Welcome to another Being Unstoppable Poddy! Today we have a serious topic that we will all come to head with - no matter how successful your business is... Difficult clients and reviews that do not reflect what your business is.
The more people you serve, the more complaints you will get. For me, in the Family Law game, it is inevitable that we can receive bad reviews because hey, it is such a high pressure time for our clients and they don't want to be spending money on a divorce - I understand! Although this can be frustrating to it is how you deal with these complaints that really counts.
I am going to share with you how to gracefully deal with bad reviews and ensure they do not ruin your week or even longer. Before we dive in, read the below...
Do not take this personally! Put your emotions aside! This is not about you personally, this isn't about you as a person. This doesn't mean that sometimes it may feel like it because it can feel persona. You know what? Sometimes, the complaining client is the one you have bent over backwards for! This is business. this is not personal - no matter where the review is coming from, whether it be a mistake or whether it is just a person who feels they need to complain. In saying this, it is also important to listen to what the client is saying.

When responding to a client complaint, here is what you need to do:

1. Avoid challenging their complaint;

When someone makes a complaint, the natural thing to do is to get on the defense but that is going to make things worse. Do not tell the customer that they are wrong, this will escalate the situation. Instead of challenging the complaint, listen to what they are saying and his may sound crazy, but thanking the client for their review can totally positively effect your business. If it is a genuine compliant, that is some really good information that you can use to better that area of your business. Be grateful that this client had the courage to reach out and give you this useful source of information that is going to help your business flourish. Kill them with kindness!
2. When a client complains, it can often be because they need a vent! This type of complaint does not want want anything out of it, or any problem solving they just want to be heard, so... Just hear them out and it may be enough to defuse the entire situation!
3. Acknowledge what they have said; This does not mean just listening to them and their complaint but when you let the customer know that this is appreciated and you have taken it on board. The client is not expecting you to acknowledge, they are expecting you to fight back. So, when you acknowledge their comment, you are automatically defeating their expectation because they might have received that type of event in the past.
4. Be flexible and don't be rigid in this situation; Now, your client may not want a resolution, they might just be looking for an ear to be heard. If they do want a resolution, you need to be flexible to meet on same grounds. This doesn't necessarily mean a discount as this isn't always possible in every industry. Sometimes, it may suit your business to give out a discount, but sometimes it may be to suggest a different service provider. Perhaps, you may need to oversee the work more regularly or maybe you need to arrange more face-to-face meetings. There are so many things you can do around the client to help the client out, but be flexible.
Once you have narrowed down to a specific solution, ask the client if that would be satisfactory form them. Communicate with that client and work together to create a positive ending to this.
5. Make sure your client knows what you are saying; Sometimes when we are offering a resolution or working on what can or cannot do to accommodate your client, you might need to ask them if they understand this solution and what it is. You have to do this in a non-demining way and state your intent. This is best done in an email, or if you have spoken via telephone to relay the conversation and have it in writing.
6. Do offer an apology... with gratitude! The thing about offering an apology is that you do not need to say you apologize for the topic they have complained about. You need to be honest about this, because only you know if there has been a good job done or not. You need to either apologise for the action or you can apologise that the client felt this way in regard to your service. It is just acknowledging that you have heard the, you have listened and you are prepared to give an apology.
7. Follow to customer up a few days later; and As we mentioned above, you need to email the client with the solution you have agreed upon, and then a few days later follow up with the client to check on how the solution is going for them. This will make them feel appreciated and will let them know that they are important client to you. All clients are important to businesses as we would not have a business without clients. We do want to make sure that we are looking after them!
8. Move on! Don't dwell on any complaints that you have had. This takes away time that you could use working on your business. Clients who complain can take a massive chunk out of your day if you sit on it for too long, it will affect your team and even your other clients. Depending on how you deal with it and how fast you move on with it, depends on how long this process is going to take to move past the complaint. Do not loose focus from this complaint, it can easily suck up energy and rejig your teams work day.
The key is, if you have a structure when it comes to receiving negative reviews you will be able to move through that complaint seamlessly and effectively to get the best result. When you have this streamline process, you can go home, switch of and not loose any personal time to these complaint.
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