The Art of Taking Complaints: A blog about how to take complaints from customers and turn them around.

The Art of Taking Complaints

You’re wrong, but I’ll still help you.

We all hate it when people complain to us. However, if we handle it in the right way, this can actually lead to a better relationship with the customer! Here are some tips on how to improve your customer service:

1 Listen carefully to what the customer is telling you. They want you to hear their point of view and they want you to acknowledge their feelings.

2 Don’t interrupt, or argue, or try to justify yourself in any way. It’s not about who’s right and who’s wrong – it’s about making sure the customer leaves happy.

3 If you know that there is something that needs improving then say so. Customers appreciate honesty and they will be reassured if they know you are aware of a problem and are working on solving it.

4 Always repeat back what the customer has said, especially if there are several points that need addressing. This shows that you have understood their complaint and will also give them an opportunity to add anything else they wanted to say.

5 When apologizing for the situation, don’t

We are all in the business of customer service, even if we don’t know it. I have been a Customer Service Representative for over ten years, and I can tell you what I have learned: we all hate to be on the other end of the phone or e-mail when a customer is complaining. We think that nothing will ever satisfy them, and that they are looking for someone to blame.

We’ve all heard horror stories about customers who complain to anyone who will listen. Customers who call in every day with new problems to report, customers who post angry messages on Facebook or Twitter, customers who write letters of complaint to newspapers. But what if there was a way to turn these angry customers into happy ones? There is a formula to this, and it takes patience and practice.

But first, we have to understand why people complain in the first place. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “Complaining is a form of communication that expresses dissatisfaction with something or somebody. It can range from making a small comment about something that does not seem right to filing an official complaint through an established process.” So why do people do it? The answer is simple: humans like to express their feelings and emotions, even negative ones

When I worked at Google, we used to have a saying: “Everything is broken.” We meant that everything can be improved, in ways that might not be obvious. When taking a complaint from a customer, for example, you should be thinking: “How can we stop this from happening again? How can we make our customers feel like nothing is wrong?”

If you are often on the receiving end of customers’ complaints and find it hard to control your emotions, take some time to think about how you might respond in a more positive way.

Here are some tips for responding to complaints that will help you to stay calm and treat customers with respect, whilst being efficient in solving their problems.

1. Take your time. Often taking a small amount of extra time at the start of dealing with a complaint can make all the difference. Try to find out as much information as possible before responding. If someone is angry, they may not be able to explain everything they would like to say all in one go – allow them to finish what they are saying before asking questions or commenting on anything they have said in order to get a full picture of the situation.

2. Remain calm and positive. If someone has taken the time and effort to make a complaint, respond in kind by letting them know you are taking them seriously and will do everything you can to help solve their problem. Never use emotional language or personal insults: even if a customer is being unreasonable, remember that you will come across as more professional if you remain calm yourself.

3. Get into detail and offer solutions. Once you understand the full situation, try to offer

Following a complaint, there are three possible outcomes:

1. The situation remains the same.

2. The situation gets better.

3. The situation gets worse.