Quote: "Customers don't expect you to be perfect. They do expect you to fix things when they go wrong." - Donald Porter, V.P. British Airways
Question: How does your staff handle it when something goes wrong?
Our Thoughts: Without a doubt, there will be a time when your company stumbles and your customer is not happy with the service. This means your employees will need to be prepared to interact with an unhappy customer. It's easy to make the assumption that your staff knows how to handle an upset customer. That assumption might have some truth to it. They know their way to solve problems, which might include years of bad habits. The question is do they know your way? Sure, they might have even seen how you handle it, but do they know how far they can go to satisfy a client? Can they give the client a discount or refund? If they can, how much can they offer? Do they offer the discount first, or is there something that should happen before getting to that point?
As a business owner, you have a lot more confidence and leeway for correcting a client issue. You can make promises to the client without hesitation, because if you say yes, the company is going to do it. Your employees might not have the same confidence and leeway. It's up to you to provide them with a simple process for handling all customer complaints. If you're one of our coaching clients, ask your coach about the process we call, "Take the H.E.A.T."
Once you're confident they know how to handle a complaint you need to set guidelines. What solution can they offer a client before a manager or owner needs to be involved?
