By Bill Lee
If you are in business, you will eventually offend a customer, or at least fail to meet the customer's expectations. Now that the damage is done, what is the most effective way to deal with the complaint and keep the customer?
Step 1. Identify with the customer. Never take a customer complaint lightly. Rather, do your homework and make sure that the customer understands that you genuinely care and that you want to do the right thing. Doing the right thing, however, doesn't always mean giving customers what they want; it means making sure you do your best to get both sides of the story and respond appropriately.
One of the best ways to identify with a customer is to ask yourself, "If this had happened to me, how would I feel? What would I think the right thing to do would be?" If you're truthful with your answers, and you respond accordingly, the odds improve that your customer will also.
Step 2: Acknowledge the customer's point of view. Never tell a customer that he or she is wrong, but always respond in such a way that the customer knows that you understand where he or she is coming from. This is best achieved by listening to what the customer has to say and asking questions for clarification.
Step 3: Ask the customer this question: "What would you have us do?" This puts the monkey on the customer's back to tell you what would be fair. It still doesn't mean that you are going to do what has been suggested, but you give the customer an opportunity to offer an opinion.
Step 4: Get input from others whom you respect before you respond.
Ask your supervisor's opinion, a well-respected salesperson or even a fellow businessperson you respect.
What you're looking for here are alternatives to both keep the customer and to avoid putting your company in jeopardy.
Caution: Sometimes doing the "right thing" is not enough to keep a customer. So calculate what it will cost you in terms of gross profit dollars if you and the customer cannot come to terms.
I recall a Colorado lumberyard manager who supplied redwood fascia to a residential builder for his personal home. While the lumberyard did not supply the paint or the painter, the painter that they builder selected used water-based paint on the fascia. When the grain swelled, the builder demanded that the dealer replace the fascia.
The lumberyard was clearly not responsible and the builder's demand was absurd. However, the manager made the decision to replace the fascia because he knew that the builder was the kind of person who would punish him by taking his business elsewhere if he didn't meet the his demands.
What is the right thing to do and what will keep the customer may not always be the same. In this case, the manager looked upon the cost of replacing the redwood fascia as an investment. His goal was to do whatever was necessary to ensure that he would retain this customer's business.
Bill Lee is author if 30 Ways Managers Shoot Themselves in the Foot ($21.95) and Gross Margin: 26 Factors Affecting Your Bottom Line ($29.95) Plus S&H of $6 for the first book and $1 for each book thereafter. See Shopping Cart at http://www.BillLeeOnLine.com
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