- Original Poster
- #1
I started writing this in reply to another thread but then found myself writing an essay and thought it may be more useful to start a new thread in the hope that this information will help others and my time writing this hasn't been wasted lol. A little background, I started in sales in my teens, then turned into a geek in my early twenties and developed and managed digital & marketing projects which I still do to some degree but am now (just recently) concentrating on my own ecommerce businesses. One thing we all have to deal with, whatever we do is customers and I know it is an area where many businesses new and old fail.
I have a great relationship with my clients and customers and many I now consider friends, this is due to my particular strategy, some of my best customers in retail are ones where things went wrong with their first order. I have also been brought in to firefight digital projects that I have not been involved with that are in real trouble and someone is at the point of threatening to sue. By the end of my day the clients are singing my praises and even thanking me for the project success even though I didn't actually do anything apart from liaise effectively and tell the truth. (seriously it was a running joke at one point as the change is unbelievable I am consistently surprised at how quickly it can turn around, giving me the nickname the client whisperer). This is what I do and hopefully some of this information can also help you.
Under promise & over deliver
Firstly I work to avoid unhappy customers in the first place with one simple strategy, under promise and over deliver. It is unbelievable how effective this method is as you by your own making consistently exceed expectations. This may hurt your conversion but is ensures that the work you do take on gives you less headaches and pit holes. The firefighting alone can be a considerable cost on your time.
Be sure before you commit
Secondly never promise anything on the spot that you are not completely sure you can deliver, it is okay to say I will get back to you on that one I need to look into logistics and if there will be a cost associated with this. Ie with retail when asked when an item will arrive I will say well generally they arrive the next day (1st class) sometimes the day after but once items are in royal mails hands we loose control so we are at the mercy of the postal service. However if it is important you can upgrade to special delivery just incase.
Discuss the negatives
If there are any potential problems you forsee tell the client so they can make an informed decision. For instance I specialise in wordpress because it is an amazing system to build upon and offers a whole array of benefits. However it has disadvantages, updates can be a pain and if not done can cause security risks, you are working with a general system so although it is adapted to suit the clients needs it is not as specific as a custom build but also not as expensive. I tell them this during initial discussions and at brief so they have the information and can make a decision based upon it. No nasty shocks.
Don't undersell yourself
When new in business it is easy to undersell yourself whether as a retailer or service provider, don't fight that urge, even if you need portfolio or sales. The most important thing to do is cover eventualities and put in a system that is sustainable. Belive me I have learn't this one over the years the hard way!! Whilst you are working on projects or promoting product that you are undercharging for you are missing a huge opportunity cost in working on a business that is actually sustainable. You will find yourself firefighting without the resources to correct issues quickly and without fuss this has a knock on effect and puts you in a compromisable situation. Someone will loose in this situation and it will be either the customer or you.
When it hits the fan
When things go wrong. Once contracts are in motion things can and do go wrong, that is life, maybe the client asks too much outside the original agreement maybe things fall apart your end. If it is your fault, contact the client as soon as possible, explain the situation and apologise. Try and put yourself in their shoes how does this affect them and understand and voice their concerns, then explain your plan to fix it. If you can't tell them and what effect it will have to them. Most will be understanding as long as you explain thoroughly the situation and show them that you care, again revert back to under promising and over delivering and keep them informed every step. The thing that will drive most customers/clients nuts is the not knowing and being let down, be honest so then they can also look at how they can accommodate the situation their end.
Dealing with unrealistic clients
Once under contract people can try and take advantage or still after putting in place the above still ask for more. If it is too much, tell them, be honest and explain why whatever the reason, tell them, we are all human and many will actually appreciate the connection, it can in many cases make your relationship stronger. Offer them a solution, one that will cost them nothing, one that will cost them the price it will take to make it viable for you to do. They can then make an informed choice again.
