DrNunley's Biz-Tips
by Kevin Nunley

Cooling Down Angry Customers

Anybody who has been in business (or worked at the business) for more than a day has come face-to-face with an angry customer. Some will smile and politely tell you you're wrong, while others can blow dry you a new hair style with a flaming email.

Since angry customers tend to say bad things about you to other customers, it's a good idea to help them cool down, then do what you can to solve the problem.

First, be sincere. The customer is dead serious, and she wants you to be serious, too. Next, get ready to say, "I'm sorry." An attorney once told me that if people would just say, "I'm sorry," half of all lawsuits could be avoided. Finally, offer to help solve the problem.

This might mean making corrections or doing the service over again. It could mean providing a replacement for a product that doesn't work properly. It might even require you to give just a bit more than you promised (not a bad thing, since giving more than you promised usually leads to good word-of-mouth).

What you may not be able to do is give the person their money back. Often, a refund is possible if you can get the product returned in resellable condition, or if the product is very inexpensive. Services that require a lot of work and expense may have to be non-refundable. In those cases, say why you can't give a refund, but make it very clear that you are going to fix theproblem. Often that's all an angry customer wants to hear.

See Kevin's wide range of FREE advice and promotion packages at http://DrNunley.com His All Out/123 package is a favorite at http://drnunley.com/123.htm Reach him at mailto:kevin@drnunley.com or 603-249-9519.

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