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Are You In Business To Help Customers?
Are You In Business To Help Customers? Copyright 2003 Bob Leduc Customers want to believe you are in business to help them. They don't mind if you make a profit by helping them. But they won't buy from you if they believe you are only in ...
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From LAND OF ODDS
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THAT'S ONE NEAT TRICK! TURNING COMPLAINERS INTO LOYAL CUSTOMERS
No matter what business you're in, it never fails. Every so often, you get one of those customers that seems to make an effort to find something to complain about. Maybe they're unhappy with your customer service, accuse you of selling faulty...
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When Customers Complain
You probably won't have been in business too long before you get
your first complaint. It just can't help but happen: low-end
customers pay nothing and expect the Earth, while high-end ones
pay a lot but expect an inhuman effort in return. You just can't
please all of the people all of the time, even if you run
yourself ragged trying -- there will always be someone who's not
happy with what you've done. So what can you do about it?
Don't Be Rude or Dismissive.
The customer's complaint might seem stupid to you, or even
insulting -- but that doesn't mean that you can respond in kind.
You must treat every customer complaint seriously, and always
act as if it is 100% your fault that things weren't 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. Don't be scared of complaints: you should, instead, be
actively soliciting them, to give you a chance to put things
right before they tell anyone.
Write a Letter of Apology.
People will really appreciate the effort you've gone to if you
take the time to write them a formal letter of apology, and say
that you're sorry things weren't 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 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 -- in this scenario, 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 wasn't 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. What's more,
that customer you treated well is surprisingly likely to come
back and do business with you again -- although, of course,
they'll be very annoyed if things don't go well the second time
either.
Do Some Complaining Yourself.
A large amount of the time, when a customer complains about
something, it wasn't caused by you -- it was some kind of
problem with your supplier, or someone else you rely on. Of
course the customer didn't 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 package -- which you can then pass on to your
customers, or use to cover the cost of refunds you have already
given them.
About the author:
James Calvin will show you how to market your product to the
World using the only REAL techniques that make the Internet pay
off. Go to http://www.MillionaireMarketingManual.com NOW. You
may freely distribute or publish the above article as long as
this bio and an active hyperlink are accompanied with it.
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