecting their time. Don’t waste their time by keeping people on hold for hours!
- Listen carefully. Make sure you are truly seeking to understand their concerns. Don’t just listen to respond, but listen to understand.
- Be professional. It goes without saying, you need to remain calm, professional, and polite at all times when communicating with a client!
- Treat them like an individual. Your clients are each unique individuals with their own lives, stories, goals, etc. When speaking to them, make sure you customize your message to their situation. Also, don’t be afraid to engage on an appropriate personal level!
Focusing on communication will go a long way to turn unhappy customers into happy ones. Consider each conversation, email, or message a chance to build a strong relationship. Strong communication will help customers feel valued and heard, which can then resolve any potential frustrations or challenges.
Action
Communication only goes so far—action is needed! Think of it this way: you have a productive phone call conversation with a frustrated customer. At the end, you mention that you will offer a discount on their next order to compensate for their challenges… but you never follow up and do it! Just how do you think that will go over?!
Action is important. It shows customers that you are willing to work for their business.
Here are some action steps you can consider:
- Quickly correct errors and mistakes. If the wrong product or order was sent, make sure to send the correct one right away. Waive any fee associated with changes as well!
- Offer loyalty rewards or discounts. Be generous with your loyal customers by offering something extra that benefits them.
- Follow up in a few weeks. Make sure to reach out to the customer again after a few days or weeks to ensure they are happy with how things were resolved.
- Ask for help. This is an action step that is not connected to your clients but is still important. If you really aren’t sure what to do, ask a trusted mentor or advisor to help you. Finding a mentor can make you a more successful business owner and help you make good decisions.
Throughout the course of your business, you will have unhappy customers—it’s inevitable. But they don’t have to stay that way! If you focus on your own mindset first, communicate well, and take immediate action, you can turn things around.
If you’re interested in finding a flexible workspace for your business, book a tour of The Post today.