Preventing and Addressing the Most Common Customer Complaints

While call centers often give customer service representatives a chance to interact with friendly and interesting people, the job isn’t always so easy. One of the realities of working in the line of customer service is that there are going to be complaints, and occasionally there are very angry people on the other line. 

While it’s always preferential to avoid giving customers a reason to complain, anybody who is going to work in a call center needs to be fully trained on how to address these complaints when they do arise. Here are some general guidelines to follow when dealing with a customer who has called to complain about a product or service:

• Apologize. Even though you’re likely not the person at fault, you are representing an entire company when you speak with customers. The situation may be entirely out of your hands, and a solution might not be able to be reached. All you can do is apologize as sincerely as possible, which should hopefully help smooth things over. However, once you’ve made your apology, it’s time to get to the bottom of the issue at hand.

• Make sure they know you care. People who are calling in to complain want to be sympathized with, so just let them know that you are invested in their problem. A bad experience with a customer service representative could drive this customer away from the business for good, so it’s important to tactfully handle these situations and come across as friendly and caring as possible. Perhaps even send the customer a handwritten apology or a coupon of some sort to try to make it up to them.

• Present their options. Is there another product you offer that your client would like? Are there any options to remedy the situation at hand? If so, this is when you should present these options to the caller.

• NEVER get into an argument. Your caller is likely already heated enough without anyone riling them up even more. Even if you are completely right, you will never win an argument with an angry customer. Tell them what you will do to make the situation right, and try your best to calm the person down. This is the best thing you can do.

While all organizations strive to be perfect, even the best will have to deal with an unhappy customer or two at some point. When this happens, look at it as an opportunity to learn and to make a bad situation better!