Customer complaints are an unavoidable challenge for any business to confront, but knowing how to deal with them can do more than save sales—they also build customer loyalty. In that vein, 7 Steps for Dealing with Angry Customers (Forbes, 2013) has some key customer service tips, including the core tenets like, “Actively sympathize,” “Apologize Gracefully,” and “Find a solution.” These tips can be further strengthened when put through the lens of the “Feel, felt, found” technique, as we’ll outline here:
To begin, sympathizing might be the most crucial step of the three because, as the Forbes article notes, the customer “wants to know you understand where he’s coming from and how he or she feels.” Affirmation is a powerful feeling, and it can be therapeutic and cathartic for a customer when he or she has been aggrieved. Even repeating back what the customer said to signify understanding goes a long way. A smart business knows it must focus heavily on developing empathetic customer service, as it will lead its employees to be less confrontational and more solutions-oriented. The “Feel, felt, found” technique emphasizes this as well, stating it as, “First empathize with them, telling them that you understand how they feel.” Doing so puts you in “harmony with them to create a rapport.” Once you’ve done, that actual process of addressing a complaint becomes that much easier.
The next tip Forbes outlines is about apologizing. This is where the idea of taking ownership comes into play, and it goes a long way towards ensuring a customer stays your customer. And while it may not be about admitting fault in every circumstance, it is absolutely about taking responsibility regardless. The “Feel, felt, found” technique underlines the importance of moving “the focus to a more objective place which they are likely to trust more” by telling “them about somebody who felt the same way.” Not only does this re-frame the problem, this reassures the customer that you’re prepared to help him.
Finally, when it comes to finding a solution, Forbes recommends asking the customer “what he feels should be done or put forward your own fair and realistic answer to the problem.” The “Feel, felt, found” technique takes this to a specific place by offering solutions that other customers have taken and been satisfied with, presenting the customer with an opportunity to make “them a part of a group such that they do not feel alone.” Indeed, offering a customer a choice between multiple solutions gives him a sense of power and control, and will help him feel like a partner in solving a problem, and framing it this way will let him feel like this is reasonable because others have opted to do so.
The biggest takeaway is that you must take customer complaints head-on, empathizing with customers, taking ownership of problems, and offering solutions. Following through with these tips and possessing this mindset will save sales, secure customer loyalty, and ultimately grow your business. For all the hard work your business puts into perfecting its products and services, and it puts into training its employees, you won’t please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Knowing what to do when that time comes is a critical skill every business must possess.
To ensure your employees have the tools and training necessary to execute on these principles, contact us at The Brandt Group, your resource for customer service specialization.
