Turn Customer Complaints into Opportunities

Turn Customer Complaints into Opportunities

Brought to you by: Rosy King @ Corporate Training Options

Have you ever considered that you can turn customer complaints into opportunities?  When customer complaints are handled well, and you provide your customers with a seamless resolution and a positive experience, this can be the key to success.   These customers are more likely to come back to your business!

On the other hand, poorly managed customer experiences may significantly impact your organisations’ revenue and without doubt, any repeat business.

Here’s some interesting customer experience statistics for you.

• Customers who have a positive experience with your organisation, will tell 4-6 people about it.
• Dissatisfied customers will tell 9-15 people about their unhappy experience.
• Worse still, around 13% of dissatisfied customers tell more than 20 people.
• Up to 96% of unhappy customers don’t complain at all.  Instead, 86% of them simply leave and never come back.

The “State of Customer Service in Australia Report” reveals significant gaps between customers’ expectations of excellence, ease and accessibility and the disappointing realities, with a lack of consistency and response.

That’s why it’s so important that each and every engagement you or your team have with your customers is consistently pleasant and solution-focused.

Of course, not all encounters start out being easy. All of us have had to deal with unhappy, rude or angry customers at some time or another.  These customers may be upset for a variety of reasons – sometimes their anger is justified, other times less so.

However, whatever the reason, several benefits come from creating a positive environment for customer satisfaction, with real advantages gained when you can calm upset customers.

Here are just four of the power-house benefits you can experience when your team has learned the right skills to turn customer complaints into opportunities.

1. Generate Repeat Business

If your entire staff actively practices behaviours that calm customers down, these customers are more likely to come back to your business! If they see that you’re willing to work with them to come to a satisfactory outcome, they may change their perspective.

You have nothing to lose here – an irate customer is not going to be coming back; a calmed one just might.

2. Enhance Business Reputation

Creating a calm environment for customer satisfaction enhances your business’ reputation.

Customers will see your business as a place where staff will take their concerns or complaints seriously and work to fix them. They’ll talk about their problem and how your staff solved it, and this word of mouth can create a loyal customer base while boosting your reputation.

3. Improve Employee Morale

Giving your employees tips to calm upset customers or enrolling them in customer service courses can improve their morale.

They’ll come to work with confidence and know that they can safely and effectively de-escalate situations and calm their customers down.

Practising behaviours that calm customers will become second nature, and your employees’ job satisfaction levels will skyrocket.

4. Provide a Competitive Advantage

What sets you apart from your competition? If you have an arsenal of tips for calming upset customers, this can put your business ahead of your competitors.

Customers and clients want a calm, warm and nurturing environment, and this can add an aura of uniqueness to your business that your competition simply can’t compete with.

Need Tips for Turning Customer Complaints into Opportunities?

Remain calm and don’t take the complaint personally

This gives you a great start to dealing with the situation on hand. It helps diffuse the excitement and allows you to gain back control of the situation, whilst reducing the chance of further escalation.

Demonstrate Active Listening

Hear the customer out and be open to observe both verbal and non-verbal cues. When they are done talking, summarise what you’ve heard and ask any questions to further clarify their complaint.

Take ownership and be solution-focused

Demonstrate to the customer that you are well equipped and truly committed to solving their problem.  Be their ‘champion’ in resolving their issue.  Think laterally.  You may want to propose alternative options for your customer to consider, so they feel empowered to make decisions and decide on a mutually agreeable solution.

Want More Advice on Dealing with Turning Customer Complaints into Opportunities?

Why not book our one-day  Calming Upset Customers  professional development course, and take your employees’ customer service skills to the next level?

This way, you and your team can learn to understand why customers get upset, as well as gaining the 10 steps needed to help and calm an upset customer.

You’ll learn the skills to empower your entire staff to foster the right environment for customer satisfaction.

In the CTO course – Calming Upset Customers, you and your team will learn how to:

• Understand the importance of upset customers to improving your business.
• Identify common causes of customer’s upsets, and learn why listening is a critical skill in dealing with them.
• Be proactive in preventing upset customers.
• Use various techniques to calm upset customers.
• Practice management behaviours that calm upset customers and employees.

Reach out and secure your training with Corporate Training Options today!

If you’re ready to upgrade your skills to calm upset customers, or you wish to tackle some new challenges, contact Corporate Training Options today for friendly, professional advice.

We’ll discuss your specific needs, and tailor a training course to suit your requirements.