An unhappy customer will call today. Here are four smart ways to respond so the relationship stays strong.
After an apology, a question is one of the best ways to respond to a complaint, according to client loyalty expert Andrew Sobel, who wrote Power Questions: Build Relationships, Win New Business and Influence Others.
Questions suggest there’s no guilt on either side, and generally make customers feel more like they’re part of the solution.
Agents can try responding to their next complaint with something like this:
- “Thanks for raising this with me. Can you tell me any other facts or background information about what happened?”
- “Thanks for sharing all this. Can you say more about it?”
- “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. How do you think things got to this point?”
- “This is important. How do you think we can best respond to it?”
