Food delivery services should give customers a voice, respond quickly to complaints and proactively apologise when things go wrong, according to a new study which explores what companies can do to rebuild trust after failures.

Researchers at Nottingham Business School, part of Nottingham Trent University, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh Napier University, University of Wolverhampton and The University of Central Florida surveyed 925 people on their experiences with Iran’s largest online food ordering platform – a service similar to those such as Uber Eats and Deliveroo – which receives more than two million online visits each month.

The survey was followed up by 45 in-depth interviews to better understand how people experience and recover from services failures during food ordering and delivery.

The survey revealed that an apology, an offer of compensation, and giving customers a voice to air their grievance all helped to rebuild trust through forgiveness.

However, responses also suggested that customers who were more familiar with company failures were more likely to respond negatively to apologies and offers of compensation, feeling their voice wouldn’t be heard. Here, when an incident has become public knowledge and awareness amongst consumers is high, firms should quickly and proactively accept responsibility and provide automatic compensation as these may be inevitable; positioning their response in a manner likely to provide the best chance of recovery and retention.

Anger and frustration were found to be key themes in the interviews. However, these emotions were not related to the service failure itself, but instead to factors such as the response provided by the company, a perceived ineffectiveness in handling complaints, and not giving customers a chance to be heard.

Participants were also frustrated by generic complaint-handling processes, instead desiring a personal response from the company. This exacerbated negative emotions and increased the likelihood of the customer not using the service again.

Babak Taheri, Professor of Marketing at Nottingham Business School’s Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Centre, said: “A positive reputation and customer retention is vital for food delivery services which need to attract food vendors to partner with them.

“While we focused on one company for this study, all food delivery services can learn from the comments we received. The importance of having a service recovery strategy cannot be underestimated when it comes to rebuilding trust among customers, particularly those who order frequently and have already experienced a company’s response to failure.

“We see that customers are often not discouraged from using a service due to the failure itself, but the way it is handled. Food service delivery companies should take note of the need for a quick, clear, and personalised complaints process which is open to feedback and ensures repeat custom.

“We also found that awareness had an impact, so if food service failures receive media coverage or are discussed on social media, consumers are more likely to voice their concerns and seek compensation. When an incident has become public knowledge and awareness amongst consumers is high, firms should quickly and proactively accept responsibility and provide automatic compensation; positioning their response in a manner likely to provide the best chance of recovery and retention.

“They must provide these more proactive problem-solving methods in order to restore relationships with consumers through openness and honesty before their customers become increasingly aware, knowledgeable, and initiate their own service recovery efforts.”

The paper Investigating the Effects of Service Recovery Strategies on Consumer Forgiveness and Post-Trust in the Food Delivery Sector has been published in the International Journal of Hospitality Management.

For further information on the Marketing and Consumer Studies Research Centre at Nottingham Business School visit the website, Twitter or LinkedIn.

Twitter can be a great way to connect with customers and build customer relationships, but it can also be a place where customer complaints are aired.

If you’re not prepared to handle customer complaints on Twitter, you could end up making a bad situation worse. In this article, you will find some key tips for handling complaints on Twitter.

1. Respond Quickly

Twitter is a fast-paced platform, and customers expect a quick response to their complaints. If you don’t respond quickly, they may take their complaint to another social media platform or even to your competitors.

Fortunately, Twitter provides an easy way for businesses to respond to customer complaints quickly and easily. Make sure you have someone assigned to monitor your Twitter account so that customer complaints can be addressed quickly.

By monitoring Twitter for mentions of your company, you can ensure that any negative feedback is dealt with swiftly. In addition, setting up automated alerts can help you to respond even more quickly. By taking advantage of these tools, you can turn customer complaints into an opportunity to build customer loyalty.

2. Acknowledge the Complaint

Customers that take the time to reach out and lodge a complaint are giving you an opportunity to improve your product or service. It’s important to not only acknowledge the customer’s complaint but also to show them that you’re taking their feedback seriously.

Before responding to a customer complaint, do your research and make sure you have all the facts. If you don’t know the answer to a question, let the customer know that you’re looking into it and will get back to them as soon as possible.

3. Take Ownership of the Issue

When a customer complains, it’s important to take ownership of the issue. This means acknowledging that the problem was caused by your company and not by the customer. It also means putting the customer’s needs first and doing everything you can to resolve the issue. It’s your job to take that blame and make things right. This may require making some tough decisions, but it’s important to do what’s best for the customer.

4. Be Polite and Professional

Customer complaints are a fact of life for any business but responding to them doesn’t have to be a nightmare. When it comes to Twitter, the key is to be always polite and professional. Of course, that can be easier said than done when you’re dealing with an irate customer. But remember, everything you say will be public, so it’s important to take the high road.