When the heat is on
Cool it with humor and kindness. Chances are your customer is angry and fierce through fear, fear they have been ripped off, fear you won't deliver, fear of being let down, they don't want to feel like this, they hate feeling like this and thus they are taking it out on you. Don't engage, reassure that you are on the same side, you both want the same thing for the customer to be happy. If you can fix it your self tell them not to worry you will fix it and when (remember under promise, over deliver and be honest). If you are reliant on someone else fixing it then you and the customer are now comrades and working together to make them happy, you are on their side, so think like that and you will find yourself saying we will get there, we will be happy when we get there and I am sorry you are having to deal with this, this is not the way it should be. Be yourself, you can joke around the situation to lighten the mood as long as it is clear you understand the importance of the situation with the client (this may only be appropiate once the situation is resolved tread carefully) be positive, nice, happy and friendly throughout. People relate to people if you are being false they will sense it. For example I am a bubbly Lancashire lass, that is who I am, however in my 20s I tried to maintain a professional approach, nice and polite but reserved. By the time I hit thirty the pressure was on, the projects larger, the problems bigger and quite frankly I didn't have the energy to maintain the facade, so I let out who I am, the bigger the problem the more Lancashire and honest I got, this was when I realised actually this was 10 times more effective than being professional. People respond to simplicity, honesty and humour, they don't get it often and they appreciate how refreshing it is and respond well.
If all else fails
So you can't please all of the people all of the time, if you have done the above and tried your best to turn around the situation but it has still failed and your relationship is in the pooper try to find a win win exit strategy. Even if it costs you money decide on a price that is acceptable to you and consider this as part of your marketing budget, your customer is going to tell someone about their experience, do you want them to tell them that you failed (even if you didn't) or how you reasonably managed a difficult situation? You have a last chance to actually get a silver lining and turn around the customer so through it all they are actually satisfied if not wowed with how you propose to end the agreement.
So this is how I have dealt with a variance of situations, I am not perfect, I don't claim to know everything and I am still learning new things each day. However I do not worry about customer issues but I do care if my customers do have issues, I have few and the ones I do get I consider a challenge of how I can turn this negative into a positive, what can I achieve. This actually makes dealing with problems fun in a way and certainly rewarding when you achieve unexpected results. Every problem that comes along opens up the opportunity of discussion and to prove yourself, to build a good and strong customer relationship and to promote word of mouth marketing and turn an ouch into a wow.
Like me hopefully the above will help you and your customers have less headaches and happier working days. I haven't given examples as this is long enough but am happy to do so.
I have a great relationship with my clients and customers and many I now consider friends, this is due to my particular strategy, some of my best customers in retail are ones where things went wrong with their first order. I have also been brought in to firefight digital projects that I have not been involved with that are in real trouble and someone is at the point of threatening to sue. By the end of my day the clients are singing my praises and even thanking me for the project success even though I didn't actually do anything apart from liaise effectively and tell the truth. (seriously it was a running joke at one point as the change is unbelievable I am consistently surprised at how quickly it can turn around, giving me the nickname the client whisperer). This is what I do and hopefully some of this information can also help you.
Under promise & over deliver
Firstly I work to avoid unhappy customers in the first place with one simple strategy, under promise and over deliver. It is unbelievable how effective this method is as you by your own making consistently exceed expectations. This may hurt your conversion but is ensures that the work you do take on gives you less headaches and pit holes. The firefighting alone can be a considerable cost on your time.
Be sure before you commit
Secondly never promise anything on the spot that you are not completely sure you can deliver, it is okay to say I will get back to you on that one I need to look into logistics and if there will be a cost associated with this. Ie with retail when asked when an item will arrive I will say well generally they arrive the next day (1st class) sometimes the day after but once items are in royal mails hands we loose control so we are at the mercy of the postal service. However if it is important you can upgrade to special delivery just incase.
Discuss the negatives
If there are any potential problems you forsee tell the client so they can make an informed decision. For instance I specialise in wordpress because it is an amazing system to build upon and offers a whole array of benefits. However it has disadvantages, updates can be a pain and if not done can cause security risks, you are working with a general system so although it is adapted to suit the clients needs it is not as specific as a custom build but also not as expensive. I tell them this during initial discussions and at brief so they have the information and can make a decision based upon it. No nasty shocks.
