Recently my wife picked up dinner for 4 on the way home from work. We had ordered online from Swiss Chalet (Canadian Rotisserie chicken franchise). Swiss Chalet is known for their dipping sauce, which is included with every signature meal.

When she arrived home, we discovered that the “special sauce” was not included in the order.

I called the order desk to report this lapse and the conversation went something like this.

Someone once said…

“99% customer satisfaction is meaningless when your customer is in that lone 1%.”

In my speeches I talk about making NO MISTAKES! But, is that realistic? I don’t think so. “No mistakes” is a goal. Making mistakes is part of life and business. It is how the mistake is handled that makes the difference. Here is the goal. If you have a mistake – and hopefully it isn’t very often – you not only fix it, but give the customer a renewed confidence to continue
to do business with you. It is about “recovery.”

Angry customers can seem like our worst nightmare. But, if you handle them right, they can be your company’s best friend. Because when you do listen to angry customers, you get a lot in return. Complaining customers often have valuable information about how you can improve your business. And, when you listen sincerely, you make it more likely they will stay with you.

Here are five things you can do to convert angry customers into valuable partners who will help you improve and promote your business.

I recently had the opportunity to work with Family Video, the largest privately owned movie and game “rentailer” in the United States, and third largest overall, with 612 stores. In an industry struggling to deal with significant changes, such as new rental options offered by Netflix and Redbox, Family Video is the only DVD/game rental operation showing positive growth. Expanding continually, they again achieved record profits last year.

In the business of customer service training and improvement, we talk about being honest and open with our customers. This is important. It builds trust and improves communications with our customers.

But sometimes  people take honesty too far. Sometimes it does more harm than good. Recently,  Paul Simon (one of my readers) shared some glaring examples of this:

“The customer service rep said she’d left early the day before.” (Explaining why she didn’t call him back sooner.)

Too often when a company (or person) fails at customer service, they run from the failure. They never return to the “scene of the crime”. I understand why. Most of us would rather move on to future successes than be reminded of past failures. But the best customer service companies take their failures head on. They fix them and they learn from them.

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.”

“Every employee who deals with clients must have the authority to handle complaints.”

-Carl Sewell
Author of:  Customers For Life: How To Turn That One-Time Buyer Into a Lifetime Customer

Last week my wife and I had dinner at one our usual haunts. After giving some feedback to our server about one item I ordered that was less than satisfactory, I was dismayed at his response.

He was very nice but he launched into a lengthy explanation of how the food was prepared. And then he blamed the corporate office for the problem. Finally, he suggested I contact the corporate office directly because they’d be much more likely to listen to a customer than an employee.

A persistently popular topic is how to handle customer complaints. We hate to get complaints but we know we need them. They are super-fuel for our businesses because they tell us what our customers want from us. Remember, complaints are just feedback, nothing more. And feedback is golden.

So here is a new piece I’ve written on how to handle complaints. I wrote it for the Examiner.com, since I have a periodic column there. You can read the article here: Proven tips to turn complaints into profits

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Fix a customer complaint by asking the customer what they want. Then do a little more.

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Too many companies fail when it comes to fixing complaints. They either do nothing and hope nobody notices. Or they immediately go overboard and offer things the customer has no interest in. Both of these can push your customers away.

When a customer has a complaint, apologize, assure them it will be resolved in the future and ask them how you can make it right for them. Most customers want nothing more than the apology and assurance. They’re not looking to

Here is your Daily Dose of Amazing Service:

Give customers your complete attention.

And here are some additional thoughts on this topic…

Customers consistently tell us they hate dealing with employees who don’t listen or pay attention. It’s a common and yet preventable complaint.

When you begin talking with a customer, stop whatever else you are doing and focus on them. Make appropriate eye contact, listen, nod and show them you are paying attention.