Every now and then you’ll have a customer who disagrees with one of your policies. No matter what the policy is, don’t justify or defend it from your company’s point of view.

For example, maybe your service department has a fee for inspecting the products you sell. And unless it’s covered by warranty, the customer has to pay the inspection fee. If the customer balks at the fee, don’t justify the fee by saying: “Our technician needs to get paid for his time.”

Customers don’t care how you pay your technician. The customer is seeing things from their perspective. They are not there to learn your perspective.

It’s better to explain why you have the fee. Talk about how it helps the customer.

The more you can align the reason for the fee with something that helps your customer, the more likely it is they will accept it without further complaining.

As a customer, pay attention to how people explain policies to you. Do they justify or defend them based on their needs? Or do they explain them in the context of how they help you?

Other articles you might like:

• Never explain defend or justify (part 1)
• How to Handle Customer Complaints: Tip 2
• Don’t Interrupt Your Customer
• Radio Shack Employee Charged with Hitting Customer
• Remember What You Control (And What You Don’t)

How to Exceed Your Customer’s Expectations

Customer Service Training 101