How To Handle Angry Customers

We've all been there.   You're at an airport.  You're tired.   You just want to get home.  And your plane is delayed.

With no real explanation.

How many times has this happened to you?   How many times, like me, have you stated that there is a special place in Hell for (fill in airline name here).

What airlines and other companies seem to miss is one of the most important parts of customer service - communication. 

Especially when things are going wrong - THIS is when you need to communicate the most. The worse thing you can do is ignore angry customers.

The other way to diffuse a bad customer situation is to use humor.  

Lisa Barnes at marketingfit.com has a fabulous real life example -  How to Handle Customer Complaints the Westjet Way.    Laugh and learn.

Comments

[Susan (5 Minutes for Mom)]

You're so right... communication is the key to calming angry customers.

With our online toy stores, (http://www.pedalcarsandretro.com and http://www.a-rocking-horse-to-love.com) we find that listening and doing our best to take responsibility and action to solve the problem can usually turn an angry customer into a grateful one.

In fact many of our customer comments on our site come from people who were initially upset, but then were so amazed by how we handled their situation that they went away raving about our fabulous customer service.

[Sonia Roody]

Angry customers are the ultimate test for customer service representatives. Yes, communication is the solution to this problem. Ignoring them can definitely push them away from availing of the business' products and services, which can create a negative ripple effect on the company's market value.