There are right and wrong ways to respond to negative customer feedback. It is important to develop the proper methods to ensure the success of your business. Today, customer feedback is a vital part of business development. Thanks largely in part to social media and customer feedback sites, people today are better informed about business practices and are eager to share their customer service support experiences with others.
- The first thing you need to do is disarm an angry customer. Speak to them in a calm and pleasant manner. Let them know you appreciate their feedback and are here to listen to their concerns. When they know you will listen, in most cases, the customer will calm down, and become less agitated and aggressive.
- Next, get to the heart of their issue. Ask probing questions to find out what truly is wrong. Sometimes customers let their daily lives get wrapped up into consumer transactions, so the real problem could be something that is going wrong in their life, not you or your business.
- Remember to be empathetic, but avoid apologizing too many times. Saying you are sorry constantly can come across as condescending to some people. Simply apologizing once at the beginning of the conversation should be sufficient.
- Use public and online forums correctly. Sometimes picking up the phone and calling the customer is a better solution than communicating in public and online forums. Also, take advantage of sending messages privately rather than publicly on feedback sites in cases where you are attempting to reach out and provide the customer with your direct phone number.
- You also need to remember it is impossible to please every customer all of the time. There are bound to be certain customers who cannot be satisfied no matter what you do. However, your efforts should be noted and made public, if applicable, on social media and feedback sites so others can see you made an attempt to resolve the customer’s problem.
For help in developing effective customer support and service methods for dealing with negative customer feedback, please call Always Answer at 1-800-606-9898 today.
