How to Deal with Customer Complaints

hi shep hyken here customer service and
experience expert today i'm going to
talk about handling complaints or angry
customers now i've already shared a
number of videos on different ways to do
so and i'd like to add an excellent
technique the idea is to say something
that lets your customer know you
understand the problem you're in sync
with their concerns and you empathize
with their frustration anger whatever
emotion that they're exhibiting now i
refer to this as the perfect thing to
say now this is more than apologizing
and acknowledging the customer which are
important steps in my five-step process
for dealing with angry customers but
this is different when a customer brings
you a problem or has a complaint you
want to find a way to align with their
goals and articulate it in such a way
that immediately lets the customer know
that you're on their side let them know
you're in sync with them and what they
want to achieve now here's a perfect
example i'd switch to a new mobile phone
and i was having great difficulty
getting used to the new features i
wanted to return the phone and go back
to the older technology now actually
returning the phone wasn't what was on
my mind i actually wanted to smash the
phone and mail the pieces back to the
manufacturer it was that different new
and uncomfortable well eventually my
frustration forced me to pick up the
phone and to call customer support in
just a short time i was talking to the
rep i know he sensed my frustration so i
emphasized that i wasn't angry at him
but actually at the phone after all he
was there to help me now i didn't want
to make him angry and then the magic
happened once he listened to my problems
making several comments that proved his
empathy toward my situation he said
something that made me want to keep the
new phone he said i want you to love
your phone so much
that you'd be willing to jump in front
of a bus to save it
trying to stay with his lighthearted
comment i replied i'd be happy to jump
in front of the bus as long as it was
going backward but i was really thinking
that this was a bigger challenge than he
thought and i wondered is he up for the
task so go ahead and give it your best
shot well regardless of my frustration i
realized he was there to help me his
positive attitude and energy along with
his perfect thing to say turn me around
from an upset customer to wanting to
love him and his brand now think about
the problems or complaints that you hear
most often is there a sentence or a
phrase you can work into the
conversation that would turn that misery
into magic this isn't something you make
up on the spot this is a line that you
will use again and again
that's the line that will turn your
angry customers into loyal customers who
say
i'll be back
well i hope you enjoyed this short
lesson thank you very much for tuning in
this is shep hyken reminding you to
always be
amazing