HugeNerd - 10:27 pm on Jan 16, 2009 (gmt 0)

I wasn't going to respond, but now I feel somewhat compelled to. I've got a few ideas about handling customers that I know I lose sight of myself, but to which I invariably return.

1) The customer is always right...
You may not think so, but your opinion doesn't matter; especially not to the customer because you were wrong before they even contacted you. If you want their money, they're right. Period. Period. Period. Will this cost you money? Sometimes. Will it solve problems? Most of the time. Are some people simply crazy and unable to be satisfied? Of course. I'm not advocating always doing what the customer asks/wants; just saying that inaction (99.99% of the time) is absolutely the wrong solution. Tell them why you can't do what they want and offer to work with them come up with an amicable solution. Even the worst customers are still customers; they want something from you and, at some basal level, they understand that this requires your cooperation. So, work with them to find a solution.

2) Happy customers are all happy in the same way. Upset/angry/dissatisfied/unhappy customers are misreable in their own unique way. This means complaints are an opportunity to differentiate yourself and your establishment and to shine. If you can create a good experience out of a bad one, that's akin to alchemy; lead becomes gold instantly.
===> We've all had a customer call/write expecting to have some huge hassle and an argument about a return or a refund or ship times, etc. only to find out that you're easy to work with and that their concerns were unfounded. Remember how grateful that person was? I bet they even sent an email or asked to speak to your supervisor about how great you were...

3) Has anyone here ever been on the other side of the equation? Seriously, we must all buy something at some point! Just keep that in mind and consider how you would react if someone told you what you are about to tell your customer. Policies work and are there for mutual protection of merchant and customer. However, they're not the laws of physics and you can break or bend them as you please.

4) You're on the internet. This comes with certain expectations from customers: instant gratification; constant communication and feedback; solutions to every problem; answers to every question; knowledge that, of all the websites on the internet, they have deigned to do business with you -- meet their expectations or be traded off for the next in line; any and every idiot with a computer can easily locate you (this is what you've put in countless of hours of hard work to achieve) -- expect plenty of them to do so.

Sorry about this manifesto. Just had to add my, well, 4 cents seeing as how we all run to WWW here and slander our customers in regards to how they run to forums to slander us.

I'm still guilty of hating my customers upon occasion -- they can be annoying.