Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/826899
WORLD FENCE NEWS • JUNE 2017 • 63 Complaining customers are a scary proposition for many profes- sionals, but the complaint situation represents an opportunity – not neces- sarily a problem. If you deal with a person's con- cerns respectfully and helpfully, your effort and consideration will almost always be appreciated, and former "complainers" will walk away feeling happy and valued. R e c o g n i z i n g how you can bene- fit from complaints given by custom- ers makes for an opportunity to im- prove and grow. Depending on the nature and severity of the com- plaint, it's a good idea to really grasp what the complaint is, what went wrong, and what was done to resolve it. Continue to meet with your team and review what the complaint was; consider approaches to ensure it does not happen again. Complaints can be difficult to handle, but don't be afraid of them. Be grateful to the customer for bringing the complaint to your atten- tion. Had they simply ignored their dissatisfaction and went elsewhere it would have been a lost customer. By their bringing this matter to you he is giving you the opportunity to correct it and to make future efforts on not letting the situation repeat. Complaints + resolution = growth and customer satisfaction. It's hard to keep your cool when dealing with difficult customers. Af- ter all, it's only human to get defensive and fight back – or cave in and give them whatever they demand. What you need instead is a plan. Presented in a training video available from my company will help you calm angry customers. (It is among many training videos that Customer complaints are not necessarily a bad thing BY MYRON CURRY, CEO & FOUNDER, BUSINESS TRAINING MEDIA I offer.) Visit my company's web site www.businesstrainingmedia.com. Once you bring them around, they're more likely to work with you to find a resolution that solves their complaint yet is fair to your organiza- tion. This customer service video in- cludes valuable tactics, including: • Make a connection with the an- gry customer. • Show empa- thy or apologize if appropriate. • Guide the customer's atten- tion toward solving the problem. • Use positive language. • Have the customer make small decisions. • Take a timeout or draw the line. • Know what you can offer. Your employees will learn to stay professional and not take it personally when they have to deal with difficult customers, whether in retail, health care, government, or wherever. They'll learn that their basic cus- tomer service skills are a first line of defense – it's hard for customers to be mean to someone who's being nice to them. And they'll learn three powerful "breakthrough techniques" that can be used if the situation escalates and threatens to get out of hand. Myron Curry is the CEO and founder of Business Training Media, a global provider of workforce and business training videos for profes- sional development. His company has provided corporate training solutions to many organizations from start-ups to high-profile companies like Ameri- can Express, Yahoo, IBM, 3M, FedEx, American Honda, Cisco, Verizon, Mi- crosoft, Wal-Mart, Johnson & John- son, AT&T, Bank of America, Google and thousands of others. Complaints can be difficult to handle, but don't be afraid of them. Be grateful to the customer for bringing the complaint to your attention. Had they simply ignored their dissatisfaction and went elsewhere it would have been a lost customer.