Ideally, your customers will always be happy, and they will bring you repeat business. In real life, some customers think you didn’t deliver your product or service quickly enough, or maybe you shipped the wrong items. Other customers are simply the complaining type, no matter how much you try to please them.

How do you handle customer complaints? We’ve all heard about companies that offer outrageous customer service, but sometimes it’s financially difficult for small businesses to offer a “110 percent no-hassle guarantee.” So what do you do when a client is unhappy? And what does “satisfaction guaranteed” mean, anyway?
 
In general, it’s better to make customers happy than to simply refund their money and send them away. Chances are you don’t have their money yet anyway: They might be withholding payment while they gripe. Even if they did pay you, you still want them to be happy, because otherwise they might malign you to their friends, a lawyer, or the Better Business Bureau.

What to Do
If someone complains, respond promptly. If they leave a voice mail, call them back, even on the weekend. Same with email.
 
Have your clients explain exactly why they are unhappy. Listen carefully without interrupting. Maybe they just want clarity. Try to get them to tell you specifically what went wrong. The clearer they are, the easier it will be for you to make good on your promise to them.

Even though it might be tempting to get defensive, don’t. Instead, communicate to your clients that you intend to fix the problem. Make sure they know you are taking their situations seriously and that you intend to do everything you can to make them happy. This level of personal attention might help calm them.

Don’t point to the contract and insist you were right, even if you were. Instead, offer something that they will perceive as valuable. Some free product might help. Or offer to go back and redo the one detail that troubles them the most about your project. You can take the approach that the customers are always right, but that doesn’t mean they always get a refund. They likely just want a slightly different product from what they received.
 
Maybe they don’t want something for free. They might simply need information on how to use your product. Perhaps your instructions were unclear. This might be an opportunity for you to talk to them, build a relationship, and win their future business.

You might lose some money by giving them something for free, but if they are happy they will return, spend more, and tell their friends. (It’s the old customer retention versus finding new customers concept.)

Customer Service
Keep track of complaints, even if they are very few, so you can determine whether there is a pattern. This might prevent future complaints. It might also help you come up with ideas for new products or services.
 
Sometimes the clients are wrong, and they demand something beyond what you promised. Then you have to be creative. Offer them solutions that don’t cost you much money and that they perceive as valuable. The idea is to make sure they are happy, so that they will patronize your business again. Offer them dollars off their next order, or a free consultation about another topic. 

Customers might be unhappy, but they don’t always say so. They engage only in small talk with you (instead of placing an order), or they simply stop contacting you. This could be an opportunity to start a conversation and to see what their complaints might be.
 
Sometimes non-customers complain. They don’t like the clever spelling of your product, or they think your label looks too low budget. Talk to them, make a joke out of it, and offer them a coupon towards their first order.
 
Finally, check with your attorney before you offer a money back guarantee, a warranty, or other promises. You want to be sure your customers are happy, but you also want to make sure you are not legally offering more than you can deliver. It might be easier to continually show customers you will satisfy them than to come up with the right “no-quibble-unconditional-better-than-risk-free” slogan. HBM