Mastering Customer Care: A Guide to Handling Customer Complaints Effectively

You can probably turn dissatisfied customers into your loyal fans if you are able to deal with customer complaints successfully since positive experience matters a lot when it comes to customer retention.

It is important to understand the significance of customer complaints before handling it. You may wonder how exactly you can benefit from such a seemingly negative situation since complaints are inevitable and can drive you to the edge. You can generate more profits in the long run if you use complaints well as these are a double-edged knife. A response to complaints can increase willingness of customer to pay later, even the frustrated ones according to a study by Harvard Business Review. You could even add value to your business if you solved an issue successfully.

Existing customers spend 31% more than new customers. So, customer retention is more beneficial than acquisition. Customer churn can be reduced effectively, and even the originally upset customers can be turned into your business advocates by handling complaints in the right way.

Customer complaints also acts as insights for improvements. It may imply that there may be something wrong with your products or services when you receive complaints from upset customers. You should try to find out any solution for improvements by investigating complaints thoroughly so that you can improve and thrive continuously.

Some common customer complaints are:

Make sure your customer service team provides timely and personal support so that customers do not lose their interest in your offerings. They should not wait for a long time to get support and feel they were treated like numbers rather than humans. Getting poor services during their purchase journey including after-sales can frustrate them.

Customer service is a deciding factor for most of consumers when picking a seller. Customers probably do not come back again if they feels disrespected or unvalued during their interaction with you. The worse part is is that 96% of customers don't bother to complain at all, and 91% of them simply switch vendors. Therefore, you need to treat it as a valuable asset for improvement when your customers complain about your service. You should understand how your customers feel about your offerings.

The availability of diverse payment methods is another aspect customers often feel dissatisfied about. They may also be concerned about the lack of their preferred payment method or checkout safety. For example, you may feel discouraged if the only payment method provided by your supplier insecure for you when you are buying in bulk. So, you should accepts an array of payment methods to give peace of mind to both you and your customers.

One of the most frequently asked questions from customers is why hasn't my order arrived?. Your clients may stay silent and simply switches to another vendor when they get poor customer services or cannot use their preferred payment method. But most customers would complain and voice out their dissatisfaction when it comes to delivery issues.

Although, you don't have absolute control over on transportation as an online business owner, but you can help your customers by tracking the shipment or contacting directly to your logistics company. You should also double-check the delivery details with your customers to make sure they didn't provide incorrect addresses. Help rectify the situation if it is the case. Reliable and fast global shipping solutions are provided by some marketplaces, so that you can have full visibility and control over your shipments with trackable delivery services and real-time updates.

You should try to provide accurate product details since people get upset when they bought something online and found that the actual product looked completely different. Live stream feature, 360 views, and product videos can be used to provide a realistic and holistic view of your products. Some incentives can be offered to encourage your buyers to post photos in their reviews since photo reviews from other buyers can help showcase your products.

You immediately need to look into the matter if you are receiving multiple complaints about the same product. There may be complain about the shortcomings of your products. For example, try to find a moisturizing hand sanitizer if the shoppers need to moisturize their hands after using your hand wash products. You set yourself apart from your competitors by doing this.

You may be able to minimize potential complaints by refining your services after going through some common complaints. However, it is impossible to eliminate all dissatisfaction, as you cannot please everyone. So, you should do the following things when you receive a complaint from an angry customer.

Quick resolution to problem is a major customer service expectation. The number one pain point for B2B decision makers is lack of speed in interactions with suppliers. You can show your customers that you care for them by responding rapidly. Even a simple receipt acknowledgment can help. You should never ignore unhappy customers, as nothing can be fixed by running away from your problems.

It is expected by the average customer to have their issues solved within five minutes by phone, within one hour by social media, and within around 24 hours by email. Remember to have your customer service team monitor social media platforms and manage feedback and complaints if you have set up a page for your business on it.

Live chat tool can be used to interact with your buyers. You can also set auto-reply when you are busy or away, so that your customers don't feel neglected. You can stay connected with your customers anytime, anywhere by leveraging the seller-oriented app as you can get all the tools you need for communications in one place.

You should listen carefully and collect all the facts you need to solve the problems of your customer since customer complaints can be great assets for improvements. You should never fight back or challenge your customers even if they are wrong, as this will only make them more irritated. Acknowledge their problem sincerely, and move on to apologize.

You should show understanding and empathy to diffuse the tension. Ownership can be taken to let your customers feel heard and supported. Arguing with your customers is the last thing you should do. Try to collect as many details as possible to get a comprehensive view of their problems. Take this opportunity to refine your services if there is really something wrong with your products or services. Invaluable insights into the quality of your products or services can be provided by valid complaints.

Dissatisfied customers are more willing to forgive a company that offers an apology compared to offering compensations. Therefore, offer a sincere apology immediately by putting your emotions aside, even if the faults are not on your part. Making excuses or shifting blame as defenses to avoid ownership will only make things worse. So, try avoid doing this.

Make your customers feel appreciated and valued by thanking them for pointing out the issues to you. This way you can keep customers going back again and again. However, the process of complaint handling does not end here.

You need to act on the opinions of your customers to show them you are dedicated to offering the best experience to them. The authority should be given to your customer support team to offer compensation to unhappy customers directly and immediately without having to escalate an issue to supervisors. A refund or coupon for future purchases an be provided to encourage them to come back.

Your solutions should be personalized to find the right fit for your customers. For example, you can offer to provide samples for your customer next time and lower the MOQ to give them more confidence to buy with you when a customer says that the products do not meet their expectations. A tailor-made solution always works better than offering refunds or coupons or gift cards every single time.

You can follow up with your customers by sending a message or calling them in person after the resolution to see if they are satisfied with the solution and if their problems are really solved. Someone in upper management can also be involved to show that your company truly cares. Your employees can also be asked to sign their names or even to send a handwritten note to your customers.

You may not be able to showcase the results to your customers straight away when they provide you insights into improving products or services in their complaints, as it takes time to refine things. But, keep your customers informed of this when it is done, because they play a role in your improvement. This way you can delight and surprise them by showing that you value customer feedback. Final touch can be added to your service by these simple gestures, taking your business to the next level of success. Customer satisfaction can also be enhanced and a trusting relationship can be build.

Your customers cannot see your facial expression and body language, nor can they hear your tone when you are interacting with your customers through live chats or email with today's technology. You need to pay extra attention to your language, as words are the only means of communication in online communications. 

You should offer alternatives or solutions instead of saying no. Your customers should also be addressed with their names whenever possible. You should show your customers you value and respect them and also make them feel comfortable communicating with you on the Internet.