Handling Customer Complaints

Even the best business will receive an occasional customer complaint. Knowing how to resolve these complaints will help you gain loyal customers who will then refer others to your business. Here are some important tips.

1. Listen carefully to the customer and gather as much information as possible.

2. Restate the complaint as you understand it. This ensures that you completely understand what the situation is.

3. Resolve the problem as quickly as possible. Tell the person you are sorry this happened and ask what you can to do to make this right. Do not argue with the customer, even though you are right and do not become defensive.

3. After correcting the problem, tell the customer thank you for bringing it to your attention and that you appreciate their business.

4. Develop a written policy for your staff to follow and reward them when they do a good job.

Remember! The customer may not always be right, but an unhappy customer treated right may well be one of your most loyal customers.

About The Author

Luana Emmons is a restauant owner and owner of allfoodbusiness.com (http://www.allfoodbusiness.com). See this and other articles on her website; allfoodbusiness@allfoodbusiness.com

---

CRM For Beginners ? Customer Relationship Management Basics

In order to maintain a successful business, the business must understand and maintain a positive relationship with its customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is the process of bringing the customer and the company... Read More

The Sellers Creed

I will not make sales. I will make Customers.I will target the heart of my Customer. Never their wallet.My Customer is the lifeblood of my business.Though I may sell my Customers what they... Read More

Dont Forget your Existing Clients

Quest for new clients shouldn't ignore those who pay the billsAcquisition. It's a big word in small business marketing. Companies are constantly looking at ways to draw new people to the business and... Read More

One Critical Question to Ask Yourself Every Day

What happened to the old saying, the customer is always right? I'll bet every one of you reading this article has a "customer service nightmare" story to tell. My most recent nightmare experience... Read More

Customer Service Consultants

When all else fails in your company to meet the needs of your customer consider a customer service consultant. If you find that agents in your company are constantly having misunderstanding that result... Read More

What Do Your Clients REALLY Think of You?

*********************************************Know Thyself - Socrates*********************************************I'd like to start this article with a test ?What do you get when you cross a Northern Canadian male, a 4x4 truck and heavy rain?You guessed it! ? Mud... Read More

Your Actions Tell Your Clients How You Expect To Be Treated

There is a widely accepted principle of human behavior that goes something like this. "Your actions tell the world how you expect to be treated." Look all around you and you will find... Read More

Poor Customer Service - Are Your Customers Driving Away Other Customers

Every customer you have is a word-of-mouth advertiser for you. Unfortunately 90% of this free advertising is negative. Your goal is to get positive-word-of-mouth advertisers.Think about it, how do you decide where to... Read More

The History of CRM -- Moving Beyond the Customer Database

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is one of those magnificent concepts that swept the business world in the 1990's with the promise of forever changing the way businesses small and large interacted with their... Read More

Customer Service, Italian Style

Nowadays, we complain nearly all of the time about how few businesses remember how to provide quality service to their customers. But a recent trip to Italy not only reminded me that the... Read More

Leverage Customer Capital First

If you're still dreaming about raising outside capital for your business before you have any paying customers, I've got a nice big bucket of ice water to throw on you. Wake up! The... Read More

Got A Consumer Problem?

Millions of people, just like you, end up with a consumer problem that they just can't seem to get resolved. No matter what they do. Even though you are in the right, even... Read More

Are You Giving Your Customers Enough Reasons To Return To Your Business?

Good customer service just isn't enough anymore in the marketplace in which we live. Times are changing and business owners are learning that they need to create such an awesome customer loyalty program... Read More

How To Use Your Current Customers

Jay instructed a customer of his to offer a rare coin collection to new customers for just $19. He was actually losing a couple of dollar on every sale! But .... of the... Read More

Writing The Book On Great Customer Service

Q: One of the big chain bookstores recently opened up near my small book store. Already I can see my business starting to decline. Is there anything I can do to compete with... Read More

First Contact: The Source of Customer Loyalty

With customers being smarter, more cost conscious, more product knowledgeable and more demanding, improving customer service has become a major focus within many businesses. In Customer Satisfaction is Worthless; Customer Loyalty is Priceless,... Read More

Why Passenger Surveys are a Transport Operators Best Friend

Public transport operators who already use passenger surveys may not fully appreciate the multiple benefits that surveys can bring. Not only are surveys an efficient method of market research that will help identify... Read More

We Got It Wrong: Never Under Promise & Over Deliver

You know how it is, you believe something for so long, everyone agrees with you, all the books tell you it's true and then suddenly you have a blinding revelation - we've all... Read More

Finding Out Why a Potential Customer is Calling On You

Our challenge as the business owner/sales person answering the telephone, is to build rapport with the caller, quickly and easily.In most cases, the caller has been told something about you and your product... Read More

And The Difference is... Attitude

I returned a rental car at an airport yesterday. As the person who was going to check me in approached, he smiled (which shocked me) and said, "Hello Mr. Galler," which shocked me... Read More

Identify Your Silent Customer Service Message

With the growing number of people in every business sector, doing business requires creativity and ingenuity. The entrepreneur that understands the importance of thinking differently is the entrepreneur that sees their businesses growing.... Read More

Wholesale Buyers Versus Retail Customers

Are wholesale buyers and retail customers really different? Frankly, there are two answers to this question: yes and no. Yes, because they are different from the buyers and those selling to buyers' point... Read More

Sending Mixed Signals Can Send Your Clients Away

I call it the "wave and roll."You walk up to an intersection. You look both ways before you cross when you make eye contact with an oncoming vehicle. You meet the gaze of... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Win the Loyalty of Customers

Dr. Michael LeBoeuf, in his cassette album entitled, Win Customers and Keep Them for Life presents twelve principles that will transform the workplace into a customer-driven, highly motivational team. Dr. LeBoeuf's program... Read More

How to Walk the Floor and Talk to Customers

This may seem a strange topic to introduce. Yet, it is the most under-used skill by many retail managers, but one of the most important roles in their supervision.1. You Are the Maitre... Read More

How to Transform Your Voicemail into an Effective Medium of Communication

"Hi this is Randy. Leave me a message after the beep and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks and have a great day."Garbage.This is an example of a typical... Read More

Top Ten Strategies for Delivering 5-Star Customer Service

Customer satisfaction is valuable, but customer loyalty is priceless. In today's competitive world of business, it is becoming more and more important to deliver customer service that is unbeatable. These ten creative strategies... Read More

Is your Online Business Customer-Friendly?

Customer service is increasingly seen as one of the most valuable uses for a commercial World Wide Web site. Your Web site is available on a 24 hour, seven days a week basis.... Read More

Client Appreciation - It Means Everything!

Want to know the secret for keeping your clients forever? And what if you could keep your revenue growing by 25 percent every year, because your clients loved the way you appreciated them?... Read More