Don't undersell yourself
When new in business it is easy to undersell yourself whether as a retailer or service provider, don't fight that urge, even if you need portfolio or sales. The most important thing to do is cover eventualities and put in a system that is sustainable. Belive me I have learn't this one over the years the hard way!! Whilst you are working on projects or promoting product that you are undercharging for you are missing a huge opportunity cost in working on a business that is actually sustainable. You will find yourself firefighting without the resources to correct issues quickly and without fuss this has a knock on effect and puts you in a compromisable situation. Someone will loose in this situation and it will be either the customer or you.
When it hits the fan
When things go wrong. Once contracts are in motion things can and do go wrong, that is life, maybe the client asks too much outside the original agreement maybe things fall apart your end. If it is your fault, contact the client as soon as possible, explain the situation and apologise. Try and put yourself in their shoes how does this affect them and understand and voice their concerns, then explain your plan to fix it. If you can't tell them and what effect it will have to them. Most will be understanding as long as you explain thoroughly the situation and show them that you care, again revert back to under promising and over delivering and keep them informed every step. The thing that will drive most customers/clients nuts is the not knowing and being let down, be honest so then they can also look at how they can accommodate the situation their end.
Dealing with unrealistic clients
Once under contract people can try and take advantage or still after putting in place the above still ask for more. If it is too much, tell them, be honest and explain why whatever the reason, tell them, we are all human and many will actually appreciate the connection, it can in many cases make your relationship stronger. Offer them a solution, one that will cost them nothing, one that will cost them the price it will take to make it viable for you to do. They can then make an informed choice again.
When the heat is on
Cool it with humor and kindness. Chances are your customer is angry and fierce through fear, fear they have been ripped off, fear you won't deliver, fear of being let down, they don't want to feel like this, they hate feeling like this and thus they are taking it out on you. Don't engage, reassure that you are on the same side, you both want the same thing for the customer to be happy. If you can fix it your self tell them not to worry you will fix it and when (remember under promise, over deliver and be honest). If you are reliant on someone else fixing it then you and the customer are now comrades and working together to make them happy, you are on their side, so think like that and you will find yourself saying we will get there, we will be happy when we get there and I am sorry you are having to deal with this, this is not the way it should be. Be yourself, you can joke around the situation to lighten the mood as long as it is clear you understand the importance of the situation with the client (this may only be appropiate once the situation is resolved tread carefully) be positive, nice, happy and friendly throughout. People relate to people if you are being false they will sense it. For example I am a bubbly Lancashire lass, that is who I am, however in my 20s I tried to maintain a professional approach, nice and polite but reserved. By the time I hit thirty the pressure was on, the projects larger, the problems bigger and quite frankly I didn't have the energy to maintain the facade, so I let out who I am, the bigger the problem the more Lancashire and honest I got, this was when I realised actually this was 10 times more effective than being professional. People respond to simplicity, honesty and humour, they don't get it often and they appreciate how refreshing it is and respond well.
If all else fails
So you can't please all of the people all of the time, if you have done the above and tried your best to turn around the situation but it has still failed and your relationship is in the pooper try to find a win win exit strategy. Even if it costs you money decide on a price that is acceptable to you and consider this as part of your marketing budget, your customer is going to tell someone about their experience, do you want them to tell them that you failed (even if you didn't) or how you reasonably managed a difficult situation? You have a last chance to actually get a silver lining and turn around the customer so through it all they are actually satisfied if not wowed with how you propose to end the agreement.
So this is how I have dealt with a variance of situations, I am not perfect, I don't claim to know everything and I am still learning new things each day. However I do not worry about customer issues but I do care if my customers do have issues, I have few and the ones I do get I consider a challenge of how I can turn this negative into a positive, what can I achieve. This actually makes dealing with problems fun in a way and certainly rewarding when you achieve unexpected results. Every problem that comes along opens up the opportunity of discussion and to prove yourself, to build a good and strong customer relationship and to promote word of mouth marketing and turn an ouch into a wow.
Like me hopefully the above will help you and your customers have less headaches and happier working days. I haven't given examples as this is long enough but am happy to do so.
