Even the best customer service skills won’t prevent you from encountering the occasional unhappy customer. You should do whatever you can to make a good impression of your company in the minds of your customers, even if it seems like there is no way to make them happy. Remember that your company, and especially you as the sales manager, have a responsibility to live up to the promises that you make during the sales process.
When customers complain to you, make sure to take notes. Ask them to repeat their story a few times and try to ascertain what the real problem might be. This will also highlight inconsistencies in their story. This is for your own learning benefit in the future. Train your sales staff to treat all customers respectfully, no matter what and to send any especially difficult customers to either you or to your supervisor.
What you offer the customer should be offered to them in the most positive and best possible manner. They are unhappy, after all, and even if you can’t offer them what they are probably secretly hoping for (two months of free service, for example) you can still try to put an optimistic spin on what you can provide for them. Bottom line: you want to avoid not only having to refund their money, but also the possibility of permanently losing them as a client. Customers should never feel as though they are being given the option of accepting something that they feel is inferior or inadequate.
So what are the obligations of the customer? They are obligated to pay for the service that they receive, provided that they receive it in the time frame and at the price agreed upon. They are obligated to expect that they receive their product or service in the condition or at the quality that was agreed upon at the time of purchase, and they are, believe it or not, obligated to complain if these two conditions aren’t met.
When customers complain to you, make sure to take notes. Ask them to repeat their story a few times and try to ascertain what the real problem might be. This will also highlight inconsistencies in their story. This is for your own learning benefit in the future. Train your sales staff to treat all customers respectfully, no matter what and to send any especially difficult customers to either you or to your supervisor.
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