How to Deal with Frustrated Customers

Customer Support can be…

The BEST of the jobs

The WORST of the jobs!

or

Fret not..

You can make it

through

with these vital hacks!

And make both parties

exit with a smile

Understand that the customer

just wants to be heard;

They didn’t wake up and

decide to have a bad day or

to make your day worse.

Pro tip 1Don’t take it personally.

Keep calm and breathe.

Pay attention to their problem.

Let them get it all out.

This will give you enough time

to come up with a good solution

and a brilliant way

to communicate said solution.

“And how did that make you feel?”

Listen; don’t just hear them out

Pro tip 2

Take notes.

Ask them relevant,

standard questions but

be careful of your phrasing.

Notes will help you to recollect the issue

at a later stage of the crisis.

Empathy over sympathy, every day

Pro tip 3

Summarise, don’t repeat.

Show them you’ve understood the problem,

and you weren’t just pretending to listen.

Throw out the “We” in favor of the more empathetic “I”.

Once you’re done summing up the situation

take a moment to apologize.

Pro tip 4Time for the Solution!

There’s a quick fix for the customer’s problem.

Phew. Disaster averted.

When you’ve a solution

There is no immediate solution

Offer them a workaround. If they’re unappeased,

throw in a discount/a freebie.

Pro tip 5Follow Up

Regardless of the channel,

follow up with them through email after a day or two.

Don’t leave them stewing

with the memory of your last interaction.

Root cause analysisThe next time an angry customer looks you up,

put on your deerstalker hat and think.

The customer is angry, yes, but why?

Did your copy not convey the point properly?

Were your sales people misinformed?

Is there a problem with inventory?

Trace the problem to its root and

fix it before it annoys the rest of your customer base.

Your Turn

If we’ve missed out on something fairly obvious,

write to us at love@freshdesk.com.

You will be rewarded handsomely.

“Behind every slide share

is a great blogpost”

Read more about how to deal frustrated customers