The other day an entrepreneur asked me this question:
How do I resolve a customer complaint when his version of events is wildly different from my frontline employee’s story? Must I always take the side of the customer? What about my employee’s word?
Typically, the common response to this issue is that the customer is always right. However, the frontline employee who first provided the customer with a product or service should also have their perspective heard and addressed. It’s not right to simply give in to customers who constantly ask for refunds or discounts for what they received, without making sure your employees understand the reasons behind your decisions.
To make an accurate judgement on this question I suggest analyzing each situation through the following 3 steps:
Listen
Talk to your customer to grasp the full details of their complaint. Don’t hesitate to ask questions that explore the issue thoroughly, and make sure to stay neutral while gathering information. Next, talk to the employee who first interacted with the customer. If the issue involved several employees, speaking with each one individually will help you piece together the situation more clearly by considering each perspective. This comprehensive approach will likely reveal any gaps, leading to a quicker resolution.
Learn
Examine your customer’s profile. Are they notorious for filing complaints? Do they have a history of demoralizing your staff? Or have they been a faithful, long-time customer with no prior instances of complaints or seeking reimbursements or discounts?
Then, do the same with your employees. Do they have a history of complaints from customers? Did they have a negative event in their life that day that may have resulted in a less than stellar customer interaction?
Answering these questions will clarify the drivers of the complaint and help to determine the resolution.
Conclude
With your due diligence with both customer and employee complete, you are prepared to take appropriate action to resolve the complaint. If you determine that the customer has a valid complaint which justifies a reimbursement or discount, immediately fulfill their request. Follow up with your employee to tell him why you have decided this course.
On the other hand, if you find that this customer is notorious for seeking unjustified reimbursements or discounts, or continuously hassling your employees with complaints, you may consider declining the customer’s request or possibly even firing them as a customer. Carefully explain to the customer why you have chosen to do this. Some may argue that declining the customers request goes against all customer experience best practices, however, as an entrepreneur you have standards by which you run your business effectively. Do not abuse those standards. You can live without one customer but you can’t live without your dedicated employees.
To support the LLC structure, set a Service Level Agreement (SLA) to have all complaints resolved within a set time frame. For example, “At Joe Smith’s Autobody, we strive to have all customer feedback addressed and resolved within one business days.”
Have you set your SLA for complaint management?