Here’s a great article about customers from Forbes. If you want to read the entire thing, you can go here, but here’s a few of the best quotes:
If you’ve tried your best to address a complaint and the customer still isn’t happy, it’s time to move on from that customer. Use your limited resources to address the concerns of customers who are willing to engage in reasonable dialogue with you.
This is so true. My goal with an upset customer is always “How can i satisfy you”?” but sometimes they don’t WANT to get satisfied, they just want to complain.
Believing the customer is always right is a subconscious way of favoring the customer over the employee which can lead to resentment among employees. When managers put the employees first, the employees will then put the customers first. Put employees first and they will be happy at work.
I go back to the Nordstrom’s handbook of “Use good judgement with customers.” If you give the employees the ability to do whatever it takes to satisfy the customer, they will do so and if the customer is still complaining, you may have to side with the employee, especially if the customer is being abusive. From a personal standpoint, I’ve had a couple times where an unreasonable customer I did my best for complained to upper management and I was told to send them a gift card or something and while I always did it, I resented my boss for telling me to do that and not backing me up.
Look at the bigger picture when dealing with consistently unreasonable customers or clients. Look at what’s really important, and ask yourself if repeatedly attempting to please an unpleaseable customer is really the best business decision.
Upper management should not have policies set in stone as retail is not black and white, there is a lot of grey. “Just give them whatever they want” sets up an environment where customers will know they will get their way if they complain loudly enough. 99.9% of our customers are good ones and should be satisfied, but you need to also be able to show the other .1% the door on occasion.
So has anyone had an angry customer story they’d like to share? Anyone besides me ever been hit by an old lady with her cane?
This is from Cid on the Longs FB page, and a true story so even better. Wish I had thought of this comeback!!
The best Vignette I ever remember was Tim Johnson in Capitola. They had a customer walk in and ask the photo clerk to change his watch battery, but she told him they weren’t allowed to open people’s watches for them any more, so he asked her to call a Manager. Tim came over and explained they couldn’t change his battery for him. The customer became irate and said “Why not…you sell watches don’t you?” to which Tim calmly replied “Yes sir, and we also sell toilet paper.” (LOL!)