I recently shared some ‘complaint resolution’ tips. For example, this 95# martial arts expert can flip an attacker 3 times her size using the judo. How? By using their onrushing momentum against them!
You too can use my 3-step “Emotional Judo” process to ‘flip’ an angry, complaining customer as they rush to attack you verbally! (And sometimes even physically!) After calmly listening to your customer rant and rave you will first…
1) Thank them for calling …
2) Apologize for the disruption in their life …
3) Reassure your customer that you are going to do everything possible to resolve their distress.
Your ‘verbal martial arts’ will now have this angry, attacking customer flat on their back and gasping for air while marveling at your sincere care and concern! (I kept the above three Verbal Judo steps posted over every phone in my company.)
Remember, your customer has to get ‘all steamed up’ to call you to complain. So your job is to first calm your caller down with this 3-step Emotional Judo process. After all…
How many times have you had someone scream “the whole house just looks terrible” when in reality it is just one little wick-up spot? (Or even a shadow!) Now that your customer is rational just calmly interview them and …
Once you have isolated what your client’s real concern is, just fix it and fix it QUICKLY AND CHEERFULLY!
Yes, you must fix your customer’s concern QUICKLY! The tendency is to put off this confrontational issue. DO NOT fall into this trap and here is why: A U.S. government study states “95% of your complaining customers will do business with you again IF you resolve their concern quickly.”
You must also be CHEERFUL! Don’t justify, don’t complain and above all don’t be grudging when resolving the situation. Your customer will already be on the defensive when you return to re-do the problem. After all, they ‘ratted you out’! So just smother them with “CHEERFUL and grateful kindness”!
Think about it- you have to do the work anyway! But if you QUICKLY and CHEERFULLY resolve the issue very likely in the process you will make a Cheerleader! Even better, this delighted client may go online and sing your praises!
Let’s talk soon about a guaranteed way to make Turbo Cheerleaders out of complaining clients! Meanwhile…
What was the most ‘unfair complaint’ you ever QUICKLY and CHEERFULLY fixed? Share your pain with 1,000’s of cleaning and restoration contractors by signing up for our Strategies for Success: Growing Your Business (GYB) Facebook Group! (You don’t have to be a SFS graduate to join our GYB group.)
Great insights. Sounds like Andrew Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People and the biblical mandate to “do unto others the same as you’d like them to do to unto you” combined. I rarely have customer complaints but I have used a version of your approach consistently. Apologizing for the inconvenience and then rushing out to solve the issue works well. Sometimes I prepare a customer for the rare probably a stain may wick back up. Recently an elderly woman had dropped her very large mug of coffee on the carpet and wasn’t able to reach down and absorb any of it with a towel. It sat there for a week because she called me. I was able to get all visual signs of the stain out. She was ecstatic! But I told her that it “may” wick back up since it had plenty of time to soak into the backing and pad. As I expected she called me back 2 weeks later saying it had returned. Because I had prepared her for the possibility, however, she was jovial on the phone when she called. Great advice Steve!