No matter how hard you try to create the best products and offer the friendliest customer service, you are bound to run into customers who are simply not happy.
These customers might come to you through a complaint on your social media, an angry email, or a bad post online about you or your product.
Facing an angry customer isn't a walk in the park. It's not fun, and can really get under your skin. But what can you do about them?
Angry, frustrated customers are an inevitability. The question is: how do you make sure that these people, whom you've somehow pissed off, start to love you?
It might be easier than you think. 🙂
I've found 3 ways to make sure that your dissatisfied patrons go from being angry at you to realizing the misunderstanding and thinking, "Sorry, you actually rock!"
Interested yet? Keep reading!
1. Be Human and 100% Transparent
If someone would come to me complaining about something like a bug in our software or a delayed support ticket, the last thing I would do would be to beat around the bush and blame it on anyone else.
The best thing to do would be to immediately apologize. Put yourself in their shoes and communicate that you understand the issue. Be open, and don't sweep things under the rug. Say something along the lines of, "You're right, we did it wrong, and if I were you, I would be angry too."
Although, this isn't about defaulting to a "you're right" response.
Be honest about the situation and give a genuine answer to their concerns. If you made a mistake, own up to it. Don't sugarcoat it. You're (probably) human, your team is (also probably) human, and everyone (human or not) makes mistakes.
2. Use Video Responses
Got an angry message? A regular text reply could very easily get lost in translation. Instead of typing out a reply, I try to record a personalised video. A video will help you express your emotions properly, and give a clear-cut rundown of the situation to your customer.
It will take a bit more effort, but your customer will appreciate the time you took to make a video just for them. It'll cool their head a bit, and you will receive a response that is just so much better.
3. Give Them Stuff for Free
If I ever make a mistake, it's always important to apologize. One great thing to go with that apology is an offer for something I can give my customer for free.
(I don't want to receive a barrage of angry messages so you can get free stuff, though!🙁)
It's only fair to give something good back when you make mistakes. You'll find your customer will be more receptive to talking things over if you offer them a gift as a way of apologizing.
Everyone gets their share of customers who are displeased, despite best efforts. Just remember always to be human and transparent with them, admitting everything you've done wrong; send a personalised video response to any angry emails you might get; and to offer them something of value, for free, in exchange for the difficulty you might have unknowingly given them.
These tips will help calm down angry customers, help them be more appreciative of you, and put them (and you) at ease.
Do you have any tips to make angry customers love you? I'd love to hear them. Share them in the comments below!
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