First and foremost, always apologize for the customer’s bad experience. Even if it wasn’t your fault, they need to know that you’re sorry. Then, do your best to resolve the issue as quickly as possible. If necessary, reach out to the customer privately to get more information or offer compensation. And whatever you do, don’t get defensive or attack the customer.

5. Be Clear and Concise

Twitter is a limited-character platform, so you need to be clear and concise when responding to customer complaints. This means that you need to avoid long paragraphs and complicated language. Stick to the facts and keep your responses short and sweet.

Remember, customers are busy and they don’t have time to read a novel. Your goal should be to resolve the issue as quickly as possible so that the customer can move on.

6. Be Transparent

Transparency is key when it comes to customer complaints. If you’re not transparent, customers will lose trust in your company. When it comes to Twitter, transparency means being open and honest about what went wrong and what you’re doing to fix it.

Make sure that you provide regular updates on the progress of the resolution. This will show customers that you’re taking their complaints seriously and that you’re working hard to resolve the issue.

7. Train Your Staff

It’s important to train your staff on how to handle customer complaints on Twitter. First, make sure your staff is aware of the importance of customer service on social media. They need to understand that every customer complaint is an opportunity to turn a negative situation into a positive one.

Next, provide them with some guidelines for how to handle customer complaints. For example, tell them to always be polite and never engage in arguments with customers. They should also try to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.

8. Keep a Record of Complaints

It’s important to keep track of customer complaints, no matter where they’re coming from. And with more and more people using Twitter to voice their grievances, it’s essential to know how to keep a record of complaints on the platform.

There are a few different ways you can go about this. First, you can set up a Google Alert for your business name or customer service Twitter handle. This will send you an email anytime someone mentions your business on Twitter, which makes it easy to keep track of any complaints that are posted.

Another option is to use a tool like Hootsuite Insights, which allows you to track all mentions of your business on social media, including Twitter. This makes it easy to see all the customer complaints in one place and quickly address them.

You can also use a customer service tool like Zendesk or Desk.com to track customer complaints. This will allow you to see all the interactions between your company and individual customers, including complaints.

No matter which method you choose, it’s important to track customer complaints so you can learn from your mistakes and improve your customer service.

9. Use Twitter’s Customer Service Features

Twitter offers several customer service features that can help you resolve customer complaints more quickly and efficiently. For example, you can use Twitter’s built-in search feature to find tweets about your business. This will make it easy to see all the complaints that have been posted about your company.

You can also use Twitter’s customer service features to send Direct Messages to customers. This allows you to resolve customer complaints privately, without having to post public updates.

Finally, you can use Twitter’s built-in reporting tools to flag abusive or harassing tweets. This will help you protect your company from online abuse and harassment.

10. Take it Offline

Sometimes, it’s necessary to take customer complaints offline. This means that you need to stop responding to tweets and start communicating with the customer through other channels, like email or phone.

There are a few reasons why you might want to take a complaint offline. Maybe the customer is being abusive or harassing. Or maybe the issue is too complex to resolve on Twitter.

Whatever the reason, make sure that you communicate with the customer in a way that is convenient for them. And always make sure to keep track of any offline conversations so that you can follow up on them later.

The Benefits of Handling Complaints on Twitter

When it comes to customer complaints, Twitter can be a powerful tool. In an age where social media dominates the conversation, customers are increasingly likely to take to Twitter to voice their grievances. And while this may seem like a bad thing, it can actually be an opportunity for businesses to build customer loyalty.

When handled properly, customer complaints on Twitter can help businesses to build trust and credibility. First, it shows that businesses are listening to their customers and are willing to take action in response to their concerns. Secondly, it provides an opportunity for businesses to demonstrate their customer service skills in public. By responding quickly and effectively to customer complaints on Twitter, businesses can show the world that they care about their customers and are committed to providing excellent customer service.

If you work in customer service, then you know that customer complaints are inevitable. In this article, we will discuss the top ten customer complaints and how to resolve them.

Complaint #1: Poor customer service

One of the most common complaints that businesses face is poor customer service. This can include anything from a rude employee to not being able to find someone to help you with your purchase. One way to avoid this complaint is by training your employees on proper customer service etiquette. You can also empower your employees to make decisions on their own, which will help them solve customer problems more quickly.

Complaint #2: Incorrect billing or charges

Another common complaint is incorrect billing or charges. This can include inaccurate prices, unexpected fees, and unauthorized charges. To avoid this complaint, be sure to double-check your prices and fees before handing out an invoice. You should also take note of any changes you make to your billing process so that there’s no confusion later on down the road.

