Customer Satisfaction – the Lifeline of Your Business

Satisfied customers mean repeat business and great PR. (In these days of the Internet and social media, dissatisfaction and satisfaction spread quickly.)  However, no matter how hard we try, there will always be someone we don’t relate to, who is having a bad day anyway, miscommunicates, misunderstands, so gets really angry.  Sometimes it isn’t even your fault but you happened to be the person “in range.”

Dealing with upset and angry customers is something we must master if we’re to stay in business.  In some businesses, particularly online ones, we generally don’t deal with customers face to face.  (Although with Skype, ooVoo, and similar programs, there are ways to see the person you’re talking with.)  But we do have to settle any differences or miscommunication.

Don’t ignore your dissatisfied customers.  They’ll leave a ratings message on some of the store sites.  They’ll write about you in their blog. (There was a long tirade on a blog recently from a dissatisfied Etsy customer.)  They may discuss you in an online group.  They’ll discuss you with their neighbor, in person, and discourage them from visiting your site or store. 

Linette Gerlach has some great tips in her blog post, How Do You Deal With An Angry Customer?.  Some of this communication with customers is common sense, but it helps to read articles like Linette’s and have it reinforced…and perhaps we’ll learn something new about customer relations.

How have you defused a situation so it resulted in a satisfied customer?

(Image at: sxc.hu)