Training Frontline Staff to handle customer complaints

It doesn't matter what size retail operation you have, or how great your customer service is; sooner or later a customer is going to have an issue they want to complain about.

The customer comes first. Everyone knows that. There is an often heard phrase in Retail - "The Customer is always right". This is an old anecdotal saying, which most frontline staff would not agree with. Maybe the catch phrase should be - "We always treat the customer as if they were right".

It is very important to ensure that frontline staff are trained in effective complaint handling. If you take the time to listen to a customer's complaint and demonstrate that you care that they have a problem and want to try and resolve it - then you are likely to turn this difficult customer into a loyal long term one.

Obviously retailers need customers to let them know when things are not right - how else can we find out about it to fix it. Unfortunately, many frontline staff are not confident in handling complaining customers. They can become defensive and try to justify the situation to customers. This usually tends to escalate the customer's emotions.

Retailers should discuss how they want staff to handle various complaints and pass on whatever level of responsibility to resolve these complaints that they deem appropriate. Their complaints training should include the following:

Calm the customer. Naturally, when a customer feels they need to complain about something, they will be upset and agitated. Many retailers tend to jump in too early and offer a solution (or argue). The customer must be given time to let them tell you what they want and how they feel.

Give the customer a chance to get everything off their chest so to speak, by not interrupting and using empathy. Let them know that you can see how they feel about the problem. Remember not to argue or become defensive to them. Once they calm down a little, we can move to the next step.

Question for as much detail and information as you can get about the situation. Using polite, calm tones of voice ask them to give you as much detail as they can about what has happened. Use OPEN questions to get as much detail as you can, this also helps the customer to stay on an even emotional keel. Open questions use words like - "Tell me" "When" "How" and "What". Keep notes and records as appropriate. When you have all the information you need, then move onto to the final step.

Resolve the problem for them. Tell them "What you can do for them". Avoid using phrase such as - "I can't do anything about that" or "I don't have the authority to do that". The customer only wants to hear that you are going to do something for them. In many cases the customer only wants to hear an apology from you.

In other cases where the frontline staff member needs to pass the complaint onto a supervisor or owner, they should say to a customer - "What I can do for you, is get all your contact details and have the manager call you back before 3 pm this afternoon to work something out for you". When this happens it is essential that the staff member follows the complaint through by checking to see if the manager has indeed contacted the customer as promised.

Frontline staff need to accept that customers will have complaints about various things from time to time and that they should handle these situations without admitting any liability while using the CQR method to show the customer they care that they have a problem and want to do all they can to help solve it for the customer.

atmp's e-learning training programs for frontline staff include segments on handling difficult customers and complaints. atmp recommends that supervisors and business owners should let staff practice handling complaints by setting up simple role plays or scenarios for them to solve, such as a customer who returns milk that is off yet still in date or a mother who complains that the toilets are filthy.

Practicing the techniques helps reinforce the training and procedures.



 

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