Complaint #3: Not responding on social media

Make sure you have a social media customer service strategy in place so you can quickly and easily address any complaints that come up on your channels. You should respond to all comments, positive and negative. This will show your customers that you care about their experience with your company.

Complaint #4: Poor quality products or services

A poor quality product or service can be a major turn-off for customers. This type of complaint can also damage your reputation and make it difficult to attract new customers. To avoid this issue, be sure to quality control your products and services. You can also test your products on a small scale before releasing them to the public.

Complaint #5: Incorrect or incomplete information

Another common complaint that businesses face is incorrect or incomplete information. This can include inaccurate product descriptions, misinformation about pricing, and missing details about services offered by the company. To avoid this type of complaint, make sure your marketing materials are up-to-date. You should also double check any data before publishing it online so there’s no confusion among your customers.

Complaint #6: Difficulty reaching customer service

If a customer has a problem, they may not be able to reach customer service easily. This can lead to frustration and ultimately, a complaint. To avoid this issue, make sure your contact information is easy to find on your website and in all of your marketing materials. You should also invest in a good customer service system that will allow your customers to get help quickly and easily.

Complaint #7: Lack of transparency or honesty

Transparency and honesty are two of the most important values for any business. If a customer feels like you’re not being truthful, they may file a complaint. To avoid this issue, always be upfront about any information that could affect your customers’ experience with the company. For example, you should disclose the terms and conditions of sales promotions so there are no surprises when people buy something from you.

Complaint #8: Slow response time or delayed shipping times

Another common complaint is slow response times or delayed shipping times. If a customer feels like they’re waiting too long to get their product, this can lead to frustration and ultimately result in a negative review on social media sites like Facebook or Yelp. To avoid these situations altogether, make sure your company has fast turnaround time for orders so customers don’t have to wait long for their products.

Complaint #9: Getting transferred on the phone

Getting transferred on the phone is frustrating for customers. If a customer feels like they’re being passed around from person to person, this can lead to frustration and ultimately result in a complaint. To avoid these situations altogether, make sure your company has enough employees who have the skills and patience to deal with the many types of issues your customers may have.

Complaint #10: Not meeting expectations

If you don’t meet the expectations of your customers, they may feel like their time was wasted on something that doesn’t meet their needs. To avoid this issue, make sure your marketing materials accurately reflect what you’re selling and don’t over-promise anything to potential buyers.

The importance of customer complaints cannot be overemphasized. Complaints provide valuable insights into how customers view a company’s products or services so it is important for companies to listen to what customers are saying. By understanding the value of feedback – both positive and negative – businesses can not only improve customer satisfaction rates, but also boost their bottom line.

Dan Slavin, CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker explains why handling customer complaints and appeasing customers plays an important role in avoiding negative reviews and reputational damage.

We witness conflicts every day. We see them on the news, in public, on the highways and on social media. We’ve seen example after example how conflict resolution should have been used to deescalate a situation.

Our inability to understand the importance of conflict resolution creates societal issues including problems between employees and between companies and the customers they try best to serve.

Conflict resolution is defined as the process of making choices that resolve issues between two parties. For retailers, restaurants, customer service personnel and those working in call centers, the two parties are generally the employee (representing the company) and the customer.

This can be challenging on multiple levels. The disgruntled customer may feel like they have been abused, ignored, taken advantage of and at worse, defrauded. A customer with a problem brings an emotionally charged drama to the attention of a customer service representative. A bad situation can escalate quickly should the service rep feel attacked or offended in some way. Obviously, it’s in the best interest of all parties to settle the dispute quickly. The only sensible solution to resolve a conflict is to set forth a deliberate plan for customer appeasement.

The Costs of Customer Complaints and Dissatisfaction

While the true costs of customer dissatisfaction are difficult to estimate, several aspects about customer complaints and poor have been researched.

• 90% of consumers will seek out reviews before making a buying decision. This places a great deal of value on positive reviews.
• 84% will trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation provided by a friend or relative.
• 86% will hesitate doing business with a company with negative reviews. This demonstrates the potential costs of a negative review.
• It has been estimated it takes 15 positive reviews to negate the impact of a single negative one.

The cost of a dissatisfied customer reaches far beyond that of a lost sale. Negative reviews can spread like wildfire impacting the buying decisions of others. This can hamstring potential opportunities for sales, recommendations, referrals and new business.

This is why handling customer complaints and appeasing customers is so important.

How to Make Amends with Irate Customers

With consumers ever at the ready to use social media to spread negative word-of-mouth reviews, savvy companies will either post an employee on these popular social media accounts like Twitter or devise a direct feed into headquarters of messages that reference the company by name in an effort to address customer complaints before they go viral. Some consumers may feel like they’ve been wronged. They may want to be placated by a kind gesture that says, “we’re sorry; we’ll remove that item from the bill or give you a free desert.” Or they could receive a generous token like a coupon or gift card; something of monetary value such as a 30% coupon offer or a $10 gift card. Not only is the customer made happy, but it virtually guarantees they will continue to do business with the restaurant or retailer.

