will be there for me like you are for your father”. And I felt an overwhelming sense of relief and ceased to be a pain in the neck to the staff. Sometimes when customers act poorly, there are other issues in their life that are causing that. A little empathy and validation that they are a good person can make them much easier to deal with. I have taught the use of validation with great success in the child care and aged care industry. But it applies much wider than that. When most businesspeople receive a complaint or hear something that makes them feel uncomfortable, their first response is to protest their innocence. The first step SHOULD be to acknowledge the concern of the customer. And this applies importantly to social media. If you receive criticism on Facebook, don’t fight with the customer online. When people complain on social media they are angry and often will embellish the story for increased effect. If you try to prove their accusation false or ridiculously exaggerated you can come across as unconcerned at best and a bully at worst. People reading the communication will often relate to the customer rather than the service provider and may decide not to do business with you purely based on the way you communicate with the complaining customer. When you receive criticism the first thing you should do is acknowledge the customer’s inconvenience and say how sorry you are that they feel the way they do. Don’t try to work out who’s right and wrong online. The best thing to do is to try and resolve the issue offline. Tell them you’d like to buy them a cup of coffee and listen to them in more detail and help resolve the issue. Even if they don’t turn up for the coffee, the fact that you acknowledged them and offered goodwill to resolve the issue may stop them taking more revenge upon you by badmouthing your business AND people reading the communication see you as a business responsive to the needs of your customers rather than someone who abuses those who complain. If we can change our instinctive response of defensiveness and justification (the adult version of “not me, mummy”) to empathy and a desire to make the customer happy, we can massively enhance the perception of our business in the minds of customers and those who they communicate with. I remember many years ago hearing Oprah Winfrey say on her show when talking about relationships “You can go through life being right or being successful and happy – but you can’t have both!” I am happy to give up the need to be right for a little bit more success and happiness. What about you? Martin Grunstein’s outstanding results with over 500 Australian companies across over 100 industries have made him this country’s most in-demand speaker on customer service. He is contactable on 0414933249 or through his website www.martingrunstein.com.au
June 2018 www.tha.asn.au
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