The customer is King!

The customer is always right. You’re probably tired of hearing this saying over and over again, but it’s the reality when it comes to sales and customer support. The customer is always right, and even when they are completely wrong, it’s your job to adjust to the situation and make them feel heard.

Coping with disappointed or angry customers is hard but take a look on the bright side, dealing with these kinds of situations can help you improve your customer service and business retention processes.

Nevertheless, you need to make sure that your sales department is both mentally and methodically prepared to cope with unpleasant situations before you put them in front of unhappy customers. They should also know how to apply the necessary techniques for winning back the loyalty of clients.

With a different dynamic approach to solving customer/business disputes, one of the major contributing factors as to why a customer will always remain loyal to your service is the ability of such customers to have immense confidence in your service.

Customer confidence drives sales and supports long-lasting loyalty among customers. Nurturing customer confidence is an important part of your retention strategy.

Most time, expensive marketing and advertising campaigns only provide a return on investment when customers make a purchase. More importantly, advertising aims for conversions that produce long-term loyalty rather than a one-time purchase.

Customer confidence is the foundation of lasting sales relationships. It supports customer retention strategies when customers know they can count on your business to deliver quality products or services promptly.

As a business, having flout or disappoint the said customer, the following are my proposed methods of getting the customer onboard for the phases stated in your case study;

Initiate a business meeting with key strategic decision-makers:

A meeting with the key decision makers of the business (Customer) will be the starting point of this watertight approach. It gives room to start conventional and inconvenient conversations where in most cases the customer voices out his/her displeasure with the service rendered. It often most times gives the pathway to solving most of the problem.

Listen to the client:

Listening to your clients is vital. Allow them to vent and openly express their frustration or anger and avoid interrupting them. You need to focus on their complaint by listening carefully to show that you are dedicated to solving their problems.

Don’t forget to stay calm and be empathetic, even if the things you hear seem to be unfair or hurtful. Always bear in mind that the outcome of your conversation is more important, as this will make it easier for you to get through any distressing interaction with a client.

Empathize and share and identify with their problems:

Hearing out an upset client and identifying their problems can be challenging, especially when it’s clear that they have the floor to voice out their frustrations. However, this is a necessary step to take when trying to resolve any issue.

Putting yourself in the customer’s shoes and showing them that you understand how they feel can help calm the situation. This approach may also change the way your client perceives you. You may become an ally in solving their problem, rather than an enemy.

Remember, it’s not just about “pretending” to understand your client. Try to look at things from their perspective instead, and it may turn out that they were not all that wrong in the first place.

Apologize:

You know, growing up in an African home, we are always made to believe saying sorry doesn’t kill; Saying something like “I’m very sorry to hear about this”, or “On behalf of the company, I apologize for the faulty/shitty service you received”, can work wonders when dealing with an irritated client. There are no shortcuts. Control and manage your pride so that you can make a sincere apology. Don’t try to fool your clients by using vague language. You have to admit that your company was in the wrong even if you disagree with the statement. Moreover, your message must make it clear to the customer that they are right and that the company is doing everything possible to meet their expectations.

Take the initiative to solve a problem:

After you apologize, it’s time to offer an alternative solution that benefits both sides. If possible, engage the person who is in charge of the company or the decision makers as suggested to be present when an alternative solution is suggested to a client. This will show them that your company is going the extra mile to solve their problem.

Offer Incentives: As a sales manager, One or two “PRs” are needed in business and most times, customers are on the lookout for the goodies. In a situation like this, it is pertinent to note that we need to do everything possible to show that we are the solution provider to go to or to beat and therefore we must try as much as possible to convince the said customer to look in our way. One of the ways to do that is by offering incentives. The incentive can come in terms of a rebate, freight discount, or value-added service.

Solve the problem as soon as possible:

Try to agree on a solution and act on it immediately. Resolving a problem as soon as possible ensures that the situation does not lead to major problems and that the client feels that this is your priority.

Having achieved the process above, it is pertinent to note that as an organization of integrity, it is of utmost importance to hold on to your word and promises. The outcome of such meetings often requires a series of follow up and immediate execution to show how committed we are as an organization.

Considering the customer’s business and the revenue value, I propose the following should be done with a team on both sides to actualize the said operation.

1. Set up a project team comprising of both team members: Setting up a project team comprising of both your organization and the customer’s organization gives the customer a sense of belonging. It gives the customer the chance to believe they are being carried along and that they matter in the scheme of things. More so, it shows or allows the customer to perceive your approach as being tailored to their problems and your devotion to solving their problems.

2. Considering the revenue base, set up a small office location within the customer’s business environment for fulfillment purposes: Considering how BIG the customer is or how big the revenue base is, we can set up a make-shift office in the location of the customer to spare head operations and be our first-hand support from the customer’s base. This will actually make our presence felt and also make the escalation of issues easier.

3. Set up clear timelines and achievable goals resulting from the meeting held by both parties: As part of the outcome of the meeting, it is very important to set clear achievable objectives and timelines so that the team can have something to work with. The team must identify a specific target that the business aims to achieve and a specific timeline for reaching that target. List your goals/outcomes, Ask and deliberate on realistic questions, create achievable milestones, draw your timeline, and map up goals & and milestones.

4. Offer proactive multi-channel support: As a technology-driven company, the purpose of creating and operating multi-channel support is to meet and support customers on a variety of communication channels, from traditional phone support to email, social media, live chat, and more. The inability to reach support contributes to why many customers are ditching companies. Multi-channel support provides different methods of communication for your customers to reach you. This can include (but is not limited to) email, phone, chat, social media, knowledge base, etc. You will notice that while some clients enjoy the rapid response from live chat software, others will prefer to find the answers themselves via a knowledge base. The idea is that every customer has different ways of interacting with brands, and you want to be able to answer all of them with the same level of professionalism and agility. Not to mention that customer experience, just like anything else, is subject to trends that you simply cannot skip (unless you want to leave precious market shares to your competitors). For example, with the increased use of Facebook, Twitter, and the like, we’ve seen over the last years a rise in the number of support requests on social media. It doesn't matter which way your customers reach you, the important thing to note here is that thanks to your multi-channel platform, they can. Giving your customers the option to contact you in whichever way feels best for them is truly a win for everyone.

5. Respond promptly and resolve queries and matters arising: Complaints are an important way for the management of an organization to be accountable to the public, as well as providing valuable prompts to review organizational performance and the conduct of people who work within and for it. A complaint is an “expression of dissatisfaction made to or about an organization, related to its products, services, staff or the handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required”1. As a matter of guidance, complaints can be made directly to an organization by members of the public and/or customers, or through alternative pathways such as to Members of Parliament or statutory officers but otherwise about the organization. A timely response to complaints actually helps solve issues that may lead to dangerous escalation if not dealt with promptly.

6.  Boost customer satisfaction with product experience insights: Having the right customer satisfaction strategies in place helps businesses measure their customer satisfaction efforts and continually improve their customer experience. By understanding your target customers’ motivations and frustrations, you can boost customer satisfaction through techniques like:

·         Experiencing your customer journey firsthand

·         Listening to your customers

·         Offering a feedback mechanism

·         Acting on customer feedback

·         Personalizing your user experience

·         Following up with your customers

By keeping your focus on your customers and turning customer-centered insights into action, you can turbocharge the customer experience—and your customer satisfaction scores.

As I have stated earlier in this paper column/ feature, the business approach is so dynamic, and many other approaches can work and might even achieve a better result. In years in sales, a subtle approach like this works wonders and I will bank on it anytime.