What Defines an Appeasement Solution?

Restaurateurs and retailers need to avoid runaway costs and to control how service reps issue these coupon appeasements. The issue is accountability and an ability to track the actions of service reps and team members, the reason for the customer appeasement in the first place, the number and type of appeasements being made to customers, the number of appeasements issued, and the ability to track the number of those redeemed.

When evaluating a customer appeasement solution, businesses will want to consider a number of important features and options such as:

• Anti-fraud technology to ensure offer codes or gift cards are issued to recipients one time only and expire immediately upon redemption;
• Customer-defined reward choices and delivery options that are pre-built into the solution’s menus;
• Ability to send the appeasement (coupon or gift card) via the customer’s preferred digital channel, e.g., chat, text, email, social media;
• Built-in security that prevents the appeasement from being used more than once;
• Ability to track delivery and redemption to ensure accountability;
• Ability to embed the system within your existing contact center software.

Conflict Resolution

The quicker a complaint is resolved and customers are appeased, the less cost and reputational damage will be incurred. The key is providing customer service or call center employees the tools they need to de-escalate customer complaints when they crop up.

You may not be able to make every customer happy but taking a carefree attitude wont likely be a winning solution either. Customer complaints and appeasement should play a more important role than they currently do; these things should go beyond your “business as usual” mode of thinking.

About the Author

Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions. He was CEO of Framework Technologies, VP of Open Market, and CEO of International Testing Services. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

Odds are your company has at least some form of an appeasement program. It may be a well-planned, focused, accountable plan, or it may be just a raw philosophy of customer service.

While pleasing customers and appeasing disgruntled ones is nothing new, the impact dissatisfied clients can have has been greatly magnified by social media, message boards and websites created for the sole purpose of sharing customer experiences. Where once we asked family and friends about companies they worked with, today, 93% of consumers will check online reviews from strangers before making a purchasing decision. This is at once a bit frightening, but it also provides opportunity.

Is your organization taking one of the following approaches to customer appeasement?

“The Customer is Always Right”

No, they are not. Customers order the wrong sizes, don’t read instructions and sometimes order medium steaks when they meant well-done. The customer is not always right. By the way, the cliché was coined by London department store founder Harry Gordon Selfridge in 1909. While the store was a huge success in its time, Harry’s lavish spending, inattentiveness to his taxes and large debt led to him being forced out by his board of directors in 1941. That, however, doesn’t mean customers shouldn’t be heard and appeased.

“You Win Some, You Lose Some”

Some companies take this approach to customer satisfaction. While it may be healthier than “The customer is always right” philosophy, there is something almost fatalistic about it. You may not be able to achieve 100% customer happiness, but there are steps you can take to minimize damage from disgruntled customers. If you can’t turn an unhappy customer into an ambassador, you can prevent them from becoming an enemy. In time, they may become a fan. You shouldn’t accept “losing some” when there are solid appeasement measures you can take.

“You Can’t Make Everyone Happy”

Appeasement isn’t always about making someone happy. It can be about managing your reputation, resolving potentially festering, unsolved customer service issues and getting a second chance. You don’t throw away a car because the muffler is loud. You fix the loud muffler. That said, if your customer service reps are not happy your customer surely won’t be either. Should they be empowered to make their own appeasement decisions when faced with an irate customer? Is there a way to keep close tabs on these decisions?

The Elements of Accountable Appeasement Programs

Companies seeking to proactively manage reputations and improve customer satisfaction levels must take the time to invest resources in a manageable, affordable customer appeasement application that can be managed and monitored. It should entail the following elements.

• It will facilitate delivery in the customers preferred method. This may seem like a minor element but delivering an appeasement coupon or gift card by their preferred method (email, text, social media, chat) demonstrates your commitment to their satisfaction. It also delivers immediate remediation.
• It empowers CSRs yet holds them accountable. Any appeasement application should empower your customer service reps to resolve issues on their own yet hold them accountable for abuse. Supervisory personnel should be able to keep track of CSRs who may issue rewards too liberally.
• It will minimize customer abuse. Companies are frequently concerned about customer abuse when implementing an appeasement program. One of the most effective ways to handle this is through a single-use coupon or gift card that is used once and can be tracked when redeemed. This also facilitates a follow up on customers once their single-use offer has been used.
• It can resolve issues promptly. One of the keys to customer appeasement is getting the problem resolved quickly. The longer a customer remains unsatisfied, the more likely they will spread their dissatisfaction to friends, family and online. Contain the fire. About 95% of people who have a negative customer service experience will proactively share it with others.
• It is versatile. You’ll want an application that is versatile enough to help remediate a variety of situations at multiple levels.

