Patch Blog: Can An Angry Customer Can Be Your Most Loyal Fan?

It’s not easy being a customer service rep.  Wait a minute – I take that back.  It’s not easy being a GOOD customer service rep!  After all, what’s a rep to do when a customer is really angry, demanding, calling names and throwing things! 

Yep, it happens.  And, the most common response to the situation is defensiveness – on both sides.  The rep points out the customer’s mistakes (“you should have”. . . “our policy is”. . . “you kept changing your order”. . .), the customer bristles with hostility and takes it out on the rep.  GAME ON!  The power struggle ensues, and I guarantee, it never has a happy ending. 

The end result is a customer who never comes back, or one who tells not just their friends and family, but the entire world.   The angry customer just advised millions of web users never to go to your place of business, and bloggers delight in chiming in with shared sympathy. 

You will not win the battle with an angry customer – not in this day and age.  If you still have doubts about the impact of an angry customer, just GOOGLE “angry customer service stories.” 

Angry customers are taking their grievances to the web, and feel a sense of justification when they use the w.w.w. to recount their poor customer service experiences.  The customer ultimately wins the power struggle and will relish in getting in “the last word.”  They name names, enjoy describing their aggressive behavior (how they threw and broke things), delight in sharing their cleverness and originality in name calling, and don’t blink when it comes to typing profanity on the web (one angry guy called a rep a “blankety - blank trollop” – Not his exact words, if you know what I mean!)

Yikes!  Not only is the customer service rep freaked out, but the supervisor has his/her hands full in dealing with the aftermath and the uproar. 

Now, is it possible to convert these angry customers into your most loyal fans and get the repeat sale?  Yep.   No Kidding.  I do it all the time.  And, you can, too.  It’s easy and the ultimate “win.”

Don’t let an unhappy or angry customer get out the door!  Be a GOOD Customer Service Rep! Use the Service Recovery technique to convert the angry customer into your most loyal fan.   All the steps involved in Service Recovery can be found on my website at www.theserviceadvisors.com.

(Verena Somer is a consultant, speaker and an author who recently wrote the book “The 11% Solution”.  Visit her on Amazon.com or at her website www.theserviceadvisors.com).