Tips for dealing with customer complaints in Business

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EllaX

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Apologys if this is the wrong forum, wasn't sure if it was articles or business.

Complaints in a way are a good thing!!!
Huh? Really? Surley you are joking Rach?
No - The information you gather from client complaints can be a source of improvement for your company. They can help you resolve problems, recover a client who might have otherwise decided to go elsewhere, fix problems that could be the cause of other clients leaving, or gain a client for life by resolving the complaint quickly and efficiently.
For instance - Ten clients complain they get lifting? or a shampoo makes their hair sticky? or a polish chips really quick?
Right so you know you need to remedy that/change your shampoo/polish supplier etc.

Let the customer tell you why they are dissatisfied
Listen to what the customer has to say first. If you try to stop a customer from expressing their feelings, you will push them from annoyed to irate in a matter of seconds. Don't butt in mid-complaint!!

Thank the customer for complaining.
Thank them for bringing (whatever the complaint is) to your attention -tell them you appreciate the time they have taken to inform you about a problem with your service/product.

Sincerely apologize.
Apologize even if you are not the person who made the mistake. ie if you answer the call, and it was your co-workers error. apologize on their behalf.

Apologize even if the customer is in the wrong by saying something like “I’m sorry you are having/or have had a problem.” Ultimately the solution comes down to fixing the problem, not assigning blame.

Don't apologise to an upset customer without hearing their complaint.Give them time to provide the necessary details so you can make the apology more personal and specific to their circumstances.

Identify the elements of the complaint.
In order to resolve a customer’s complaint, you need to understand exactly what elements are contributing to their dissatisfaction.

Fix the problem.
Often you can easily remedy the situation by offering to fix the problem. Unless the client has tried to 'fix' it themselves and made it worse then its really out of your hands.

If a client is not happy with a t-shirt from m&s and they take it back in its original unworn state they can have a refund, but if they take it back and it has been taken in to make it smaller or dyed a different colour for instance then you would not get a refund! same with treatments!

If necessary offer them a sweetner - ie I'm sorry you were not happy with your hair colour Mrs smith - how about we fix the problem and give you a complimentry file and polish while your colour develops.


Practice Prevention.
Record customer complaints Capture this information and make sure you are use it to prevent future problems from occurring, why not create a form for recording customer complaints. ie. date, complaint, who made the complaint, how it was handled etc. Some people are serious complainers, record it all down - attach a copy to their client record cars too if need be.
 
Great thread... very valid points... good customer feedback is pivotal in gaining and retaining clients... if you give them what they want.. and do it with a smile... most things can be resolved and sorted amicably!
 
Excellent points. I wish someone had told me all this when I first started out! It's a good thing to have it all in one place.
 
Great thread with lots of good points
 
Superb thread!

Very helpful to ALL geeks!
 
Top thread Rach. I love flip sides,often we see things in such a negative manner we can not see the positives :hug:
 
Top thread Rach. I love flip sides,often we see things in such a negative manner we can not see the positives :hug:

No such thing as a negative - they are just potential positives!!
Don't dwell on them - find a way to fix them! xx
 
Great advice Rachel. I was also taught that you should repeat back the complaint to make sure you fully understand what the problem is. Also in this day and age it seems as soon as you say sorry it's an admission of guilt, but I was brought up to say sorry and sometimes that IS all a client wants to hear.
 
I been reading up Sass with my current complaining client - hence the post, took bits from my research and made it approprite to the beauty industry.
You are right though as soon as you say sorry people say 'oh well you admit you are in the wrong' sometimes you just can't win! xx
 
Well I guess you could change it slightly and just say that you are sorry to hear they are unhappy as complete customer satisfaction is your number one priority, or something like that. I know that's how we use to word it when I worked at Ford. You've said sorry but without actually admitting any liability. Sad that life has become like that though. So many people are after compensation these days as you well know!!!!!!!
 
Well I guess you could change it slightly and just say that you are sorry to hear they are unhappy as complete customer satisfaction is your number one priority, or something like that. I know that's how we use to word it when I worked at Ford. You've said sorry but without actually admitting any liability. Sad that life has become like that though. So many people are after compensation these days as you well know!!!!!!!


spot on sass - blue peter badge coming your way! xx
 
Thanks found this really helpfull...!!!
 

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