“Success is nothing more than a few simple disciplines, practiced every day.” - Jim Rohn
Smart business owners are coming to terms with the fact that happy customers are good for business. How to keep customers happy has therefore become a common concern for many business owners. If as it happens often a customer isn’t happy, it is smart to use some tried-and-tested strategies to turn things around. Here are some of the strategies some top entrepreneurs routinely use to handle unhappy customers.
01. Take full responsibility for mistakes. When any of your customers gets agitated about your product or service, do not make the mistake of shifting blames. Take full responsibility and get to work on the issue immediately. Be sure to personally communicate with the concerned customer. Never make the mistake of delegating this duty. When customers realize they are dealing with the “real man” behind the business, it gives them real assurances and that makes them happy.
02. Give your customers a listening ear. Be available always for your customers no matter how busy you are. Many times, customers are unhappy because no one actually listens to their complaints. That is very true! As a business owner, when such disputes arise, you can listen directly and resolve them yourself. A direct telephone conversation with the complaining customer comes very handy here. That goes a long way to douse tension and calm frayed nerves most of the time.
03. Habitually engage your customers. Doing this shows that you value your customers and their concerns. You can directly engage your customers through feedback throughout the buying process or by asking for their preferences even during product development. It is generally true that the more businesses engage with customers, the happier they are.
04. Show empathy and never forget to say sorry. Sorry is a very powerful and highly emotional word to use in business. Never forget to connect to your customers’ emotional levels as a way of reminding them you're only human and are trying everything possible to make them happy. Show genuine empathy with their concerns and be as transparent as possible to make them understand you are doing everything to have the issue of their concern resolved very quickly. That somehow manages to make them happy to allow you resolve the matter.
05. Respond fast to customer concerns. Quick response is always a very vital key in any dispute resolution. In resolving customer disputes, speed could be more essential that even the solution. Without speed, many customers probably won’t even give you the opportunity to find a solution. They could be that impatient.
06. Resolve customer concerns without delay. Always remember that no matter what business you are in, you always have real competitors out there snapping at your heels to take away your customers. Quick fixing of problems could be their selling points to achieve their goals. So, to keep your own customers happy and loyal to you, you must find practical and credible ways to quickly resolve customer concerns. Customers are always happy when they have the full assurances that your business can deliver quick solutions to their problems.