In short, a well-designed customer appeasement plan should resolve issues promptly and be delivered instantly (when possible). Your company can benefit from empowering your CSRs but you still need to monitor them. Of course, you want to minimize potential customer abuse and be versatile enough to address a variety of levels of dissatisfaction.

In summary, single use gift cards and coupons can be issued instantly (within your guidelines, of course) in a variety of digital formats. This extinguishes small fires before they can escalate. Customer service reps have the power (again within guidelines) to resolve issues while their issuance is closely monitored. Because it is a single use card or coupon, customer abuse and company liability is minimized.

About the Author

Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions. He was CEO of Framework Technologies, VP of Open Market, and CEO of International Testing Services. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

Even the best, most highly regarded brands in the world experience service delays or snafus. 

When they do, they need to react promptly and appropriately to address the issue, assuage the unhappy customer and boost the odds that the customer will remain a client for the long term. Coupons are commonly used by all types of companies to appease customers when regular communications fail. But providing coupons can be fraught with many challenges. Chief among them is the ability to provide customer service reps a quick and seamless way to reach out to the customer with a satisfactory response.

When it Comes to Appeasement Immediacy Matters

The process for issuing a discount coupon to a customer when a problem occurs can be long and complex. Any delay in resolving the issue can cause the customer to further stew and fume over whatever the service problem may have been. During that time, a disgruntled customer can vent wildly over social media channels, sharing their dissatisfaction, however trivial or not, with potentially thousands of others who may likewise share the post and exponentially exacerbate the problem.

You don’t want that to happen. But there’s another important reason to offer appeasement as quickly as a New York minute. Research shows that the ability to provide immediate appeasement matters a lot. In fact, research has consistently shown that unhappy customers share their poor experiences to far more people than happy customers share opposite, positive experiences.

Fortunately, while the downside may be how quickly bad news can go viral, an upside is that technology can help to quickly expedite the customer appeasement process.

Digital Coupons Can Streamline the Appeasement Process

As an offensive strategy, the use of digital coupons to provide fast resolution and appeasement to unhappy customers can minimize the potential negative spread of reputational damage. Customer service reps are at the forefront of this battle and companies need to do all they can to give them the right tools to defuse a bad situation from becoming worse.

To that end, digital coupons can offer any number of smart customer service mitigations:

• Immediacy and instant gratification. Literally with the push of a button your service agents—or any authorized staff in your organization—can deliver a coupon to a dissatisfied customer.
• Flexibility in delivery format. Customers have different preferences when it comes to how they prefer to receive information. With couponing, these preferences can run the gamut from email, to chat, to text message and even social media.
• The easier it is for your service reps to request and process a coupon, the more likely they’ll do so and the more quickly customers will be satisfied with the response.
• Management control. Digital coupons make it easy to track distribution and generate reports indicating when, where and by whom coupon offers have been issued.
• Tracking Delivery and Redemptions. Tracking helps keep account of the cost of appeasement and reveal important insights into the actions disgruntled customers take. For instance, trending data on redemptions can help you monitor the effectiveness of your appeasement efforts and your ability to avoid losing customers.

While offering traditional gift cards or paper coupons to disgruntled customers can be a proven way to mollify customers and turn potential negative word-of-mouth into positive, there is the potential for some negative impacts on the bottom line if the process isn’t handled smartly and quickly.

Single-use Digital Coupons Protect the Bottom Line

A digital coupon that can be used multiple times obviously represents the potential for revenue risk. Companies want to ensure that any coupons they offer will be used only by the customer they were intended for and only once. That’s virtually impossible to do with traditional digital coupons.

With single-use digital coupons, though, coupons and gift cards are redeemable only once, either at the point of sale or online. Once redeemed, they’re immediately deactivated and cannot be used again. Similarly, customers aren’t able to redeem the coupon on more than one device.

Clearly, the ability to carefully control the distribution and appropriate redemption of digital coupons has a real bottom-line impact for organizations from two perspectives:

• Ensuring that appeasement efforts keep valued customers on-board
• Protecting revenue by carefully controlling coupon distribution and redemption

Customer service issues happen. When they do, it’s important for companies (and call centers) to feel confident and empowered in their ability to promptly respond, and to close upon customer satisfaction. Instantly issued single-use digital coupons and gift cards make conflict resolution a win-win. Not only are customers made happy, but it virtually guarantees they will return to do business with you. Better yet, it also boosts the odds that they will spread positive word-of-mouth about their experience to many others.

