A Powerful Retention Technique for Furious Phone Customers

When an angry customer calls to complain, it's first and foremost a retention challenge that needs to be dealt with immediately. Handling the customer's complaint promptly and correctly also creates an opportunity to up sell, cross-sell or make another new sale.

The Irate Customer Mindset

Keep in mind that customers who take the time to call a company and complain are probably pretty angry. Very often, they're calling about a problem that's been bothering them for some time. The longer the situation has been annoying them, the more irate they're likely to become.

Even when customers' voices appear to be calm and collected, they're actually ticking time bombs just ready to explode. Customers who have had to navigate a voice mail maze just to reach a representative, or who have had to wait "on hold" have even shorter fuses.

What You Say and How Your Say It Are Equally Important

Many angry customers are under the impression that they are automatically going to experience resistance and expect a confrontation with the company when they call. That's why customers actually prepare for a fight and rehearse the scenario and what they're going to say over and over it in their minds before they finally call. They load both barrels of their shotgun and are ready to come out shooting!

Cold, impersonal greetings like " Good morning, customer relations department, Ms Smith speaking" is not what angry customers want to hear. Some companies mistakenly believe greetings like these sound professional and inspire confidence in customers. In reality, it only confirms what customers are anticipating and sets the stage for a conflict. The last thing irate customers need is some robot reading a pre-written telephone script.

A friendly yet professional greeting like "Good morning, this is Pat Smith your customer care representative, how may I help your today" begins the process of de-fusing the ticking time bomb on the other end of the phone. Always remember, a smile goes a long way over the phone, just as it does in person.

Before you can finish saying "how can I help", irate customers will quickly get to the point and let you know what's wrong. Whether they're very loud and obviously upset or more terse and controlled in their manner of speaking, let them finish telling you about their problem.

Two Words That Retain Angry Customer

Once the customer has spoken his or her mind, begin your response to them with these two immensely powerful words that will disarm even the most disgruntled customer:

"Thank You"

Here's a simple, effective and proven reply to start off any response to a customer complaint call:

"Thank you so much Mr. Jones for bringing this to our attention. We really appreciate your calling us and letting us know about this problem, so that we can take care of it for you as soon as possible."

This type of response does several important things. First and foremost, it thanks and shows appreciation to callers for being your customer. It also lets them know you're on their side ... not against them. Finally, it assures them you are going to act to solve their problem as soon as possible.

In some situations, it helps to expand your response and add a sentence saying:

"My managers will also be very interested in hearing what you have to say so I'm going to pass them along."

Adding this reinforcement has two additional benefits. First, it shows that the company cares and the company's management in listening to what the customer has to say. Second, it eliminates the need for the customer to potentially ask "to speak to your supervisor" to resolve the matter.

Thanking customers and listening to them are the keys to customer retention. The major reason companies lose customers is that customers don't feel appreciated. That's why so many customer complaints include phrases like: " I've been a good customer of yours for 10 years" ... "I've spent a lot of money with your company over the years" ... or "I like your product and use it even though it's a lot more expensive than others."

Even though customer complaints tend to be very specific and deal with billing, service, product quality or other issues, they all involve customers reaching out for the recognition and appreciation they deserve.

Listening To The "Voice of The Customer"

Complaints are your customers' way of reaching out. Even the angriest customers complain because they care. If they didn't care, they wouldn't take the time and effort to call. They could just as easily cancel your service or change brands and never purchase your product again.

A growing number of companies are now realizing that listening to their customers is they key to retention and increasing sales. That's why companies are spending billions of dollars on Customer Relationship Management (CRM), "Enterprise Feedback Management" (EFM) and "Voice of the Customer" (VoC) programs.

Simply saying "thank you" is a first step that a solid foundation for retaining customers and building lasting relationships that generate additional sales.

Opening The Door For Additional Sales

Calming an angry customer, solving their problem and thanking them for their business makes customers receptive to doing business with you. So, now is usually a good time to continue building the relationship and go for an additional sale.

Try offering the customer coupons, or discount certificates as a way of saying thank you again. If your company doesn't have coupons or certificates available, just inform the customer about current special prices, sales, upgrades or promotions that they might be interested in.

You can also ask if the customer would like to receive more information or be connected with someone in your sales department.

Whether or not the customer is interested in making a purchase or receiving additional information, ask for their email address so the company can serve them better and keep them advised of special offers. It's just another way of saying thank you and reaffirming that you really care.

Retaining a valuable customer and generating additional sales on the spot and in the future. It's all possible with a little two word phrase "Thank You".