How to Turn an Unhappy Customer into a Loyal Promoter

Nobody enjoys getting negative feedback. But while receiving a call from an unhappy customer can be stressful, it’s actually a great opportunity to not only fix the problem, but also earn that customer’s business for life. 

So how exactly do you turn around a bad customer experience? Here are 5 tips to help you turn unhappy customers into loyal promoters.

5 Ways to Turn a Negative Experience into a Positive Impression

Tip #1: Truly listen to the customer – and don’t make them repeat themselves

Most unhappy customers just want to be heard and feel like someone cares enough to fix whatever went wrong. When dealing with a disgruntled caller, train agents to truly listen, express empathy, and make the process of getting help as easy as possible. 

And if fixing the problem requires transferring them to another agent or department? Don’t make the customer go through the process of explaining the issue all over again with the next person. 

Invest in contact center technology that integrates with your CRM so that all details of the issue are automatically saved to the customer record. This way, the next agent who speaks to the customers – whether today or on a future call – has all of the context they need to provide a great experience. 

Tip #2: Apologize for the mistake

It may seem obvious, but one of the biggest missteps you can make with an unhappy customer is avoiding taking responsibility for the problem. Even if your team truly did nothing wrong and the issue was unavoidable, the customer wants to hear that you’re sorry they had a bad experience and that you’ll do what you can to make it right. 

A great way to respond to a customer who has shared a negative experience is to put yourself into their shoes and try not to get defensive. 

For example, if you get a call that a customer’s order was broken in transit, instead of blaming the issue on the delivery driver, train your agents to say something like “I’m truly sorry to hear that happened. That must have been incredibly frustrating to receive a broken product. Here’s what I can do to make it right…” 

Going out of your way to accept responsibility and compensate the customer for their experience will make them much more likely to give you their business in the future and to recommend you to their friends and family.

Tip #3: Go above and beyond to fix the problem 

One of the most critical steps of turning an unhappy customer into a loyal fan is doing more than what’s expected to fix the problem. 

Zappos has become a legend in the world of customer service by truly wowing customers who contact support with an issue. In one case, a Zappos agent received a call from a customer who had purchased shoes for her terminally ill mother, but her mother had sadly passed away before the shoes arrived. 

Zappos not only arranged for a courier to pick up the shoes at no cost, but the agent also sent the grieving customer a bouquet of flowers, along with a card expressing sympathy for her loss. 

Treating your customers with empathy and generosity goes a long way, even if the customer interaction started out negatively. 

Tip #4: Ask the customer how you can do better

Your unhappy customers are likely also your business’s best opportunity for growth. Every time your customer service team speaks to a customer with a problem, the agent should be trained to really listen to the feedback, record it, and pass it on to someone who can use it to fix what’s broken. 

For example, imagine that you own a local flower shop, and you’ve recently gotten several calls from unhappy customers who received wilted bouquets.

After you fix the customer’s immediate problem by replacing the subpar flowers, it’s a great idea to then follow up with your delivery team to ensure that all of your company’s flowers are being stored correctly, both in your warehouse and in delivery trucks.

Acting on negative customer feedback not only reduces the number of customer service calls you receive, but also helps you save money and prevent future problems. 

Tip #5: Don’t forget to follow up 

The opportunity to earn an unhappy customer’s loyalty doesn’t end after the first support interaction. After you’ve taken the time to listen to the customer, apologized for the issue, and gone above and beyond to make it right, don’t forget to follow up to ensure that the service they received was satisfactory. 

Taking the time to check in helps the customer understand that you truly care about keeping them as a customer. This not only helps you win back the customer’s loyalty, but also sets you apart from your competition, who may not be as proactive about negative customer feedback.

Make Exceptional Customer Experience Part of Your Brand

Every brand makes mistakes sometimes. Customers receive the wrong order, shipments get damaged, and team members occasionally say the wrong thing. What sets you apart from the crowd is how you respond to negative feedback and use it to make your business better. 

When your customers understand that you’ll do everything you can to make a bad situation right, they’re more likely to trust you and to give you their business again in the future. 

One way to make exceptional customer experiences part of your brand identity is to integrate your CRM with your customer support platform so your agents have all of the context and information they need to provide a personalized experience to every customer. 

UJET, the world’s first and only CCaaS 3.0 platform, easily integrates with your CRM of choice, and unifies all the customer data and journey there for rapid review and retrieval. Learn more or request a demo today.