About the Author

Dan Slavin is CEO and co-founder of CodeBroker, a provider of mobile marketing solutions. He was CEO of Framework Technologies, VP of Open Market, and CEO of International Testing Services. He earned a BS in Electrical Engineering from Yale and an MBA from Harvard.

Steve DiGioia reveals his best strategies for winning back upset customers.

Many service providers have lost sight of what really matters. It’s not the ROI, the seamless journey between touchpoints, or even the capacity to personalize the product or service we offer.

It’s the ability to sustain relationships that will enable long-term viability and growth. Here is a case in point.

I was standing outside our hotel restaurant one evening and noticed a middle-aged couple walking out of the restaurant. I overheard their conversation about how disappointed they were with their meal and that their favorite dining spot had changed for the worse. They now considered finding a new location to celebrate their special occasions.

As an experienced hospitality professional, I just had to speak with this couple and find a way to turn their experience around and rekindle their loyalty to our company.

My mission was to win back an upset customer. Here’s what I did.

After introducing myself and asking about their meal, I apologized and let them know how sorry I was that we didn’t live up to their expectations. I asked them if they have ever dined with us during one of our big holiday buffets offered by our fine Banquet Department (which I just happened to manage). They’ve never attended one of these events because they thought the service and overall experience would be less than in our restaurant. But I knew better.

I invited them to be my guest at the next upcoming event and offered to personally arrange for their reservation, at whatever time they wanted and would ensure an excellent seating location. I let them know that we are very proud of our service and didn’t want their recent experience to be their final memory of our business. I asked them to allow me to rebuild their trust in our company and that I will not let them down.

They were very appreciative and thanked me for my concern and effort and said they will let me know if they will take me up on my offer. Frankly, I didn’t think that they would.

But, then it happened.

Three weeks later they called me to say they would accept my offer. This was fantastic. I knew I now had a chance to make things right for this special couple.

Needless to say, their next holiday meal was wonderful. I personally escorted them to their table, introduced them to their server and floor supervisor and presented them with a nice bottle of champagne. As they dined by the window, I happened to remember that they loved chocolate-covered strawberries. This topic came up during our initial conversation and I made sure to keep this in mind. Now, even though we didn’t offer this item at this event, the kitchen staff graciously prepared a selection of their finest berries for the couple to enjoy.

During their meal, I noticed they had engaging conversations with their server and the guests at the nearest table and it sure seemed like they were having a good time. Of course, I stopped by to check on them and were reassured that yes, they were, and their sincere smiles were my proof. I asked if I could take a photo of them so they’d have a memory of the event. They agreed but insisted that I join in the photo. All was well.

As they finished their meal and exited the ballroom I could easily see their previous disappointment turned to delight. I made sure to wish them well and let them know how happy I was to see they had a wonderful experience. But had we turned these customers around? Well, I thought so but it wouldn’t be proved unless they returned. And, return they did.

Over the next 3 years, my new favorite couple joined us at each of our three holiday buffets, Easter, Mother’s Day, and Thanksgiving, and almost always came with friends or other family members who in turn became our future customers. We again became the “go to” dining spot for their special occasions and were given additional opportunities to create cherished memories.

Most service can be mechanical when we focus mainly on the specific steps-of-service to be taken and forget what’s really important; how we make a customer feel special, feel appreciated and how disappointed we are when we fail them.

Sometimes all it takes is a little effort to find out what is most important to our customer. Does it cost us money to do this? Sure, sometimes. But…

To sum it up, here are my 9 best ways to win back an upset customer.

1. Engage your customer and “read” the unspoken messages given from their facial expressions or body language. You can usually tell when someone is upset or disappointed. You just have to pay attention.
2. Own the problem and take personal responsibility to fix it. No handoffs allowed.
3. Thank your customer for giving you an opportunity to win back their trust.
4. Pay attention to what they say and listen for the subtle hints of an item or service they desire. I’ll say it again, listen to what is said, really listen, and take notes.
5. Make sure your resolution is easy and convenient for the customer. No jumping through hoops.
6. Introduce your customer to the person(s) who will be servicing them and ensure your team knows how important this interaction is.
7. Check back with your customer multiple times to confirm they are satisfied.
8. Look for an opportunity to create a memory. Sometimes all it takes is a photograph, a small gift, or an unexpected and welcomed surprise.
9. When your customers return, cherish them. They now may be your biggest fan and advocate because you proved how much you care.

It’s not that hard to do. All you have to do is, your best.

About the Author

With 20+ years in the hospitality industry and a lifetime of customer service experience, Steve DiGioia uses storytelling to share real-world tips and tactics to improve your customer service, increase employee morale and provide the experience your customers desire.

