Did you know that one of the greatest human needs is to be heard and understood? My dad always reminded me of this to help me be more compassionate towards others.

Your customers have the same need too, and your compassion is truly put to the test when you are dealing with a customer complaint. I guarantee you with the majority of the customer complaints you encounter, the ideal outcome for the customer is simply to get the frustration off their chest. Allow them to feel heard and understood – this is bound to satisfy them. All you have to say is something like, “Thank you for your feedback and we will look into ways in which we can ensure this doesn’t happen again. The only way our business can get better is through receiving and acting on feedback like this to continually improve our people, products and services.” That’s it!

Don’t allow customer complaints to rattle you. Cop them on the chin. Even if you completely disagree, allow the customer to vent, respond with something short and concise to put their mind at ease, and then decide what you will do with respect to the feedback. But NEVER EVER argue with a customer. This negative experience will spread by word of mouth far quicker than you could say sorry!

The customer may not always be right… But let them think they are