#9: Follow Up
After you’ve said you’re sorry, showed your appreciation and overall gave them the support they were hopefully looking for, consider how else you can help support customers who complain. One way to do this is to have upper management follow up with these customers 24 to 48 hours after they have expressed their complaint. This is simply another way to show them you care, as well as it suggests you still have their complaint and concerns top of mind. You can do this in a handwritten note sent to their home address – if you have this information – or pick up the phone and call them personally. If this is part of your protocol, be sure to ask for these contact details from them so you can use them later.
#10: Move On
When all is said and done, you can’t dwell on customer complaints in order to move on and forward with your next tasks on hand. Most businesses are bound to get them every now and again since very simply, you can’t please everyone. This said, if customer complaints are a normal routine for your business, you need to dwell on them. All businesses, however, should have a plan of attack – no pun intended – to help navigate how to handle customer complaints as seamlessly, professionally and graciously as possible. In return? Customers who give you another chance and tell their friends, family, co-workers and more about the strong customer care they received from your team. This old-fashioned type of marketing never goes out of style, after all.
Nicole LeinbachReyhle is the Author of Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business, as well as the Founder of Retail Minded and the Independent Retailer Conference.
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