As a certified trainer, author & speaker, Steve has been recognized as a three-time “World’s Top 30 Customer Service Professional” by Global Gurus.org and a “Top 50 Customer Thought Leader” by ICMI. He is also a featured contributor to the leading hospitality and customer service websites. Steve continues his pursuit of excellence on his award-winning blog sharing his best tips on customer service, management, and leadership. Follow Steve on Twitter @Steve DiGioia.

If you asked 100 Customer Service Representatives to identify their least favorite aspect of their job, 98 would probably say it is dealing with angry customers.

Once a customer has reached the boiling point of frustration and annoyance, it can be very difficult – and trying – to bring your company back into that customer’s favor once again. However, the task is not impossible, and with these 10 tips, you can successfully transform an angry customer into a loyal client once again.

1. Switch your thinking from dealing with a complaint to handling a concern. Behind your customer’s anger is likely a legitimate concern that you can help her with. Focus on the concern and a solution will come more easily.

2. Thank her for her concern. It may seem strange to thank someone who is ranting at you, but she is giving you the chance to make things right, rather than moving her business down the street. And that definitely deserves a thanks!

3. Listen to your customer. Pay attention to body language, tone and (of course) what she tells you. Reiterate her concern to be sure you have the gist of the problem down and to prove you were listening to her.

4. Empathize with her frustration. We’ve all been in situations where we have been angry with a company. Let your customer know that you have been in her shoes and you understand her feelings.

5. Apologize when appropriate. Sometimes, mistakes happen. If this was a legitimate mistake by your company, apologize to your customer for the error and subsequent inconvenience and frustration.

6. Stay calm and courteous throughout. It is easy to get defensive when you feel like you are being attacked, but raising your voice or changing your tone will only serve to enrage your customer further.

7. Reassure your customer that you will find a solution to the problem. Let her know that you will be her point of contact until that resolution is complete.

8. Find that solution. Do not play the blame game or pass the buck. Just fix it for your customer.

9. Follow up. Want to make an angry customer even angrier? Drop the ball before you get a resolution to her concern. If you are serious about transforming this customer, you will need to see the problem through to its final outcome. If you need to involve others in the issue, follow up with those people to ensure the job gets done in a timely fashion.

10. Go the extra mile. Here is where the real transformation begins. Once you solve the problem, your customer is satisfied. By adding something extra, a discount on a next visit, a follow-up card in the mail or another token of appreciation, you get a customer who is truly delighted.

Angry customers are a challenge for any company, but the good news is there are effective strategies for dealing with these difficult situations. With these 10 steps, most of your angry customers will transform into delighted, loyal customers who will return to your business and even tell others about your winning service attitude.

In this excerpt from his book, Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, John Tschohl explains why customer complaints are a golden opportunity for companies to improve their service.

If your organization receives virtually no complaints this is not a sign that
you are blessed with the most efficient, committed, and intelligent employee
force on the face of the earth. It is far more likely that the few complaints that
you receive are the tip of a submerged iceberg of complaints.

That’s the picture revealed by an A.C. Nielsen Co. study. The firm found
that only 1 in 50 dissatisfied consumers takes the time to complain.
So, to find out how many customers out there are dissatisfied, multiply the
number of complaints received by 50. The result is more likely to represent the
true picture in your organization.

Another way of looking at the significance of the number of complaints
actually heard is to consider the fact that the ratio of complaints heard at
headquarters to the instances of complaining in the marketplace (articulated
or not) yields a number called the “Multiplier.” It ranges from 6:1 for serious
problems, when there is no field or retail contact organization available, to
2,000:1 for less serious problems when an extensive field service organization
is active to receive and to absorb problems. So, if you have a well-established,
professional complaint system in place, and you received only two complaints
last month, you should understand that it is likely that 4,000 customers felt like
complaining but did not.

The existence of a multiplier is the reason that you should solicit complaints,
smooth the way for complainers, and even reward customers for complaining.
This is what you would do if your objective were total customer satisfaction and
its bottom-line benefits.

It is far better for an organization to yank its head out of the sand and to
open its eyes to face complaints and complainers than it is to pull a cloak of
smugness around its shoulders. Dissatisfied customers are going to strike back, eventually. The company that is aware of complaints will be equipped to take action to prevent the consequences of the complaints.

Employees at all levels need to understand why it is important to solicit,
to accept, and to effectively handle and satisfy complaints. They should be
assisted in understanding the relation between productive complaint handling
and your strategic thinking.

Shycon Associates, Inc., found in a customer service study that almost
70 percent of corporate purchasing agents would take immediate punitive
action against a company without complaining to either a salesperson or to a
sales manager first. They said that it was just easier to switch vendors than to
complain. This is a very good reason for soliciting complaints.

