No matter how good you run your business, no matter how fully you plan, there will be mistakes. Unfortunately, when mistakes happen it's usually your customers that take the brunt. An unhappy customer can be a major problem in several ways. For example, they could cause a stink in your shop. Even worse, they could tell everyone they know not to do business with you. Most important to consider though is that the angry customer, if improperly handled, will go away and never return.
First and foremost, you, or more probably your employees must stay calm and cool. It is best to make them realize that although the customer is in THEIR face and saying horrible things to THEM, the customer is not actually mad at the employee. The customer is upset with your company. If the employee can hold onto that, they will be better equipped to stay calm, cool, and collected.
The employee's first response to the customer should be to listen. That's it, just listen. The customer wants someone to know that they have been wronged. In fact, if the employee can solve the problem, but does so without dealing with the customer's feelings, the customer could get even angrier.
After listening, acknowledge there is a problem and apologize for it. While an employee may balk at apologizing for something they didn't do, they must realize they are doing it as a representative of your company, for your company. Once an apology is given, the next step is to sympathize with the injured customer. They should show that they feel for the customer and the predicament.
When the customer has someone listening to them, that has acknowledged their grievance, and sympathized with them, they are in a receptive state to be helped. It is still a very precarious point in the process however, as a misstep here could unravel all your hard work. To continue on to completion, the employee must “take possession” of the customer's problem. Even if they cannot personally do anything about it, it shows the customer that SOMEONE is dedicated to helping them. Finally, through to the final resolution of the problem, the employee must communicate, letting the customer know what is being done, what will be done, and when it will be accomplished.
A good summary to keep in mind comes from Lydia Ramsey in Sideroad.com. Her suggestion is to use the acronym "ASAP" to remember four steps for calming upset customers.
A is "apologize."
S represents "sympathize."
A stands for "accept responsibility."
P means "prepare to take action."
Resolving the situation for an angry customer will not only help your image in their eyes, but it could make them a customer for life. Mishandle such a customer and you will lose them for life. Remember that, with a recurring problem, for every angry and loud customer, there are five angry and silent customers that will simply never do business with you again. So keep angry customers happy, but make sure to make reoccurring problems never occur again.
