Guest Author - Deborah Crawford

Every business makes mistakes. Sometimes things go wrong and customers are unhappy. Then, they complain. Right? Actually, only a very small fraction of customers will actually bother to complain. Most will tell other people (bad publicity) and some will deal with it, but many will simply take their business elsewhere.

When someone complains to you, how you react is vitally important to your business. You can ignore it, try to justify it (it wasn’t my (or our) fault. . .), quote policy, blame the customer, or do any number of things that are “bad solutions”. But, if you can look at complaints as an opportunity to learn (you cannot fix anything you don’t know about), and an opportunity to turn an unhappy customer back into a happy customer, you will positively impact your business immediately and for the long-term.

We have all had experiences where a company made a mistake and then compounded it by how poorly they reacted when we complained. In fact, it seems epidemic these days. We tend to be more surprised when a company fixes our problem than when they don’t.

Of course, there are customers that you cannot make happy no matter what you do. There are people who just refuse to be happy, but you will find that for the most part, people just want what they paid for. They want their package delivered before the party. They want their steak cooked the way they like it. They want the gizmo to work. But, things happen. Shipments get delayed or orders get entered incorrectly. The steak gets overcooked. Gizmos break.

When the system fails and someone complains, how can you create a successful solution?

1—Listen. Actually listen to what they are saying. Make sure you understand the problem.

2—Acknowledge what they are saying. “I understand your gizmo was broken when you opened the box.”

3—Apologize. "I'm very sorry." And mean it. Put yourself in his or her shoes. It is a big deal to them if they are taking time to complain.

4—Act. Fix the problem to their satisfaction. They may want a new gizmo. They may want a refund. They may want an upgrade. Offer choices if you can. “I can send you a new gizmo tomorrow or I can credit your account right now.”

5—Offer to do more. Giving someone what they paid for is the bare minimum. They may be satisfied if you can follow through and make sure they get what they wanted in the first place, but if possible, go a little farther. Give a discount on a future purchase, or a free gift, or free dessert.

6—Follow up. Make sure the second gizmo is not broken, too. A letter of apology is always a good idea, but a phone call or email will work, too.


You can use these steps, or similar ones to create a complaint resolution process for your company. Use scenarios familiar to your business as examples. Make sure everyone who deals with your customers is able to use these steps to turn complainers into fans. For more help in dealing with complaints, read Calming Upset Customers.