The Technical Assistance Research Program (TARP) found that for major
problems where there would have been an average loss of $142, about 31
percent of individuals who encountered the problem did not complain.
Nielsen found that for small problems that resulted in loss of a few dollars
or a minor inconvenience, only three percent of consumers complained. Thirty
percent returned the product Furthermore, 70 percent of consumers encountering this type of problem either would do nothing or would discard the product.

Results of a survey of 1,000 businesses indicated that 42 percent of companies that encountered problems with a car rental company
didn’t complain to anyone even to the counter clerk. You can see the flaw in
measuring effectiveness of service by the few number of complaints received.
By the way, the Council of Better Business Bureaus says that complaints
about auto repairs top the list of the nation’s service problems, followed by gripes about home improvement contractors, mail-order companies, and landlords.

Ask Customers For Complaints

“High-growth companies stay in touch with their markets—and willingly spend
the money to do so. They know their customers and they keep their knowledge
fresh,” says the American Management Association (AMA) in its research: “Win by losing: A complaint is an opportunity”.

Ron Kaufmann, from Singapore, in his book, Up Your Service, asked,
“Who actually picks up the phone, takes up a pen or gathers the courage to
complain? You might think it’s the troublemaker, the difficult customer, and the
one who enjoys being angry. You’d be wrong.”

Research shows that complaining customers are overwhelmingly loyal
and sincere. They are complaining to you because they care about your business and about the service they receive. They intend doing business with you again in the future, and they want you to set things right.

Do not lose your head when problems arise. Work with your customers to
set things right. The final result should be loyal customers who freely proclaim: “Wow! We got more than we expected. This organization is responsible. They really do care. We’ll come back again. And we’ll tell others to come here, too.”

This article is based on an excerpt from “Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service” by John Tschohl.

About the Author

John Tschohl is a customer service strategist and is the founder and president of the Service Quality Institute. John has been described by USA Today, Time, and Entrepreneur as a ‘customer service guru’ and has written several highly acclaimed customer service books.

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” –Warren Buffett

Customer expectations have never been so high, but most businesses lack the skills to deal with upset clients. Brands put billions in marketing to build their reputation. However, in the digital era this reputation can be ruined in an instant without the right complaint handling abilities. Companies focused on long term success understand the importance of investing in efficient customer service recovery to restore their reputation when it’s put on the line.

Way back in 2009, United Airlines baggage handlers broke Dave Caroll’s $3500 guitar during a flight from Halifax to Omaha. Caroll tried to get compensation for almost a year but United refused his claim. The musician wrote a protest song in response to the airline’s incompetence and indifference. His music video “United Breaks Guitars” has now been viewed close to 20 million times on YouTube. It was reported that United Airlines’ stock price fell by about 10% shortly after the song was posted.

Dave went on to write a book titled “United Breaks Guitars: The Power of One Voice in the Age of Social Media”.

The above story is a CEO’s worst nightmare: one single dissatisfied client severely affecting the image of a brand. The advent of social media has given customers the power to build or ruin a reputation in seconds. Business practices in which complaints were ignored and customers labelled difficult are outdated. Simple calculation proved in multiple studies that customer retention is more profitable than acquisition. So why does contacting a brand to voice one’s discontent so often turn into a tortuous journey leading to a no-man’s land of ineffectiveness?

First, building service recovery competences is a long-term investment and since quarterly figures generally drive business decisions, the deficit resulting from mishandling customers is rarely measured or included in the business strategy. Second, when sales are good, firms don’t typically invest in keeping existing customers and when business is bad, they cut costs and customer service is one of the first departments to pay the price. Third, determining which department should pick up the bill for the resources aimed at preserving the lifetime value of clients can turn into a buck passing game between departments.

Companies aiming for long-term brand equity invest in their customer service recovery strategy because they see the dormant potential that lies in a client’s dissatisfaction. They perceive complaint management as a qualified profession requiring specific skills rather than a dirty job for people who didn’t make it into marketing. They look beyond their defence mechanisms when criticized and welcome negative feedback as opportunities to enter into a dialogue with the market. This allows them to identify possible weaknesses in their business and improve their products, services and internal processes accordingly.

Today great products and services abound, and customers expect more than glittering promises. The faster the world becomes; the less willing people are to put up with frustration. One disappointing interaction is enough for a client to switch brands. Sometimes without saying a word but often, as with Dave Caroll, while going out of their way to tell the world about their bad experience. Costly marketing campaigns can build reputation but companies that walk their talk do things differently as they know the power one voice can have in the age of social media.

About the Author

Sébastien Baranyai has been a customer service recovery expert for close to 15 years for companies ranging from start-ups to major luxury brands. Sébastien writes about service recovery and complaint handling.