I have a confession to make. I have very thin skin. So, when customers say something negative about my products it depresses me at times. Don’t worry. I do not stay in that place long because I do understand that there are times when their words are constructive and helpful. I do understand those critical words are pointing out an area in my business that needs worked on. What if their words are meant to be helpful, but turn out hurtful.
You can tell the difference between helpful and hurtful words. So, when they sling the hurtful ones at you what do you do? How do you handle the situation?
Here are 5 tips that can help you work with this style of customer:
- Protect yourself – You don’t know how far someone will go with situations. Make sure you have insurance, disclaimers, very specific information on ordering, custom orders, wholesale orders. Guarantees and warranties need to be black and white, everything spelled out. All aspects of your business that interact with your customers need to be spelled out in black and white.
- Tackle the situation head on – Make sure you contact the customer with the intention of wanting to help them and feeling what they say could help your business.
- Shed light on the negative, shady statements they have made – Acknowledge truthful statements they have made, but if they made false accusations calmly point them out. Don’t let them get away with slandering your business.
- Remember kind words are like honey. It is difficult to keep your cool, but professionalism is a must.
- Remember one negative comment or even a couple negative comments are not going to bring your business down. You have a choice to keep going or allow it to fester within.
Tell us how you handle “customers with moxie”.
Many Blessings,
P.S. Keep in touch with me on Facebook or Twitter @Dawnaurora