When you are in sales, sooner or later you are going to receive a call that will really scare you. On the line will be a really good customer letting you know that your company has made a grave mistake and the normal means for resolution have failed thus far. The temptation could be to freak out and to agree with your customer, throwing your own team under the bus, so to speak.
But, do not fall in that trap because, what you have in front of you is a great opportunity. The truth is, mistakes happen to everyone in every business model. The way you handle it says a lot about you and can deepen your relationship rather than ruin it. First thing first, do not blame your co workers, you are part of the team…Instead, accept the complaint, apologize for the problem, and promise to resolve the situation. Anything otherwise, while an attempt to build upon your relationship with your customer, will fall flat, because you wear the badge of your company and any attempt to separate yourself is not professional and wrong.
Now, take the complaint back calmly to your team, but make it a priority. Find the issue, fix the issue! At this point, it’s not about blaming someone; it’s about making the customer happy. If possible, personally deliver the solution or at least the message about the solution to the customer. Then follow up internally on why you had a failure and work to shore up the root cause. Once that is done, to really do the best job, now relate this to your customer expressing your thanks for them bringing the problem to you in the first place and now how your team has made an adjustment to prevent such a problem in the future.
Once this entire process is done, monitor the new solution and procedure to ensure you have rooted out whatever the problem was. When you take the time and put forth the effort to resolve a complaint in this way, you have shown your customer you are really there for them.
Think of it this way, when you break a bone, proper treatment dictates that you set the bone, and cast it so that it will heal. Once healed, many times the bone is now stronger than before. When there is a “break” in your service, treat it properly and you might experience the same thing.
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