Feature Article
The Customer Is Always Right
When a homeowner complains, they’re actually doing you a favor
By: Jim Cory, senior contributing editor
The client on the phone isn’t happy. The crew trashed her bathroom, someone tracked mud on the carpet, and a sub parked his truck on the lawn. Another client calls to say she loves the new kitchen, but the pendant light fixture is dangling 3 inches from a cabinet door. Could someone please move it?
When a complaint—justified or not—comes your way, it tests everything you say you stand for. Maybe the customer is pushy, delusional, or impossible to please. It doesn’t matter. If you dodge the call, deny responsibility, or indefinitely defer taking action, all you do is impugn your own integrity in the eyes of the customer.
How You Choose to See It
Most customers who are disappointed won’t complain, at least not to you. Instead, they’ll talk to family, friends, and colleagues, but not to the one who is the ostensible source of their frustration. So look on the complainant as someone who’s actually doing you a favor. He or she has provided valuable information about something going on in your organization that could well be systemic. And likely enough, the client wouldn’t have bothered contacting you unless they thought you would take responsibility for it. Now, the challenge is handling the situation correctly.
Experts offer these simple dos and don’ts:
- Don’t handle the complaint with a boilerplate message;
- Don’t wait too long to respond;
- Don’t go on at length;
- Don’t make excuses;
- Don’t fail to thank the customer for their feedback.
And here’s the big DO: Step back and listen. Give the customer your full attention and make sure you understand the entire problem before saying a word. This will make him or her feel valued and supported.
Once you’ve heard all the client has to say, repeat back to them the major points they’ve made. Find out what they want you to do about the problem. Let them know you understand their complaint, without agreeing with them. Once you understand what the problem is, both you and the customer together should agree on a solution, and then your company must execute that solution as quickly as possible.
This article was originally published in Professional Remodeler 2016.
